A weekend in Iowa

Now that Harry is 4, he is exceedingly brave.

On Wednesday, I took Harry to his pediatrician for his 4 year well-child check up. Our nurse (whom we love-- she has twice now squeezed us in with our doctor when we had appointments in urgent care-- she just ran into us in the office lobby and said, "I didn't think you had an appointment with us today," and when we told her our doc was full and we were seeing someone else, she worked us right in, both times) handed me the scary CDC vaccine warnings and side effects handouts she distributes on shot days. "I didn't think he was due for vaccines today," I said. "Well," she told me. "He needs to get them before kindergarten, but if we do them today, you can save him a lot of worry because he hasn't been anticipating them and he won't hear his friends talk about how terrible they are." That made perfect sense to me, so at the end of the visit, we surprised Harry with his kindergarten vaccines a year early. AND HE DIDN'T CRY! Because, he told me afterwards clutching the stuffed rat the nurse gave him as a consolation prize for the surprise shots, 4 year olds don't really cry. Except when their babies take their new toys.

So there you have it. Exceedingly brave. When Jack bashed him in the face with a heavy store door this weekend at a Children's Place outlet where we sought refuge from a wall cloud and 70 mile-an-hour winds, Harry just jumped up and down and turned bright red. No tears.

We drove to Des Moines to see my grandparents and help celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday. We had a great time, stopping at Adventure Land with my parents and seeing some of my cousins and my brothers, too. SO much fun. Here's photographic evidence of our fabulous time:
Jack on the carousel

Harry on the ferris wheel. (He also rode a grown up log-ride that was too scary for me)


Jack ran to greet Harry when the wheel stopped spinning.

The dog freaked Jack out, but not Harry because he is 4.

Jack loved driving these trucks on a track, and Harry humored him

Harry on the baby version of those rides that lift you straight up in the air and slam you back down

Cars on a track

Planes

A healthy snack


Believe me when I tell you, they were not making beautiful music

How sweet are H and J sleeping together in this fabulous king-size suite bed? Not as sweet when you consider that Ben and I were on the fold-out couch in the "living room." Next time, we'll get a 2-bedroom room, I guess. (Because Ben and I still need a living room for drinking and watching TV) (we're klassy).


On Saturday, we saw Toy Story 3, and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Jack got a little squirmy by the end, thanks to the 5 too many Disney previews that turned a 90 minute movie into a 2+ hour viewing experience. But still. Awesome.

We also hit the hotel pool



And went back to Bomma and Jack's in time to dress the kids as tiny knights and let them attack their uncles







We went to my aunt's house, and Harry and jack had a great time playing with my cousin's old toys and eating kid food.

Another comfy night's sleep for the babies and some couch bed for me and Ben

And then poor Jack spiked a 103.2 fever (and we bought a supercool forehead thermometer), and we got out of town before we infected our aging relatives