Good-bye, Camelot

This is my favorite picture of the Kennedy brothers: a wishful-looking Teddy surrounded by Bobby and John. They all look so happy and enthusiastic.

I was deeply saddened by the loss of Senator Ted Kennedy yesterday... .

The Kennedy family truly seemed like royalty to the child that I used to be. I equated Jacqueline Kennedy with Princess Diana. To me, they were the same. Ted Kennedy was the head of his family, he seemed to take care of everyone. His eulogy of his nephew, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was perhaps one of the moist poignant speeches given. Here is an excerpt:

"We thank the millions who have rained blossoms down on John’s memory. He and his bride have gone to be with his mother and father, where there will never be an end to love. He was lost on that troubled night, but we will always wake for him, so that his time, which was not doubled, but cut in half, will live forever in our memory, and in our beguiled and broken hearts. We dared to think, in that other Irish phrase, that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like his father, he had every gift but length of years."

Ted Kennedy served his country as best he could. Because of his voice, spirit and strength, he made America better for everyone. He improved Health Care, Minimum Wage, and Immigration, just to name a few. It seemed as if he were trying to live up to the legacies left behind by his fallen brothers, but I think he outshone them with pure determination. He will be missed.

Little League

(The kid on the far left, #13, never smiled during the whole game. The commentators for ESPN were commenting on it all night, which was sort of hilarious. He was Iowa's starting pitcher.)
Iowa was just eliminated from Little World Series. :-( and yes, we watched the games. I cheered. These Urbandale kids were awesome! I really felt like they were going to pull out a win in the 5th inning.

On a funny note... When the Crowd cheers, "I-O-Wah" I swear it sounds like an Indian war cry. I sort of loved it. Scott's all like, "Weston is going to play ball." and I'm like, "yeah...." He probably will. He loves watching baseball, and he cheers. It's great.

I could not find any happy pictures of our Urbandale team (by the way, Urbandale is another Des Moines suburb) so, I had to use these sad pictures. I was looking for a picture of this fabulous rolling catch that one of our outfielders made yesterday - it was so awesome that it had the New York fans cheering with the Iowa fans.

The 5th Circle...

This week has been awful. If this were Dante's Inferno, we'd have sunk to a new horrible Ring of Hell. Everything everywhere has hit the fan, and I am at a loss as to how to fix it.
On top of the bad, I have returned to the level of exhaustiveness that I left behind with Weston's first month on the planet. He first woke up at 1:25am. He was not asleep when I last looked at the clock at 4am. But he was asleep at 6:30 when I woke up late. And then he woke up in a great mood around 7:15.
The most annoying thing that just tops the cake? The amount of people everyday that call me "Anne" when I answer the phone, "Good Morning/Afternoon, Onthank. This is Erin, how can I help you?" After the first few days, I tried speaking slowly, letting people get used to hearing me on the phones again. I've come to the conclusion that they really don't listen to me. They hear the tail-end of what i am saying and make their own conclusions. I have only corrected one person, and they actually had the nerve to sound offended, like I offended them by insisting that they say my name correctly. I am sorry, but Erin is not difficult. It's 4 freaking letters.
The Best part of my week? And yes, in this mess, there is a best part. I am on Furlough tomorrow!!! Sleeping in (I'll try, but it won't likely happen.) Going to Tango with Shannon, her fundraising gala for Children & Families of Iowa. yea! Adult time.

But the best thing is this:

Yoplait Whips Yogurt. Frozen. Tastes like sherbet!!! love it! and at 140 Calories... totally a happy snack.

Weston has been awake for 2 hrs. Now he wants to play. Ugh.

from the weekend...

We actually took Weston to the Petting Zoo at the Blank Park Zoo Saturday. And he cried. He cried when the goats got too close, or when Mommy and Auntie Shannon gave the Llama s scratch on the head. The only thing he didn't cry at was the Brazilian Hindu Zebu named Souie. This is a monster of an animal. It was like a prehistoric cow with longhorns. You could make an entire couch from his hide. And it would be a gorgeous couch. Weston sort of stared at him like he was mesmerized. He stopped crying and wiped his tears away, and just stared at this monstrous animal. I was surprised at how gentle Souie really was. She let people pet her, seemed to pose for pictures. It was nice. And Weston wasn't crying or whining... so Souie is a winner in my book.
Weston seemed to enjoy the aquariums... I mean, it wasn't Sea World or even the Mall of America, but he loved the fish. Actually started talking to them. It was adorable. He enjoyed the Tigers (big cats, and he loves cats), Zebras and Monkeys most of all. He loved the Japanese Macaque (maw-kack) or the Snow Monkey. They kept jumping and rolling around, and he just laughed! It was great. Made my whole day. The only thing we seemed to miss were the Penguins. I have no idea where they even were.
So... at the end of our day, it started to rain. We tried to wait it out in the gift shop, but it kept getting worse. So Scott got the car (good guy!) and then picked us up and we drove the 3 or so miles back to Shannon's apartment. Weston was fast asleep before we parked. So he napped at Shannon's for a bit before church.

On Sunday, Jason and Rachel took us to lunch, which was very nice. Then we went back to their house. It's beautiful. We had a great time with some fun dessert and Rachel and Jason opened their belated Wedding Shower gifts. And I'm happy that they seemed to like the cook books. I think they will be lots of fun for them. Weston made me a little more than nervous in the obviously adult atmosphere, and he fell and smashed his face a few times. But we had a great day!

Weston in his newly turned around Big Boy car seat! He looks like a toddler now!

(Our weekend...)Had a great weekend! We had a blast at the zoo with Weston who walked the whole thing! Today we enjoyed an afternoon with our great friends Jason and Rachel. Pictures to come!

this weekend

Planning on taking Weston to Blank Park Zoo tomorrow in Des Moines. Not sure if it's going to work out, but we'll try. :)
Scott wanted to take him to the petting zoo at the Iowa State Fair... eeeewwww. I am never impressed with the Fair. and after Riverboat Days... I just can't put myself through it again. :)
Hope to get good pictures!