13 Years Is A Pretty Good Run (September 2023)

The first time we went to the Sciencenter, Annika was six years old.  The last time she went to the Sciencenter, she was 19 years old.

Times change, huh?

We were supposed to go on a glorious adventure to Knoebel's (to finally use Evan's amazing gift to Piper!), but severe thunderstorms at the park foiled that plan. As a substitute, John pulled a local daytrip out of his pocket, and we spent a wonderful day together trying on sizes.

Even this handsome guy made do. (A book in hand while at the Sciencenter is worth 2,000 books at home.)

Thank goodness they gave up before hitting a million...

Annika must have been practicing for her wedding pictures here. (Tim-- you're the fish.)

After watching Aidan's delight on this magical hovering chair, I tried it out and was disappointed to learn that it doesn't float effortlessly with an additional 100+ pounds on top. Ah, well. 

Like all the rest, these are poor-quality pictures, but they make me happy. This interactive water creatures display has been one of Millie's favorites since she was little, and seeing her enjoy it with the little ones was one of the best parts of the day. 

We tested every last exhibit. 

Taking this picture of Ineker's picture may be weird, but it was less creepy than us hunting for a still screen of the Newmans when we returned to the Sciencenter a few months ago (just wait, Andrew, you'll love it!). 

Annika took devious delight in pairing each of her drawings with a matching scripture verse.  That's probably more scripture than the Sciencenter's ever seen. 

                     

I had to have a talk with Ransom because he kept greedily trying to stockpile all the ducks for himself. Heaven forbid that someone else grab one and enjoy the exhibit, too.

As it happened, a few minutes later, I realized that I should have had a talk with Someone Else about stockpiling, too. 

Cadence and Millie. Millie and Cadence. The bond between these two is the sweetest. 

Before we left, we played on the outdoor playground.  Well, the younger children played on the outdoor playground, at least. My older children are grown adults and, obviously, they matured past enjoying playgrounds ages ago. 

I don't know how many pictures I've taken over the years of this monkey of ours in this exact spot-- sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, sometimes hanging upside down-- but it's a lot. 

A last hurrah.

(Hurrah?)

John surprised us with basic burritos from Viva. My belly grew a lot from that giant burrito. 

What we didn't know at the time, but what we should have guessed, is that many of these Lasts with Annika ended up being Lasts with Mildred, too. Maybe someday we can steal all the Southern grandbabies for a week and bring them here for some Firsts. (One can dream.)

Lephtovers Phrom the Phone (September 2023)

 

Someone must have changed the phone camera settings, and I never noticed until now, ha! Long, skinny, crummy phone pictures are even worse than normal-sized, crummy phone pictures.

Aidan's stay at the emergency room for a dislocated patella was an event we'd both have been happy to skip. He sat on my big ol' pregnant lap in a wheelchair for hours until they got him a bed. Since his patella has a history of dislocating, at least I now know how to move it back into place when it doesn't slide back on its own! I've already had to do it a few times, poor kid.

He has two snapshots as payment for his sorrows. (Skylark had an emergency room visit a couple of weeks later for stitches. The e.r. attendants must have wondered what our household is like...)

Here are the only pictures I have of our kringle feast from Molly. We saved them for when Tim and Kellie were visiting, and though the pictures are terrible, the kringles were AMAZING. 

Lastly, Grandma Owen gave the children hair coloring sticks, so we took pictures for Grandma. I think I was down cleaning the farmhouse while this happened...