Birthday, Birthday, Birthday!

Big Brother turned 6 in early August in grand style. We started with a wonderful, fun kids party at Pump It Up http://www.pumpitupparty.com/. What a cool place! The kids ran and jumped and slid for an hour and a half and then enjoyed pizza, cake & punch. They all had such a great time and Will was truly blessed by all of his friends and their generous gifts.

The next week for his actual birthday, I had a BIG surprise in store. Will and I headed off to Chicago! Our main purpose was to take in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field (they beat the Cards 3-2 in 11 innings - WHAT A GREAT GAME!!).

We also went to the Shedd aquarium, wandered Navy Pier, and took a boat ride on Lake Michigan. Will's already assumed that this will be an annual thing and is planning our trip next year.

This past week we headed to SuperMan's (http://www.i-love-naptime.blogspot.com/) house for HIS 6th birthday. Will and SuperMan are so lucky to be so close in age. We all hit the pool, relaxed and went to Chuck E Cheese for pizza & games. We had a great time visiting with SuperMan, C-Dawg & CocoPuff (and Laura & Buck!!) and we were all sad when we had to come home.

This week we've been getting ready for school. Will starts Kindgergarten on Thursday! We had "Meet the Teacher" night last night and got to take all of Will's supplies in to his room, find his locker, inspect the music & art rooms, and have ice cream! He's very ready for school and can't wait to have Dad as "his principal".

Baby Sis is doing well. She's pulling herself up and standing alone but hasn't walked on her own yet. She's got some crazy hair with the humidity we've had lately, but I can't bring myself to cut it! It reminds me of Aunt Laura's hair when she was younger with all the sweet curls.

We've had a good summer and it's hard to believe it's quickly coming to an end. But with school, football games, Homecoming, Halloween and so many more fun times to look foward to we can't wait for Fall as well!

Flood Pictures

The picture above shows the river that divides are town east and west. The bridge at the top of the picture is I-380 - the only means of crossing the river. If you look closely, you can see three of the main bridges completely submerged other than the tops of the railings. The buildings on the island are the Veterans' Memorial Building and the courthouse/jail.

While I was driving home from work yesterday and again on my way in today, I was able to get these incredible, heartbreaking pictures of the devastation.

Our favorite Dairy Queen

Looking towards town up 3rd Avenue SE

This image took my breath away today as I was driving north to work. I haven't been able to get it out of my head all day.


Looking south at the Quaker factory that is fixture on the west side of I-380.

The railroad bridge that comes out of Quaker. Officials put train cars on the tracks in an effort to keep the bridge from breaking free. There is a second bridge to the south that collapsed into the river yesterday. So far this one is still standing. There are houseboats that have broken free and are trapped against the bridge on the other side.
Looking west on 1st Ave from I-380 Look at the one-way sign....and the water covered that sign this morning before the crest.

Flood Update

500+ blocks under water

25% of the city is under water

$736 million in damage

$250 million of that is residential

24,000 people are displaced

The water receded 1/100th of an inch about 1pm today

The water will not be back in the banks of the Cedar River until at least June 24.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-34707

The Flood

When the National Weather Service says "We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring", I really don't want to be anywhere close. However, here we are. Cedar Rapids is under water. As I came (SLOWLY) over I-380 tonight on my way home, I was speechless at the devastation. The estimate is 100+ blocks under water and the river is expected to crest a full 10 feet above yesterday's prediction. The latest issue is water....strangely, even though we obviously have too much, it sounds as if we will lose water to homes somtime in the next few days. 3 of the 4 wells supplying Cedar Rapids water are gone and the 4th is being sandbagged at the moment. Will is so interested in all of the coverage and wants to go see the water, but he's going to have to settle for the videos on the news....he's not getting anywhere close. Keep praying.

http://www.gazetteonline.com/

Standing!

She still hasn't really figured this out...she'll stand but hasn't pulled herself up yet. That's ok with Mommy. I'm not ready for her to be running after her brother yet!

More Fun in the Sun

The kids and I had another great weekend enjoying the weather. It's been rainy so much that clear skies and warm temps meant that we were going to spend most of the weekend outside. We fit in trips to two parks, the duck pond, two splash pads, and lots of scooter riding up and down the street.

Here's a handsome guy at the duckpond....the ducks & geese still love the graham crackers.

Morgan cracked me up when I set her on the grass. She didn't cry but as you can tell by her expression she wasn't quite sure what to think!

Will swang and swang until MY arms were tired from pushing him.

Sissy was a sleepy girl at the end of the busy day yesterday but was happy and ready to go today!

We had a great weekend....hope you all did too.

After the Storm

On Monday, I made a trip to Aplington (about 5 miles from Parkersburg where Scott's aunt & uncle live) to pick Will up to bring him home. His dad stayed on with Grandma and Uncle Steve. Will was very talkative on the way home telling me all about how he and Grandma went to the basement and how loud the storm was and "Mom, did you know that Grandma's neighbor's garage hit her house and is in her backyard now?" All things I hoped I wouldn't have to hear out of my 5-year old's mouth. He has lots to tell me about the storm and has talked about it pretty constantly since. After we got home and got sissy (who was THRILLED to see her brother), we headed to the park to run off some energy. Will ran and swang and jumped and slid. Sissy had a great time watching.

YAY WILL!!

After the park we hit the duck pond to feed the ducks and geese, who apparently LOVE graham crackers (Sissy's favorite food, which is why I had LOTS on hand).

Will was disappointed the swimming pool wasn't open yet as it turned out to be a gorgeous spring day. I drove past one of the splash pads, hoping that it might be open and it was! I barely had the van stopped before Will had undone his seatbelt, stripped off his t shirt and sandals and was out the door running for the water.

He had a ball. He ran all over the place for a solid hour while sissy and I cruised in her stroller. After that we hit Dairy Queen for milkshakes and headed home exhausted. He crashed about 715 Monday night and slept until about 715 Tuesday morning. He was reluctant to go to school yesterday morning and wanted extra hugs before Morgan and I dropped him off. But he had a good day and another good night's sleep last night. I'm so grateful.