More Splash Pad Pictures

Swimming lessons are going well. Yesterday they used the kick board and Reeve really loved that part. Kyle is getting better about relaxing when he's floating on his back. It's hard for me to take pictures during the lesson because I'm in the water with them. Each day it is just a tad warmer, and each day they seem to enjoy the lessons more.

Last caterpillar to make chrysallis

We brought the first caterpillar to make a chrysallis into the Elroy Public Library where he will stay until he hatches.
We now have 3 at home and this is the last caterpillar made her trek to the top of the net yesterday to form her chrysallis.
The whole process constantly amazes us. When they are in this stage they look like they are in a deep prayer before their next transformation. They kind of bob their head, and the way they are curled up really makes it seem like they are chanting.

Swimming Lessons

The boys started swimming lessons Monday. They really love them so far, but it would be 10 times more wonderful if it was just a tad warmer. The pool is heated, but not that much. For their lessons it's been in the low 70's and cloudy when they're in the pool. We're hoping today will be a bit warmer.


This waterworks area will be very enjoyable when it warms up, but yesterday the water was chilly coming out. Kyle didn't even want to take off his towel to go in. Reeve really wanted to try it out, but didn't really want to get wet.

Blow Out on The Ride Home

On the way home we wanted to test if I could ride the bike with Reeve's trail behind bike and the bike carrier attached to the trail behind. It was too much for Tom's old tires and shortly after we got rolling we heard a very loud bang! My rear tire blew out. Tom rode my bike back to our house to get the truck to come pick us up. Luckily we were by an intersection. You'll notice it's the same Cty Hwy H rode where we saw the wandering cow on Friday. The kids and I waited a timely 20 minutes which was not bad at all and saved me from treking up the huge hills on the way home. Next time we'll make sure to bring the patch kit, tubes, and pump.

Reeve said it was the best day he's ever had riding the bike and he can't wait until we do it again. He was so good at it we're considering taking a 3day weekend bike trip. We can bike from our house to Sparta in less than a day. Camp in Sparta, and then bike home the last day. We've heard the campground in Sparta is really nice. By car Sparta is about 40 miles from our house. We just have to work out the logistics of what to bring and how to carry it. The trail behind can hold a lot of gear and Kyle.... we'll see!

They set the Fair up in the Elroy Park, which is a huge park with soccer field, tennis courts, slides, swings, and the swimming pool. This is where the kids will start their swimming lessons tomorrow.

Animals & Rides

The Elroy Fair is one of those quintessential small town fairs, complete with farm animals, horse pulls, and kiddie rides.

Bike Ride to the Elroy Fair

After we wore ourselves out with the dogs Reeve and Kyle really wanted to go for a bike ride. Tom and I decided to surprise them and ride to the Elroy Fair. It's about 8-10 miles by bike from our house, and the majority of the way is on the Omaha Bike Trail. It connects with the Elroy-Sparta bike trail which is famous for being the Nation's first Rails-to-Trails bike trail. Meaning that they converted the former train route into a bike path. It's extremely easy to ride with no hills, and it is fairly well maintained.

Reeve had a blast riding the trail behind bike that started out attached to Tom's bike. It was Tom's new mini-motor. Everytime I'd look at them Reeve was the only one peddling!

Dog Sitting

Our friends Lisa & Wally asked the boys to take care of CharlieBrown & Gilligan for a day.

The boys had a lot of fun, and took their responsibility seriously. The first thing they wanted to do was take the dogs for a long walk.

Reeve's watch was CharlieBrown and Kyle handled Gilligan. Both boys and dogs were very well behaved.

Jazzy (our cat) wasn't too thrilled with the lovable doggies, so we took the dogs back to their house to run around. They were very happy to be around familiar surroundings. After a few laps around the house we gave them some yummy treats and let them get some much needed rest.