Iowa Plus

Adam had some work to do in Des Moines so we went down last week and spent a week at Grandpa and Grandma Thimmesch's house while Adam worked. We drove down late Wednesday night and through one of the wildest lightening shows that Adam or I have ever seen. It was amazing, and scarey at times to watch, and I am still in awe of how Adam was able to drive through it as tired as we both were. We finally arrived at grandma and grandpa's house and were looking forward to sleeping, but little did we know that both boys had other plans. After a night of now sleep, somehow Adam made it in to work and I was very thankful to have grandpa around since he insisted I work a nap in. Thanks again grandpa!

I honestly don't remember what we did on Thursday. On Friday though we went to watch Grandpa Thimmesch conduct a concert of his summer band camp students. Grandpa warned me to cut my preparation time in half since everything is so close, but I had a hard time breaking that habit and found myself there thirty minutes early. Once it was time for the concert to start we headed over and set up camp. I did have to catch Tyler once from an attempt to run up to Grandpa (who was busy preparing his students) when he first saw him, but once I explained that Grandpa was working he was content to sit there and just wave at Grandpa. We all enjoyed the concert with Tyler dancing a little at the end and Kevin taking a nice nap.



Grandpa Thimmesch with his band.

Tyler running up to Grandpa when the concert was over.

Kevin enjoying a nice nap.

While grandpa was helping all of the students pack up and put away everything, we headed over to the school's playground. They had lots of slides, swings, and other fun equipment for Tyler to check out.

Very serious with his tongue out going down a slide.

Going down a REALLY big slide. Yes, my heart was pounding!
Checking out other slides. He just loves slides.

Moving on to the big boy swings. He is quick to remind me that the baby swings are for Kevin, and these are for him.

Having a fun time.

Kevin was awake for a bit but quickly fell back asleep. I was hoping that he would wake up to swing, but he just didn't seem interested.

We spent the rest of Friday hanging out around grandma and grandpa's house. I worked in another nap and before long Aunt Mary and Uncle Nick, Uncle Jason and Aunt Julie, and Cousins Alexis and Joshua came over. We had a wonderful dinner prepared by Aunt Mary and Uncle Nick and before long Aunt Angie, Uncle Steve, Evan, Amelia, Clarissa, and Kyle arrived. Tyler was beyond excited to have so many cousins present and it took a lot of work getting him to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.

Saturday morning started with a great breakfast provided by Aunt Julie and Uncle Jason. After a big breakfast, we all headed out to Reiman Gardens, followed by lunch at Hickory Park.

All of the cousins, less Kevin, eating breakfast!

Here are some pictures of Kevin that Aunt Mary took while we were at Reiman Gardens. I just can't believe that he is five months old already, let alone that he has bright, blue eyes! :)






Saturday flew by pretty quickly and soon it was Sunday. After Aunt Angie and Uncle Steve prepared some lunch most of the group headed out to Big Creek to play and boat at the lake. Kevin, Tyler, Uncle Nick, Aunt Mary, grandma, and I all stayed behind though. It was just too hot and we were too tired by that point to go play more! :) Before long, it was time to say goodbye to the Balk cousins as they had to head home.

After they left, cousin Alexis built a really neat train track/city for Tyler that included a farm, schoolhouse, and train station. We joked that we wished she had told us about her train table ability earlier on because we would have had her build it sooner! Tyler just loved playing with it and couldn't wait to show it to Adam and I. Once the Hammerly cousins left, Tyler still wasn't tired and just wanted to play cars/trains. He kept asking us all to play with him and finally grandpa Thimmesch agreed to go downstairs (we were all visiting around a table) to play cars with Tyler. Before long though they both came back upstairs with a lot of cars. Tyler then proceeded to hand out a car to each of us and grandpa announced that we were all going to play cars. It was incredibly sweet and I found myself about in tears (since Tyler is ALWAYS asking to play cars) as we all drove cars to each other while sitting around a table. Tyler had so much fun that he stayed up until he couldn't anymore and slowly fell asleep in Adam's arms.

Monday and Tuesday flew by and before long we found ourselves back on the road headed home. It was one of our better trips since we didn't have to stop and made great time, but we were so very tired. Everyone was super excited to be home and surprisingly wired upon entering the house. So the dogs ran around the backyard and house sniffing everything, Kevin laid on a blanket, and Tyler played with every toy in sight while we unloaded the car. Finally, we got the car unloaded and everyone in bed.

The remainder of the week was spent catching up on things around the house (and at work for Adam), and getting back into some sort of schedule. The only real notable thing that happened last week was that Kevin had his FIRST solid food. On a whim I pureed some cooked carrots I had made for Tyler and I. It turns out that Kevin LOVES food and had no problem eating them. So every day since I have given him a couple of tablespoons of pureed carrots, and in a strange turn of events (I can't convince myself that these are not related), Kevin has magically started sleeping for 6-7 hours straight!!!!!!! (Though it may also be because he has discovered belly sleeping...sigh...I don't blame him for wanting to be comfortable but I still get so paranoid about it that I am constantly checking on him and flipping him over). Anyways, so the new sleeping schedule is very exciting in my book, and I am glad that he seems to enjoy a new skill (eating from a spoon).

And I know that this is gross, but here is a picture of Kevin's first tastes of real food! :) I just cannot resist posting a picture.




Finally, the weekend was pretty uneventful. The only thing I want to share about our weekend is that Tyler LOVES singing the song "Bingo" (you know, "there was a farmer had a dog and bingo was his name-o") and changing up with the dogs name is. Usually, it is something like Carlie, Ellie, Sweetpea (his stuffed dog), etc. and we sing that version to him. Well, we were in the car and he was singing up a storm for us and we requested Bingo. So Tyler told us that he was going to do "Bingo Kevin" and started the song so loudly and with so much confidence. He got to the part where he has to sing Kevin, had a slight pause and then as loudly as he could spelled out Kevin's name "D X 0 (zero)" with so much authority and confidence that we had a hard time containing our giggles. He just kept repeating that that was how you spelled Kevin that all we could do was cheer him and on and remind ourselves that that was something we wanted to remember.

Monday arrived and Adam headed off to work. Tyler was a little thrown off because Adam worked the entire day Saturday (and was going to on Sunday but Tyler guilted him into staying home to spend the day with him with just the pure joy and excitement he expressed at waking up to find Adam at home since he had seen Adam very little last week). Anyways, so Monday arrived and we think that Tyler thought that it was still the weekend as he started asking for daddy. I explained that daddy was already working and Tyler slowly processed it. Then he ran off (refusing breakfast) to his room. I let him go as I had to deal with Kevin who had just woken up. Well, as I am getting Kevin dressed in walks Tyler in his pj bottoms, a white shirt, a yellow plastic firetruck hat, a yellow and black lunchbox with his silver trumpet packed about 2/3 into it, and of course his blue Thomas and Friends slippers, and he announces that he needs me to bring in his firetruck from outside so he can go to work with daddy. Probably one of the cutest things I have witnessed in awhile, and I am kicking myself now for not getting a picture. I stand my ground that the truck is not coming inside and he throws a fit because he says that he "needs work with daddy". Just too cute! I finally ask him what he is going to do with daddy and he explains that "I am a trumper player".

Another thing I want to note....his newest thing is to "be" things. Often we hear "I am a firetruck", "I am a racecar", "I am a dog", etc. and he pretends to do these things. Talk about cute! And oh, he gets such a kick when you play with him and ask him about himself or pretend that he is that thing and that the real Tyler is actually missing so you need the "firetruck, racecar, etc." to help you find Tyler. He just laughs hysterically when he stops pretending and we "find" Tyler.

So this sums up what we have been doing for the last week. Today, we went downtown (Kevin's first trip to daddy's office) to have lunch with Adam and Uncle Bruce. Tyler was beyond excited, and although he was a little confused this morning (he thought that he was ACTUALLY going to work with daddy and was very distraught when Adam was already at work when he woke up) he warmed up quickly once we got downtown. We had a nice lunch and Tyler was not ready to leave. We had to make a quick return at a store downtown, and Tyler kept asking to go back. He told me that "Uncle Bruce is fun" and that they both like "yellow potty treats" (yellow M&M's). In fact, he told complete strangers who stopped to talk to Kevin and Tyler the exact same things. ;)

Once we got home he was in a better mood and we talked more about what he did. He told me during dinner that his favorite part of the day was riding the elevator. I asked him what he did at lunch and he told me that he ate a sandwich, "colored yellow B's, T's, and A's" with Bruce (actually Bruce let Tyler borrow a pen and they wrote out B and T's on a napkin and then talked about both of their favorite colors were yellow), and worked. The highlight for Tyler though was when Bruce walked him into a store on our walk back and bought him a package of M&M's. Tyler has never done that, and told three different strangers that Bruce gave him potty treats. Tyler held the bag while we were walking around and was on the constant search for yellow ones, resulting in me constantly picking up M&M's off the floor. ;) Fortunately, he had more joy in holding the bag than eating them, so I didn't have to battle him on taking them away (since I didn't want him to eat the whole bag).

Anyways....yet another long post. Hopefully, I can get into a better posting schedule soon and having more frequent, shorter posts. Until then...

GVO Brookview

Here is a video of Adam's latest concert with Rich. It is long. 12 minutes. But I tried to get a few pieces of most of the pieces that they played. The second one in is the full one as it is Adam's solo piece. Also, I just videotaped Rich and Adam and pretty much ignored the rest of the group, only because I wasn't too familiar with most of the pieces and wanted to make sure that I got them actually playing. :)

I am FINALLY caught up!

So despite having other things I need to be doing, I HAVE to finish updating the blog after getting it so caught up today. Then, I will hopefully be back to a more normal posting schedule.

These first pictures are from last week when the Golden Valley Orchestra played at Lake Minnetonka. Grandpa Thimmesch drove up and played with the group. This was just the second concert all year that I have been too as I have to work up the courage given how unpredictable they each might be at any given moment.

It turns out that they were both absolute angels, and made me feel silly for second guessing them. We dropped dad and Grandpa Thimmesch off to warm up and then braved the streets around Lake Minnetonka to find a parking spot (this is a very busy lake so lots of people). We got our stroller loaded up and walked back to the spot where they were playing. Tyler did score some ice cream on the walk, and eventually we found a perfect spot to lay down some blankets and toys to listen to the music.


Kevin checking out Tyler's "superman" (i.e. all kinds of sour-sweet flavor) ice cream.

A picture of the orchestra warming up.

Tyler saying "cheese". He was SO excited to get to listen to daddy and grandpa play their trumpets.

Kevin was having a blast as well. He was all smiles and in such a good mood!

A picture of Tyler while we were listening.

Tyler didn't want to just sit and cuddle like Kevin did. Tyler was ALL about dancing to the music. He was having such fun jumping, twisting, and turning. And about 1/3 of the way through discovered that Tigger is also a great dancer.

Tyler is checking out a bicycle behind us, so given how still he was I snapped a picture so you could see the orchestra behind him.

Looking for daddy and grandpa.

Kevin is thinking about nodding off here. He made it through about 2/3 of the concert before he fell asleep.

The Thimmesch men after the concert. Tyler just couldn't wait to go run and see them! And he was just being so silly once he was able to talk to them!

As we were leaving the woman on the right had just caught the fish. So before they threw it back, grandpa and daddy took him over to see it. This was Tyler's first time to see a real fish in person, without glass between him and the fish.

So these next two pictures happened during the following week. I was busy in the kitchen when I heard the jumperoo start playing music. I just thought, good, Kevin is moving. And I continued to do my thing. Then Tyler started yelling "I jump, I jump". And I think, okay, he is entertaining himself (since he tends to jump, fall, and hop all over the place anymore). Then it hits me. Kevin isn't in the jumperoo. He is napping!!!!!!!!!!! And when I look into the living room, this is what I see.

Later in the week, both boys were sitting in the chair and Adam was taking pictures. These were some of the ones that we got. Two brothers sitting and laughing in a chair! :)

At the end of the week, I was off doing some laundry listening to Tyler laugh hysterically. I went to find him and discovered that he had grabbed a bag of dog treats and was having a treat session with the dogs. Both Ellie and Carlie were all fixed on him as he would yell at them to "pin" (his way of saying "spin") and was then feeding them treats!!!! It was super cute, but also made me realize that I should keep better track of where I set treat bags down at since all of the treats were gone out of that bag!!!

These final pictures were taken last night. The Golden Valley Orchestra played its final concert of the season at Brookview Park. Once again, Grandpa Thimmesch drove up to play with the group and this time Grandma Thimmesch accompanied him.

They got to our house early in the afternoon and Grandpa promptly went to take a nap (since he had to turn around and drive right back home after the concert....some 3.5 hours away). And Tyler whisked grandma away to his room to play. I only saw those two off and on as I went to check on them as they were busy playing "people" (i.e. Little People). He was so beside himself. And while I was cooking dinner, I started hearing grandma sing "Happy Birthday". And then she sung it again, and again, and again. I think that Tyler had her sing it over and over for an hour while I put together dinner.

I finally went back to see what all of that was about and Grandma explained that Tyler had baked a cake for "Blue's" birthday. Sure enough, they had all of his Little People gathered around a little Little People table and Tyler put the cake on the table. Grandma then sang Happy Birthday, Tyler blew out the candles, and then he gave everyone a piece of cake. When asked whose birthday it was, he told me that it was "Blue" who was apparently "three" from what I heard. And once everyone ate cake, the process started all over again and just kept repeating! All I can say, is thank you grandma for playing that with him. I just know that he had a blast!

And now some pictures from the concert.

Tyler was VERY excited to take his trumpet too and was so happy when the concert was over so he could run up and see grandpa and daddy with their trumpets. So of course I took pictures! :)

Three generations of Thimmesch men...and maybe trump

Tyler was just so thrilled to have a trumpet too. :)

Thank you again grandpa and grandma for making such a quick trip.

OKLAHOMA.....graduation!

Because I am tired and managed to upload pictures in the wrong order, this post will be in reverse chronological order. We spent our last day (Monday) hanging out at AJ and Christi's house. We all managed to sleep in, Kevin included, and around lunchtime Grandpa and Grandma Vaughn, Great-grandma and grandpa Vaughn, Christian, and Uncle Kerry arrived to eat lunch. At some point, before or after eating, (I can't remember...I was pretty tired at this point in the trip) dad went and put a DVD in. It loaded up and the title showed OU's medical school commencement page. So I thought that dad or Kerry (they are both known for making videos) had put together a video of yesterday's ceremonies, and settled in to watch it. But as the video started playing, I got pretty confused because those people it showed walking across the screen were not in the same attire as yesterday. I looked pretty confused and quickly asked Kerry and dad what this was, and both just sorta stared at me. And before long, Adam walked across the screen. It turns out that since everyone was unable to attend our law school graduation and since we were focused on graduation that weekend, they decided to throw Adam and I a belated graduation party.

So we had the treat (as dad ordered the DVD from our commencement ceremony) of watching Adam's speech and then watching us get our diplomas. It was really fun to see, though I think that Adam really didn't want to relive the speech (grin), as we had never seen a video of the ceremony. And then out came Christi with an Iowa Hawkeye decorated cake. Everyone's kind thoughts brought me to tears. It was very sweet of them, and we thank you again.

I wonder if I am the first or only person to ever get a graduation party to celebrate joining a profession AFTER retiring from that profession. Hehehehe. :)

And the best was later when Adam and I were talking about the cake. Earlier that morning Christi had given me this round about speech about how she really wanted a cake. And even though I was sugared out from the week, I agreed that if she wanted to bake one, then she should. (Between us, I really thought that she was nuts since she was also sugared out from the week. So when it turned out to be an Iowa cake, it all made sense). And at one point while she was icing it, I guess that Adam walked in and saw a chocolate frosted cake with an big yellow I on it. She wasn't done icing it, so he was a little confused about why there was an "I" on it and decided that it could be an Iowa cake (but didn't stop to process that it actually was or anything...so later it was funny that it did turn out to be a cake). Okay....as I type that out....it is not as comical as it is thinking about it in my brain. Oh well. It is already written. :)

After some lunch, we took some quick pictures before the surprise guest of the weekend, Uncle Kerry, had to leave to catch his flight back to Georgia. It was a surprise because no one (except Great Grandpa and Grandma Vaughn) knew that they were coming. He surprised AJ and Christi Friday night when he just walked into their house during a party they were throwing for a friend who was on leave from the army. And then surprised Grandpa Vaughn (my dad) when he just showed up at the house and rang the doorbell.


All the grandma and grandpa Vaughn's with grandkids.

Great-grandma and grandpa Vaughn with the three great grandsons.

Great Uncle Kerry (for some reason, typing that out is sooooo weird Kerry) with Kevin. We missed you Jeanne and Kyle!

Uncle Adam getting a nice snuggle from one tired nephew Matt. I think that Christi and I were both jealous that Adam was getting such a nice, and sweet cuddle from Matt.

Maybe it was because Uncle Adam taught Matt how to shave earlier that morning. :)

Okay, now some pictures from Sunday and the graduation! I can't believe that this day finally arrived, let alone being able to be there to celebrate with AJ. Way to go brother! I am very proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great-grandpa and Grandma Vaughn getting a laugh out of Kevin.

Uncle Kerry with AJ post-graduation.

Dad and Janice with AJ.

The wonderful woman, Christi, who helped getting my brother to where he is. Thank you Christi!!!! (She is also his loving wife in case someone reading this doesn't know that).

A picture of the four of us kids. We can still be called kids, right????

My brother and I. When in the world did we grow up AJ?

Mom and Ute with AJ.

Um....sneaking a cookie??? I laughed so hard when I saw this because I had NO idea this was happening despite me standing RIGHT THERE! So great-grandpa....you're busted for giving sugar-filled cookies! :) I really must have been tired. I just don't understand how I missed it. :)

Three generations of Wallace's. Great-grandma Wallace, mom, and Kevin!

Three generations of doctors.....Grandpa Wallace, Uncle Art, and AJ.

And a few pictures from before we left for the graduation. While Adam and I were getting ready, Tyler came and told me that Kevin was holding a car. I walk in and find that in fact Kevin was, in that Tyler was forcing him to hold a car and play with him. :) It should be fun once Kevin is truly old enough to play cars all by himself with Tyler.