Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Summer

Water world

Monday was another aunt-and-uncle day. I’ve said it before, but Isabelle and Corban are so blessed to have wonderful aunts and uncles in their lives. Since Phil and I are not yet an aunt or uncle, we feel like we have a lot to live up to, if and when that happens.

We headed to Davenport to pick up Aunt Charlotte and meet Uncle Zach at his school, Palmer College of Chiropractic. We ate a yummy lunch and got the grand tour of the campus. Although there were many neat parts, Isabelle particularly enjoyed the koi pond. This was after she wandered into a random office because she spied a fish tank. Fortunately, it was just a waiting area and no one was in there. Maybe it was watching “Finding Nemo” so much when she was younger, but the girl loves fishies. We even have to wander down that aisle in Wal-Mart if we happen to be in the neighborhood.

After Palmer, we hit the new splash pad in Rock Island. Once again, our little fishie found a home amongst the sprinklers and water pools.

The Elmo swimsuit is certainly getting used. I’m on the lookout for next year’s size because I know our world will revolve around water, especially if it’s hot. She also continued to make friends who share her interests. I’m not sure if Isabelle is a leader or a follower, but she constantly finds herself in situations like this. She’s kind of bossy, but I think that comes with being 2.

She’s always reluctant to leave when she’s having fun. Who wouldn’t be? Charlotte thinks a splash pad for adults would be awesome. I concur. Why do kids get to have all the fun?

We squeezed in a little bit of playground time before leaving the riverfront. Corban enjoyed that, given that he had to spend most of the splash pad visit in the stroller. Really, he’s enjoying it. This is the closest I could get to a smile on the camera.

This little piggy

This little piggy was a day old when Isabelle got to hold him. I don’t remember exactly how this idea developed, but since we were home last, we’ve been trying to arrange a time for Isabelle to hold a piglet. Her great-uncle has some hogs on his farm; it was just a matter of us finding a time to go there. The timing was perfect on Saturday, as the piglets had just been born and weren’t as wiggly as the week-old ones she might have held if we’d gone earlier in the week. She wasn’t really sure what to think, but I think she was thrilled, even if she doesn’t look it in these photos. She had to be encouraged to pet it and keep it close to her. But we had a hard time getting her to leave.

Before the piggies, we swam in the same great-uncle’s pool. Corban had a blast, though he wasn’t crazy about the hat. He was kicking up a storm and liked to splash. I call him the next Michael Phelps. No pressure. Isabelle was content to lounge in the floaties, too. We’re terribly unprepared for pool swimming. Guess we’ll have to check the end of season sales. And sign up for swimming lessons.

It was a day for goodbyes. After swimming, piggies and lunch, we bid farewell to Aunt Cassie as she headed back to Kuwait. The kids napped, then we went to dinner with my parents in Rock Falls before heading out to the rockin’ birthday/farewell party for my cousin who begins an exciting journey at Grand Canyon University in Arizona.

To add to the fun, we brought a pinata and filled it with 7 pounds of candy. With a couple of swings, the first person over the age of 5 to hit it broke it and the candy clean-up began. Isabelle took a couple of swings with a sword. At least she didn’t hit daddy.