September Potpurri

Some favorite photos from the past month.

This summer, Sam earned Lego kits by reading books. Here, Sam shows off the last book he read toward earning the Lego camper kit.
The final product.
It even opens up!
Katie models her birthday dress from Grandma Becker.
Sitting with Grandma.
Popcorn snack time.
Grace on the treadmill at physical therapy. (Katie's on the one next to her.)

Her therapist, Stephanie, was working on getting Grace's reciprocal movement in gear.
Grace taking good care of Katie's doll.


After the first week of school, Dave and I took Sam and Katie to Medieval Times.
Katie was impressed with the princess. Once Sam was reassured that there was no dragon in the building, he really enjoyed the show.
Katie chowing down at the old kitchen table. I bought the table during graduate school for $10. It was advertised in the classifieds of the Lincoln paper. I used the table as my desk in grad school.
Dave, Katie, and Grace assembling our new kitchen table, purchased at Ikea on Labor Day weekend.


Katie snoozing in the hallway.

Dave and some smiley kids

Probable hijinks in the bathroom.

Saturday in the parks

Today was a beautiful day to be outside. We took advantage of the morning by going to River Legacy to go for a family run.
Dave getting the bikes ready for Sam and Katie.
Grace and Isaac were rarin' to go.
Riding the trail along the Trinity River.
Wonderful shadows and light in the woods.
The incredible speed with which I was pushing the jogging stroller lulled Grace and Isaac to sleep.
Katie likes to take breaks to explore the forest.
Dave takes a turn pushing the kiddos.
Sam spotted this snake in a hole next to the river bank.
This afternoon I took the kids to a concert at Leavitt Pavilion, which is a new outdoor concert venue built across from the library in downtown Arlington. The performer was Eddie Coker, who writes and sings children's music.
Grace and Isaac were tired, but they enjoyed being out and about.
A view of the stage.
Enjoying some snocones.
Sam and Katie played in the fountain. It's still plenty warm down here, so the water was refreshing.

Cruising the Rhine

Catching up on photos we took in Germany during our last full day. We took a river cruise down a portion of the middle Rhine, from Bingen to St. Goar. It took about 2 hours, the perfect length of time after a morning spent on the train from Bielefeld to Mainz.
It was a wonderful trip - there was an impressive rain storm chasing us, but we never got doused.
Castles and churches galore.

Our ship.
Our vantage point.


Grace entertained the other boat riders by scooting around the deck.
Train tracks paralleled the Rhine on both side.
Nice train tunnel.
Approaching the Lorelei.

The big rock.



The train station at our arrival town, St. Goar.


Sam chasing pigeons in front of the Mainz train station. Our hotel was right across the street.

Happy kiddos

Here are some pictures of Isaac and Grace taken by Cathy, who is the wonderful lady in charge of the preschool they attend, along with Katie. Isaac started "school" three weeks ago, at the beginning of the semester. Other than the fact that he refuses to take a bottle, he's doing great. He's in a class with three young ladies, ages 7 months to 1 year old. But soon there will be another boy added to the mix.I am not technologically savvy enough to figure out how to get the above picture to show in all its glory, but even with the band of gray, that smile is delightful.
Grace is now in the toddler room, along with three other kids. She takes her nap on the floor like the big kids. And she gets to take part in big kid activities. Here she is today, exploring in the shaving cream.
In the past two weeks, Grace has started commando crawling and can now move from laying down to sitting up all by herself! Next goal - cruising.
This is Grace's smile for the camera! You'd think she was eating a lemon, but this is what she does when Cathy asks her to smile. You should see the fun face she makes when she's eating yogurt!