Like

Tonight, when I put Ayla to bed, she looked up at me and said "I like Zeke." Those are neat moments, when we, or anyone else don't ask or set kids up and they say things that are just from their hearts. Ayla sure has a good one. She continues to be a great big sister - always looking to help Zeke out when he's crying "Maybe he needs a diaper change" or "Maybe he needs his pass (pacifyer). Zeke is definitely finding his lungs a bit more these days and can turn it up in a hurry. But otherwise he's been a pretty pleasant baby for the most part so far (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!! I said it, I said it!). He's looking around a lot more and Ruth said he even smiled at her for the first time today!

It's Wednesday feels like Tuesday but is pretty much Thursday. Monday holidays will do that to you. Ours was a very nice one. My brother and his family came to town Friday night to Monday morning. We pretty much spent Sat/Sun then at my parents 24/7. Too short but very sweet. My Mom and Dad made a quasi water park in their yard - so the kids were able to spend lots of time getting wet in the hot days. Ayla played so hard she even had that hot, sweaty red look that Ruth I remember getting as kids. Ah, she's really getting to be one - especially if she can imitate everything her cousin Allie does! Allie is very sweet with Ayla, sharing all her favorite things with her and never minding Ayla trying to mimick what she does. Caden, the oldest cousin, enjoyed the fact that he's not the only boy in the family now, even though he'll have to wait a couple years before the real fun begins.

While we spent most of the time hanging out (and Zeke being held!) we did manage to do a couple neat things on Sunday. First, my brother and I ran (and finished!) the Madison Quarter Marathon (6.55 miles) in the morning. I have been "training" for the last couple of months and Josh decided he works out enough that why not. Of course he goes on to beat my by an "official" 7.2 seconds! What's cool though is we actually didn't run together for most of it and I really only caught up at the end. Still, to finish that close out of that many people was kind of cool. And we did it in about 57 minutes for what it's worth.

Later Sunday afternoon we went over to the cemetery where my Grandparents (Dad's parents) are laid to rest. We usually go there on Memorial Day as my Grandpa Germann is a WWII veteran but decided to go a day early with the whole family in town. It was very beautiful and peaceful there and a neat thing to do. So many American flags.....

Monday was mostly a low key day (haha, except for my parents who had to clean up the damage from the weekend - thanks mom and dad!) although Ayla woke up wondering when were going over to my parents house to play. We did have a visit from Grandpa Joe and Grammy Pammy though - who brought Ayla matching sunglasses and socks! (it's not a holiday without socks from Grammy Pammy)

And so, back to it this week - although half done already! I'm back pretty much full days now and Ruth is manning the ship quite admirably while I'm away - and while I'm home too for that matter! Crazy how she does so much on so little sleep. She really is amazing. You could say I like her too. : )

ps. thanks Mandy for taking so many nice pics with your new camera!