Day at the Farm, Part 1

A couple weekends ago we went to a party thrown by some friends some work, an annual affair dubbed Day on the Farm. Will loved the tire swing, goat, pigs, horses, roosters, llama, etc.

Polar bears on Mars?

Saturday night, Will and I made a fire and made s'mores. Mmmmm, s'mores.

As the sun went down and the stars came out, we started talking about the stars. Will empathized with one outlier, which he dubbed "Lonely Star."

We then started talking about the other planets in the solar system, and how there wasn't life on them, including Mars. I told Will that Mars was much colder than anywhere on Earth, so nothing lived there.

"Except polar bears," Will said.

That's right, except polar bears dominate Mars.

Ready for business

Bottle? Check. BlackBerry? Check. Poopy diaper? Check.

Charlie's a young corporate climber ready for business.

Guy Smiley

Charlie's starting to give us some smiles nowadays, and Jana caught this one Friday night at a hot air balloon rally we went to in Waupaca.

Father's Day, Part 3

The highlights of the Bay Beach amusement park were the miniature train, which seemed much smaller and shorter than it did when I was 12 - Will still made a trip with both Mommy and Daddy; and the bumper cars. Will picked an outlying car, and we were really moving at a good pace away from the scrum when Will said "Daddy, let's hit someone!" Which we then did, and took our share of hits. If only I could bottle his laughter during those minutes ...

Needless to say, everyone was pretty pooped at the end of the day.

Father's Day, Part 2

On to the Bay Beach amusement park ...

Father's Day, Part 1

We had a great Father's Day, the highlight being our time at Bay Beach. Our first stop there was at a wildlife sanctuary, where we fed the geese, watched birds of prey, and visited the museum. It was such a nice day with Charlie, Will and Jana.

A brother's instinct

People often ask us how Will is adjusting to being a big brother. Much as he was during my pregnancy, Will has remained very protective and, somehow, become the authority on Charlie.

The other day, as Will and Scott were leaving, Will told me, "Mommy, you need to feed the baby when he's hungry."

Thanks Dr. Spock.

"OK, I will. Thanks for being such a good brother," I said.

"Mommy, you need to sing to him or hold him when he cries."

"OK, will do. I've got it under control."

"Mommy, do you need a job to do today?"

"What?" I started getting a bit defensive by this point, "Sure. Do you have a job for me?"

"Yup. You can make me dinner."

He must be so proud of his mother.

The truth hurts

At work, I often tell everyone that I leave "gifts for my future self." Notes about a project to help make things smoother next time around or to help answer the inevitable questions that someone may ask me.

I try to do the same thing for Will ... provide him little hints to make his life easier.

Fairly late in my pregnancy, Will looks at me and says, "Mommy, I still love you even though you're getting so fat."

In my effort to make Will a good husband someday, I quickly corrected him.

"Honey, even if it's true, you never, ever tell a woman that she's fat."

He looked at me, took that in, and said, "Mommy, I still love you even though you're getting so huge."

More Saturday pictures ... some from Will