Winding up the weekend events....

Monday, July 7th

Since Sally and family went home on Sunday, we were down to Josh, Debora and Thomas for houseguests. Pretty quiet, comparatively, but nothing like it was this morning! (Wed.)

Debora did the breakfast cooking this morning, making a wonderful Blueberry Crumb Cake! She has been having fun experimenting with different recipes in her 'free time'. Those of you with little ones know there is precious little of that to be found! Debora is a wonderful cook and I would surely pack on the pounds if she was around all the time. She was able to get some laundry done today - it is simply amazing how many outfits one little boy can go through in a couple of days! - and the three of us even helped Grampa by driving the truck and trailer to pick up big bales out in the field. Thomas was good for one load, and then decided he had enough of the carseat. We didn't want to push that, as he would have to be in the car for a long time the following day.
Josh had to go to Hortonville for work today, leaving around 9:00 and back just before our supper time. They had made plans with the Barz family in Amherst to meet up with them and did so for the evening. Sounds like they had a great time, and those Barz boys have lots of energy!
Before they retired for the evening, Debora mixed up a custard style dessert, called Panna Cotta (Italian, not Brazilian). We had some on Tuesday, and it was truly delicious! Dan really liked it! (Josh had thought that he would)

Tuesday, July 8th

Well, all good things must come to an end, and it was time for the Bacon family to pack up and head for Iowa. It is astounding, how much stuff you need to pack for a baby - even for just a couple of days - and even more impressive that they were able to get it in their car (a Chevy Malibu, 4-door sedan) and still have room for them, too! We took time to snap a few more pictures as those opportunities, all of a sudden, are shrinking. They pulled out of the driveway about 10:30 am and we talked to them as they pulled into their driveway around 9:00 pm last night. No, it didn't take them all that time to get home. They made a stop in Madison (and others, I am sure, with a baby in the car) to visit with some friends and colleagues. By the sound of it, they were a bit past Thomas' idea of the ideal time to be getting home. Hopefully he settled down after some play time and his ritual bath time. It is funny to watch how excited he gets when he knows his bath is coming. He also is very impatient after it is over, because he knows what is coming next - quiet nursing time with Mamãe and then bed.

After they left here, I got busy with laundry and my own ritual of wiping down the changing pad and folding it away until next time. As the boys get bigger, and when both of them come at the same time, there are a few extra things, too: the play mat has to be vacuumed and rolled up; all the toys found and put back into the toybox - some having been hauled around by Sam, and others by the cats; the seat with eating tray had to be wiped down and stored upstairs; the baby gym and mat dismantled and stored in its case - that may have been the last time out for these boys - ah, but there is another coming in February!!!; the coffee table can be un-childproofed, the good magazines put back out and the soft corners removed - at least Sam didn't knock his noggin on that! Next time Sam is here, we will have to keep a gate on the stairs. He was 'missing' for about one minute and Debora caught up with him about 2/3 of the way up the stairs! She wisely kept still and quietly went up the stairs behind him and was there for the last few steps so he had the thrill of going all the way up by himself! If she had exclaimed, he probably would have turned around and would most likely have fallen down all the stairs, of which there are 13! I think he had enough excitement for one weekend - check out the Aho Family Blog!