Another Birthday!

One of the things that I never thought of when we were having this many children was the number of birthday parties that we would be having. That, combined with the fact that the birthday parties involve many more children...

Today (actually last weekend) was 11 additional five year olds in the house. it was fun, and the kids were actually very well behaved, but the noise level was the equivalent of a 747 taking off from close range. This really is something that everyone should experience at least one time.

Kids, cake, presents!

Balloons, banners, and bows!

Hannah Montana, HSM, and noise!

Iowa...
I had to go to Omaha this week for a quick overnight trip so Mrs. decided to come along. I had hoped to be able to spend more time with her travelling and this seemed like a great opportunity. We drove out on tuesday and returned late in the afternoon on Wednesday. It was a fun little trip.

The truth is, driving from Wisconsin to Omaha, Nebraska is really boring. Iowa is pretty, in a farm setting kind of way. But seven hours of corn farms, cattle farms, pig farms, and open farmland is really not that exciting. I thought it was interesting to discover that Iowa at night is really not much different from Iowa in the daytime. Neither one will do much to keep you on your toes along I80.

A Great Moment...

Yesterday we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's house and had a wonderful visit. I was sitting in the sunroom with Grandpa and we were talking about my trip to Louisville this week.

Grandpa got quiet and started thinking. Pretty soon he says, "I remember going to Louisville." I was waiting to hear what he had to say, wondering if his mind would pull this thought out after 97 years of memories. After a pause, he continued. "It was before I was married. We were downtown. It was Shorty S... and Jerry, and (pause) I can't remember who else. There was five of us. We started talking and decided to go to that race, the (pause) Kentucky race, (pause) the horse race, the, you know, the (pause) Kentucky Derby.

I was so happy to hear him get that thought out that I almost missed the signifigance of it. I had never known Grandpa to be a man of impulse. He had always seemed so straight and his every move so planned that this was news that surprised me. Now I got to hear that this man also had an impulsive side, even though it was from a story over seven decades old.

Grandpa continued to tell his story of how the five of them had driven overnight to go to the Kentucky Derby. He remembered going in the morning to get tickets to the race. As he wistfully looked out the window he smiled a little and said "I can't remember much else about it, but I remember going there."