Time for the football!

Owen got a new airplane that we've been enjoying watching fly. We've made many trips to the big triangle to pilot and chase the plane. Sometimes it gets so high and runs into a tree, where it gets stuck. When it gets stuck, the boys yell "Time for the football!" and run to get it for Jer or my mom. They then have to toss the football up the tree to try and get the plane free. This afternoon it got stuck so high and tight that at one point there was a plane, a football and two soccer balls stuck up there! Jer ended up getting a ladder, climbing the tree a bit and shaking it like crazy until the stuff came falling down.I am recovering nicely thanks to the help of my mom and Jer. It has been nice to have one person to look after me and the other to look after the boys!

Yes, it could have been.

Music to my ears...I spoke with my surgeon this morning, Dr. Laguna, and asked him if by chance my Lutsen hospital experience and this experience could have been correlated and he said YES! I told him I didn't come in for so long this time as I was feeling the same way in Lutsen and had very little results come from that hospital experience and the many other doctors visits there after. He explained that my appendix could have been blocked and fixed itself back in February (and that often times that happens in children, but less often in adults) and then got blocked once again recently! Oh big sigh of relief. Here's to no appendix!

Here are a few more photos from SD.

Ole Sling Shot Hipps

We have been out in the Black Hills with my family for the past week, doing the great American road trip. On our first evening of driving, Owen lost his 2nd tooth and the tooth fairy paid him a visit in Mitchell, SD...just in time for Wall Drug the next day. He was excited to add to his Wall Drug spending cash and picked out what proved to provide hours and hours of entertainment, a sling shot, as well as a new nickname, Ole Sling Shot Hipps. He (& Daddy) loved setting up targets in the yard, on hikes, and even while driving slowly at signs out the window. (nice, I know.)It was a beautiful trip and tons of fun. My parents spoiled us with a beautiful cabin, great food, fun activities and all sorts of wonderful memories. A few highlights included caving in Wind Cave National Park, seeing buffalo charge in Custer State Park, getting close to the Presidents at Mount Rushmore, and hiking around the amazing Badlands.As it seems to go, no trip for me is quite done unless there is a trip to the hospital involved. This time I made it back to Minneapolis Thursday night and quickly went to the hospital Friday morning. I had an emergency appendectomy as my appendix had burst and I am still here as I type. The worst is over.

Oscar Alan Hipps

There is a new member in the Hipps family. Jon and Rachel had Oscar Alan last week, I think it was 7.7, and he is just beautiful. They are home, happy and all healthy...and we are anxious to meet the little man. Isabelle is a proud big sister and it sounds like she is very ready to help whenever needed! Congrats Rachel, Jon & Isabelle!

You, in the brown dress.

I realized I missed posting while my mom was here a couple weeks ago. It could have been that we were without power for nearly 3 days...but anyway I needed to share a few photos from our trip to the zoo. We went to the bird show, which we've seen a few times before, and we decided we were going to try get chosen during the two crowd participation pieces. Unfortunately, Owen was too young for the child participation part, but I was not for the adult part and was chosen to have a red bellied parakeet fly to me and take a dollar from my hand. (Owen still thought that was quite cool.)

My mom spoiled us as usual, with many delightful meals (its hard to cook without power and no kitchen sink!), lots of silliness and a very exciting trip to Alegria, the cirque du soleil that was in town. Owen was completely mesmerized throughout the performance. He still talks about the different acrobatics and stunts they did.

'Because' is not an answer.

I've said it before, but Owen often asks some difficult questions that often make me think. I guess sometimes I will say 'because' before I start a reply as I'm trying to think through how to explain things. The other day as I had given this answer with a pause, Owen quickly told me this.

Owen had Young Architect camp this past week at MCAD. Everyday, Walter & I wanted to stay as it looked like such fun. On Friday we were invited to their art exhibition and finally got to see the tree houses and the low-reliefs. Owen's tree house was inspired by nature and his favorite color, while his low-relief was inspired by urban Japanese architecture. My heart is beaming.

On Saturday we hit up Canterbury Park to watch a few horse races. Walter picked the 3 horse to win every race and was pretty sad when it never did. The horses made up for it though by letting him and his brother pet them.

We had a wonderful, warm 4th of July. We went to the Richfield parade and loaded up on tootsie rolls then went to Grandma Donna's for a delicious barbeque and lots of fireworks. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead, so I missed some great shots of two excited boys enjoying the show their dad put on for us all.

I want to see a rhinoceros.

We are going to the zoo tomorrow and this is Walter's goal...too bad there aren't any rhino's at the MN zoo, though...at least not that I remember.

Our sweet Walter is officially 3. We celebrated with some friends on Tuesday and his requested Lighting McQueen birthday cake. For the past 4 months every time we'd pass the bakery at a grocery store, he'd ask to order his birthday cake, so it was long awaited and he was quite proud of that cake.

My mom came down yesterday and Jer left for his fishing trip. She is here to help celebrate my sister's birthday, which was yesterday, and bid my aunt farewell, as she is moving to New Mexico to work with my uncle Kurt. It is always nice to have her around to help with the kids. They love getting goofy with Grandma, that's for sure!

Popsicle course.

We were playing at a park recently with some friends and the older kids started making up an obstacle course. Walter quickly joined in with his own version...a popsicle course!

We had a wonderful summer time week this week. It really felt like summer break with trips to parks, pools and even the arboretum with friends. My personal highlight was an entire day with Lydia and Lindsay - it was great to spend a day with my freshman year roomie and her sweet little girl!

The Walter celebrations started yesterday as Jer graciously shared his special day with Walter and a family birthday party. He was showered with monster trucks, including a create your own monster truck kit, which the boys enjoyed doing while I cleaned up. Tomorrow is the real big day when Mr. 2 1/2 becomes Mr. 3!

I need a band-aid!

Walter loves band-aids. Any scrape or bump (which happens often to a nearly 3 year old in summer) and he comes running to me and declares this, often with an excited smile.

We kicked off summer with a trip to my parents house. It was a wonderful, relaxing time for me and wonderful, exciting time for the boys. I did a lot of sleeping and got two massages. The boys biked, built sail boats, fished, played games, did play dough, and pretty much anything they could think of doing, Grandma & Grandpa did with them.

Another bonus of being gone was taking a break from the construction. We are now without a kitchen sink and trying to patiently wait for the new one. The floor is now in and the cabinets are nearly all installed. Tomorrow the new appliances are coming and Tuesday they are coming to measure for the countertops!

We got back from my mom & dad's on Thursday and on Friday I went away for the weekend with my college girlfriends. We rented a cabin in Lake City and had a lovely weekend laughing and enjoying one another's company.