A busy weekend led right into a crazy week. We have lots of pictures but little time for blogging. Over the holiday weekend we successfully traveled from Iowa City to Franklin, WI, (Milwaukee suburb), Evanston, IL, and back home again with no major catastrophes. We found a fabulous park for a picnic lunch in Rochelle, Ill. (almost exactly half-way between here and my sister's place in Wisconsin.) The boys both slept well in the car (drive time carefully planned around full bellies and tired boys.) And since we're not above making ourselves totally ridiculous in the name of toddler entertainment, we all survived. Not to mention, we had a great time in both places. In Franklin, Ed got to play with his cousins (and eat Katherine's birthday cupcakes) and Daniel was very tolerant of the pinching and kissing from the extended family. (Note: Aunt Nora took the photo at right with Daniel in her lap. She titled the file "yes, my cheeks are substantial.") Then in Evanston, Ed got to take his first trip to the beach (late afternoon and slathered in sunscreen, which he calls "sun scream" and for good reason, since he hates when I put it on him.) He LOVED the beach. Enough that I may have to get over my own aversion and take him to our local sandy spot (I find it a bit gross because it's a reservoir created on the Iowa River, which is not a pristine waterway!) He played at the water's edge for quite a while, scooping sand and dumping it in the water. The water was cold, but not enough to send pains up your legs. He actually stayed relatively dry until we carried a bucket of water up to where Gram was sitting with a sleeping Daniel. Then he dumped it all over himself. Here is a series of beach shots and a video.



We waited until after the trip to let Daniel try some rice cereal. He doesn't quite know what to make of it at this point, but he's not rejecting it either. I had hoped it would help fill him up and encourage sleeping through the night, but so far that has not happened.
In health news, Daniel has conjunctivitis again--no surprise, given that Edward had it last week. I asked the doctor yesterday if we could expect them just to continue to pass it back and forth. He didn't miss a beat: "Well, that's how we stay in business." A doctor with a sense of humor--what a treat.