Family Life in Iowa City

Life in Iowa City has been pretty good (house aside...see following blog). This town seems to be full of life and there is no shortage of activities for the family. My calendar is full of events to go to with the kids, many of which are coordinated through the public library system - it is wonderful here. We are very curious to see how the town changes come September when the college students invade.

Picture of Ethan at 7 weeks. He is 8 weeks old today which is amazing! As you can see, he is a very happy baby and will frequently coo to get your attention. You can also see that he is a well fed baby as the 2nd chin is fully developed and he is working on a 2nd roll on his thighs.


One of the wonderful places we have discovered is called the Ped Mall. It is a 4 block radius of unique shops, local restaurants, a playground, and a water area for the kids. There are weekly music concerts there, and you will frequently come across a Presidential hopeful campaigning in the area (Iowa is obviously rampant with politics right now). Olivia LOVES the water area as you can see.

Waiting for the 4th of July parade. We thought that this would be a fun activity to do as Olivia had never been to a parade before. Little did we know that it is a TWO HOUR parade with 174 entries. I didn't bring sunscreen, water to drink, a hat for Ethan, or anything for us to sit on as we were expecting it to be about 15 minutes or so. Olivia thought that it was the best thing ever - she just had to sit and look pretty and she came away with so many goodies. And not just candy, but necklaces, water bottles, popsicles, flags, sparklers, troll dolls, etc. It was impressive.

I love this picture - I think it looks like a typical small town 4th of July scene.

Fun with the sparklers from the parade.

Hello to everyone!

We finally have the room to set up the princess tent from Grammy. Olivia loves this and will bring all of her stuffed animals into it each day. If you look closely you can see Ethan through the tent's window.

For some reason, after a hard day working, Joe and my dad both had to climb this tree in our front yard. Just because it is there, is my guess. So then Olivia wanted to join in the fun, too.