The Joys of Summer

We have returned to central Illinois, and we could not be more thrilled. Joe has started his new job, and aside from being terrified and stressed, he is enjoying it. Almost every single box has been unpacked and the house has been scrubbed, so I am declaring us officially moved in to the new homestead. Olivia is getting back into the swing of things with her previous group of friends, and Ethan is a non-stop walking and climbing machine. Life is good for the Baimas.

Joe and I upon entering our new house. We were not sure if we would make it here with the Iowa floods. Interstate 80 was closed in a key section, and the detour was 120 additional miles! We traveled down on a highway through Hannibal, so several days after our trip this highway was also flooded - we were lucky with our timing! Anyway, the moving company was fantastic in making sure that our belongings arrived on the promised day, even though the detours were terrible for them as well. If you ever move from Iowa City, we recommend Adamantine Spine Moving Company - they were fantastic even with the floods. I guess you just cannot understand how devastating a flood is until you live in a town that is affected by one. We had many plans of things we had wanted to do one more time before leaving Iowa City, but we were completely homebound for the last 4 days or so due to the majority of the main roads being flooded and the city asking people to stay home.



Joe, Ethan, and Olivia catching a game at Busch Stadium. Joe and my dad took the kids to the game the day before we moved in. I decided to stay at home and decompress from the moving process.

Olivia having fun at Washington Park. She had to climb on top of just about everything and have me take her picture.

On a playdate at the park with friend Kellan (and mom Nicola). This was one of our many distractions after our move into the new house. I was alone with the kids for the first 2 full weeks while Joe completed his fellowship in Iowa City. He returned to us 3 days before starting his new job. He did not have much of a transition time! Although we survived the floods of Iowa, we fear that Iowa City will be completely changed if we ever do go on a return trip. Joe said that many of our favorite places (like the Devonian Fossil gorge, several restaurants, etc.) are completely gone. He also said that the entire town smelled like pond scum after the water had receded a bit, so I was not at all sorry to be gone. Luckily the water and sewer system was not affected in Iowa City (unlike Cedar Rapids). One point to make on how bad the flood was - in the June 11 post we were standing on a pedestrian bridge over the flood water. The very next day that bridge was submerged by the flood. I wonder if it is still standing?

Olivia thoroughly enjoying a lemonade shake-up on the 4th of July.

Water fun!

This picture captures summer fun - a very first slice of watermelon. Ethan loved every single bite, although he did think that we were being a bit mean when we wouldn't let him taste the rind as well.