A side trip to Iowa.

We left late last Monday morning and this is what it looked like.

I know. It was so pretty.

Let me tell you something about a long car ride...it sucks with small children.

Well, not all small children. Elisabeth was always fabulous on car trips because she's been entertaining herself since she was just a toddler and as long as she had enough toys and books, we'd barely hear a peep out of her. Not so with Miss Julia. That girl is a backseat tyrant. A tyrant who will ONLY TALK TO ME. She will only tell me that she needs crackers or juice or her pacifier or the thousandth toy she dropped. And, if Evan answers for me, she starts crying and tells *me* that Daddy talked to her.

I did not jump out of the moving car. Evan childproofed the locks.

But, when you feed her or she feels like not being contrary, she is quite fun to be with on the road. We realized she can sit in a booth like a big girl. She was so excited to sit with Elisabeth.
Oh, my lord. I haven't even begun to tell you about the hotel. So, we stop in Lincoln, NE for the night. We figure we'll put Ebeth and Julia in the same bed. So, we tell Elisabeth to get in bed, put pillows to block the two of them for disturbing each other and start rocking Julia. Julia is having none of this. She doesn't want rocked. She doesn't want to sleep in a bed she doesn't know. So, we decide to split up. I slept with Elisabeth and Evan slept with Julia.

Holy freaking cow. It was the most terrible night in a hotel ever. Evan thought he was getting a better end of the deal because we know full well that Elisabeth sucks at sleeping. That girl kicks and talks and runs and flails all about in her sleep. Which she did. I was kicked repeatedly and was woken up by jabbering that I could not translate.

But, don't worry, Evan faired no better. It appears that Julia sleeps the same as her big sister.

When they woke up (at effing 5:30AM Colorado time), they found it most amusing that they were sleeping with us and started giggling.

And then promptly fell asleep in the car all morning long.

She's meditating.
We made a pit stop in Iowa to see Evan's Grandpa Jim. He had never met Julia and we hadn't seen him since Elisabeth was a toddler. Thankfully, Kyle and Jana drove up with the boys!!

I stopped holding Ethan long enough to allow others to hold him. Elisabeth is completely smitten by him!
Couldn't you just smother him with kisses for hours?!
Julia also loves Baby O.
And, for about 5 miraculous minutes, the four kids all sat down together and I was able to photograph them!!!!!!!

Julia also wanted to hold Owen. She declared him cute.
And was persistent about giving him her pacifier. She loves her own pacifier more than anything and assumes that all other babies do as well.
Evan also got some Owen holding time.
Grandpa Jim with his two youngest great-grandkids!
No, that is not a real bear. Though, that is the dog's name. Julia loved Bear.

No worries. I've taken about 500 pictures of him. I'll share them with you soon.

The 4th.

First off, I have to tell you that we arrived safely in Illinois. And we instantly smothered Owen with hugs and kisses. Elisabeth especially is infatuated with him and wants to hold him and feed him all the time. Julia enjoys telling everyone how "cute" Baby O is. :)

I can not believe how they all four just sat there. If you do not know Ethan or Julia, they aren't ones for sitting still long. But, I will chat more about them at a later time.

Oh, and this is a bear. This is a bear that I saw IN REAL LIFE. Not a zoo. Not a picture book. REAL LIFE. He was crossing the street while I was driving with my friend Rachel. We stopped and I hyperventilated before realizing I had my camera and should definitely be documenting this experience. I got a picture of his behind as he was lumbering off to the woods. Best. Day. Ever!

Now, on to the 4th of July. Here is a picture of the sky that day. Yes, it is quite beautiful, but you may notice that there is a dark spot in the bottom right corner. Remember that for later.
We went over to my lovely friend Kim's house for dinner. She and her husband had fireworks that they were going to light off and they were grilling. It was a lovely invite that we couldn't pass up. :)

Julia smacked into a door frame and bonked her cute little nose. Only story books would soothe her.
These were the clouds while we ate dinner.
The temperature went from the high 80s to the high 50s in a matter of minutes.
This is wine that Kim's neighbor brought over. I had never had it before. It was delicious. I took it's picture so I could buy it in the very near future. Yum. (Oh, and those are wild strawberries from Kim's garden. I am so very jealous about her strawberries. Mine won't grow.)
Julia was interested in the fireworks...
until she heard them...
then she deemed them scary and did not think they were pretty and did not want to see more.
So she came inside with me.
And continued her reading.
And, yes, Elisabeth was there too. But, you see, she doesn't hang around the grown-up folk. She is 7.5 and has better things to do. She also has never really hung out with us...unlike Julia who makes sure that I am never out of her sight line.

Oh, and also, it totally stormed in the middle of the fireworks fun. Hail and everything. We still had fun though. :)

Illinois Bound!

I am so excited!!! In 2 days I will be holding Owen. In 2 days the girls will be running around the house with Ethan causing havoc! In 2 days we'll be in Illinois!!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited. Very excited. Beyond excited!!!!

We're leaving tomorrow around 11:00. We're kind of apprehensive about how Julia will do on such a long car ride. We're not worried about Elisabeth because she's a trooper and does excellent on long trips. But, Julia...well, she's not as easy going as her older sister.

Oh, I've mentioned that before? Sorry.

So, please know that my next few posts will be full of little red haired boys playing with my girls. And little red haired boys being smothered in smooches by their Aunt Ginia.

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh, and there will be pictures of other family members too, but, in case you haven't noticed, I am rather in love with Ethan and Owen)

Here are some pictures for your entertainment:

This is Ebeth playing on the computer. She gets some computer playing time when Julia is napping. Elisabeth would like her own laptop. When we told her that she didn't really need one and that they were kind of expensive (you know, trying to use guilt to make her not ask for one), she came back with that she'll just ask Santa for one because then it will be free. Sigh.

We went to see Toy Story 3 on Father's Day weekend. This was Julia's 3rd theater experience. Her first was at 3 weeks old when Evan and I went to see Wall-E on a date. She slept in her sling the whole time. Then last year about this time, we took her to see UP!. She slept through most of it. This time, not only did she only sleep through a small portion of it, but she enjoyed a lot of popcorn and watched a lot of the movie. We were most impressed with her! (Except for the part where she wet herself on me by moving her diaper over and seriously peeing on me. That part was not cool.)
I have a complaint about our refrigerator. It has no lock on the water spicket part. None.



Sigh.

I can't help it.

I really can't. They call to me and I must photograph them.

Especially here. Where they tumble over the mountains in shades of grey and blue and purple. They will never look exactly this way again and it needs documented.
Evan usually will report the sunset as he's looking out our huge window on his way down from putting the girls to bed. I hurry outside with my camera. What if I missed this?
Or this?

And then there are flowers. I can not help myself with them. They are gorgeous and my camera must photograph them.
And bugs.

My favoritest picture.







They call to me. So, I answer. :)