The Motorcade

Decorah, a small town of 8,000, made the news today! President Obama spoke at a local business - Seed Savers to a crowd of 500 people. I wish I could have been lucky enough to be one of the 500!

However, even though we weren't part of the audience, we were not disappointed as we got a close up of the motorcade as it drove by our house taking the president from Seed Savers (located north of town) to the Hotel Winneshiek. The road was completely blocked off for a half hour before it came through, and as we waited for the official motorcade numerous Secret Service vehicles drove by - the agents wore suits or shirts with bullet-proof vests (at least I think that's what I was seeing). They all had black sunglasses too - just like the movies! :) Just kidding - well, they did have sunglasses on, but maybe that was because it was actually quite sunny out!

If you look closely at the first bus (left side) you can see President Obama's arms - he was standing up looking/waving out the windows. Want to know what he was looking at - scroll down to see the sign the neighbor's made!

And a few pictures of the girls and their neighborhood friends. Clearly they were focused on "better" things like playing babies and eating freezies. :)


I went walking downtown with my friend Jamie later on...Snipers on the roof and Secret Service in front of the Hotel Winn. Gigantic construction vehicles blocked all the cross streets downtown and cement road blocks blocked main street. As my step-dad said, Decorah might be the safest town in the country tonight!

Bug Day

Back in July while Olivia was participating in the Wahlen Cabin play-group, she came home one day with a fancy "bug hat." It had been "Bug Day" at camp and before going exploring for cool bugs like ants, all the kids got to decorate a visor to wear. After their bug-hunt, each kid also made their own bug using construction paper. At this point in the play-group Olivia had finally gotten over her "I don't decorate anything" period, and came home with a pretty impressively decorated hat and an even more interesting looking bug. Not only was she quite proud of these at the time, but she still talks about her bug which is hanging up on the fridge and she and Gracie both enjoy wearing her hat on occasion.

Swimming Lessons

We signed both our water babies up for two sessions of swimming lessons this summer. Grace was a part of the "Mommy and Me" lessons, and Olivia completed two sessions of the "Pre-School" level lessons (without Mommy in the water). There's never been any doubt in my mind that the girls love the water and are on their way to becoming "pool-rats" especially considering our proximity to the pool, but it was interesting to see how they acted in lessons with teachers who they didn't know.


Gracie did great (although we did have a couple of trantrums when it was time to get out!). She continued to be her adventurous and independent self - showing off by pouring water over her head and refusing to hold my hand even though she was neck deep in water. Gracie stressed a little each day because the slide wasn't on, but thankfully was pretty cooperative despite this very upsetting fact (in her world at least) and made great progress with kicking and blowing bubbles. I'm not sure what we'll do next year - she'll be a little too old to repeat but not quite old enough for pre-school without special permission.



Olivia made awesome progress from week one to week two. Week one I was at the pool sitting on a bench watching her. She did okay, but didn't do a lot of the things I knew she could like putting her face in, laying back and kicking, etc. She also always wanted to hold her teacher's hand and sit on her lap. Week one ended with a recommendation to repeat the pre-school level, no surprise. Week two I came up with various excuses to "leave" her at the pool with her friend Lilah's mom when really I was watching from the nearby park as I played with Grace. The difference was amazing - Olivia was way more out-going and not nearly as clingy to her teachers. She passed week two with flying colors and was so proud of herself! I was proud of her too. I think it's important that she learn to be comfortable in the water with someone besides Brian and me, and it was great to see her take directions from others and dive into new activities increasing her abilities in the process.

The slide on the last day of lessons was a huge hit.
I love the progression of facial expressions as they hit the water.
The last picture is the girls running to get back in line.

Sorry no pictures of Grace!

Grace Elizabeth - 18 Months

To celebrate Gracie being 18 months old, here are 18 fun facts about her...

1. Loves ice cream but won't let anyone help her eat it.

2. Is a pool lover - "pool" is one of Gracie's favorite words. She says it every time the pool is in sight which is every time we step outside the house, and goes berserk at Livy's swimming lessons when I won't let her out of the stroller (We leave and go play at the park as a distraction.), and goes down the slide like it's the best thing on earth.

3. Still goes to bed around 7 without any qualms and generally sleeps 12 hours along with a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. Once she's awake and dressed, all I have to say to Gracie is "Do you want a pony" to have her running to the bathroom and waiting to be lifted up to sit on the counter. She brushes her teeth while I do her hair along with Liv's every morning. (Check out the last post if you've forgotten what Gracie looks like without her classic pony.)

4. Loves jumping - in the pool, in the crib, and on Liv's trundle bed should it happen to be out.


5. Most favorite words = pool, mommy, sissy, river, bike, strawberry, and ___. (There's more, but under the pressure of writing I just can't think of them.)

6. Enjoys playing "Simon Says" with Livy and isn't all that bad at it - she definitely understands more than she can say.

7. Nearly ate a pint of raspberries by herself in one day.

8. Loves playing babies and taking them on walks with Olivia.


9. Tells everyone, including the boy who kicked the soccer ball at the park with her for a full 10 minutes, that her babies have "poop." (I'm sure the boy really cared.)

10. Is loosing her little waddle run to more of a traditional looking one. (This makes me a little sad because it was so darn cute!)

11. Likes to put her clothes in the laundry basket and her diapers in the diaper genie.

12. Calls crackers "crackies" like her sister.


13. Really doesn't like ants, having sand stuck on her hands, or having grass stuck to her feet. However, despite her dislike for having sand on her hands, has taken a couple solid bites of the stuff.

14. Threw an absolute fit and cried like she was seriously injured when it was time to get off the carousal at the fair. Then, only minutes later, refused to come out of the bouncy house causing me to have to crawl in there after her. This, of course, resulted in another fit.

15. Colors on everything - the tile floor in the kitchen, her little picnic table, the carpet in the sun porch - thankfully all items that can handle it. I'm scared for what will come next - this wasn't an issue I had to worry about with Livy.

16. Is always scratching the upper backside of her diaper resulting in fingernail cuts no matter how short I keep them clipped.


17. Gets beads of sweat across her nose and cheeks when it's hot.

18. Threatens to hit me (and me only) when she's mad but often dives in for a cuddle instead saying "Mommy" which I take for "Mom, I'm really annoyed but know I'm not supposed to hit you, so I'm going to twist you around my finger by giving you a cuddle instead."