Summer is winding down

Where has the summer gone? I think this has been the fastest summer yet. I suppose it is because I am enjoying my time with Bode and Brianna. It has been a good summer. No big news. We are working on some landscaping in our back yard. It should look nice when we get it all done. Bode continues to grow and amaze us. He is a little parrot right now, repeating a lot of what we say and do. I am waiting for him to wake up from his nap, so wanted to take the time to post to the blog. Kurt has been going to physical therapy for his back. It does not seem to help and he finally started taking pain meds. He goes to a specialist Friday, so hopefully things will start to improve. He is getting very frustrated as he is not able to bike much, either.

Visit to the zoo

This was a fun weekend. Saturday we went to the Omaha Zoo and Sunday we went to Clear Lake for a bike race.



We were not sure about our decision to go to the zoo when the closer we got to Omaha, the darker the clouds were. It was raining when we got there, but just a little. The clouds remained for a while, but the rain didn't, so we ended up with a beautiful day. It was a lot of fun. We hadn't been in a long time. We went to the Blank Park Zoo, but it is not anywhere near as nice. One of our highlights was the gorilla house. There was a crowd lined up along the glass inside and one of the gorillas was in an especially bad mood. She kept running at the glass and throwing herself into it! Poor thing! It was rather thrilling to see, though. They are such powerful creatures, I'd hate to be inside with one!



Bode and Brianna rode the carousel. Both of them thought it was fun. Brianna seems to enjoy watching Bode have fun.

We ended the day in the old market area. We had dinner at Spaghetti Works. We enjoyed a balloon artist while we waited. Bode got an Elmo and Brianna got a penguin. Overall a wonderful day.

July 2008

It has been a busy summer. Bode is learning something new daily and keeps us all busy. Brianna has been busy making friends and being a teenager! They both keep us on our toes, but it is so much fun.

Brianna had her 14th birthday on the 4th. We started the day out at a parade in Carlise. Bode figured out if he waved at the people, they would throw candy at him. He didn't really care much about the candy, but he got a kick out of them throwing things at him. Later, Brianna had some friends over for the night and they had so much fun. The girls went swimming at the aquatic center. It is nice to be so close to it that they can walk. We put up the volleyball net and played some volleyball before supper. Supper was a pizza dish and for dessert, an ice cream cake. As usual, Brianna was excited to open her gifts. We got a Wii for her and she was thrilled! It is getting a lot of use. Our neighbor has a Wii and brought over her guitar hero. I'm pretty sure Santa will be bringing that this year!

I took Bode to the pool this week. We hadn't gone yet. He had so much fun going down the pirate ship slide. Brianna and one of her friends went, too. They enjoyed playing with him in the water.

Our A/C froze up this week. Of course it is the hottest week so far! Our neighbor, who works on commercial heating and cooling, took a look at it for us and got us fixed up. I don't know how I managed as a kid without A/C! It sure is a nice luxury.

Enjoy the pictures of Brianna's party. I am also including a photo of Kurt's silver medal from the Hy-Vee triathlon. It is quite the show piece.