This one goes out to Don ...

... who, I have heard, ate something like 24 ears of sweet corn in one sitting at some point in his life. Just because he wanted to, not for a contest or anything. Maybe Darby will follow in his Papa's footsteps.

Casey was helping me shuck the corn, and Darby came over and grabbed an ear and started chowing down. I tried to tell him it's better when it's cooked, but he wouldn't give it up. Half the corn was off that ear by the time I got it in the pot. The other half, he ate at the dinner table, cooked properly and buttered.


A theme seems to be developing here. Yep, Darby loves his food.

Casey and goals

Wow, busy weekend. Really, I should write about our Dells vacation day or about the company picnic, but instead, I'm going to get this out first, since Erika will have pictures for the marquee stuff anyway.

Remember when the Wild were exciting? Around 2003, that was. I bought a playoff T-shirt at the time, and I wore it today, and Darby is fascinated by anything he sees on my shirts, so this time I wound up explaining that he was pointing at the Stanley Cup, which is a hockey trophy. That caught Casey's attention, so then I had to explain it to him, too.

"Daddy, when I get bigger, I'm going to win that hockey trophy!"

Ha ha, really? That sounds great Casey, we'd all love that.

"Yeah, I'm going to score a goal and win the trophy!"

Well that would be terrific. You know something? If you play for this trophy, I'll cheer for you.

"Do you think Mommy would cheer for me, too?"

Yes, Casey, if you play in the Stanley Cup Finals, I promise your mom will cheer for you.

So later, when sportswriters are looking for good biographical information to include in his Hall of Fame induction story, we'll have this early example to fall back on.

This kid knows how to enjoy a hot dog.

In case you missed it when I posted it on facebook, here is the photo of Darby enjoying a hot dog while we were out at the Madison art fair last weekend. I hardly got to see any art with Casey and Darby in tow, but it was a nice day to be out. And I think this is one of Chris's favorite kid pictures ever ... he says that every time he looks at it, he can't help but smile.


Darby isn't even two yet, but he wants to be a big kid. He doesn't want his food cut up. He wants to eat his hot dog or pizza or sandwich like the rest of us do, and he's getting better at it. He's growing up fast in other ways, too. The other day he asked me for apple juice (he says "apple" and "juice" very well). Without thinking, because it's become a habit with Casey, I said, "Darby, how do you ask nicely?" And he surprised the heck out of me by responding, "Please." I guess he's heard Casey and I go through that routine so often, he's got it down pat!


One new habit-- and I have no idea where he picked this up--is announcing that he's happy. He's happy pretty often, so we hear this throughout the day now: at mealtime, playtime, book time, snack time. He'll clap his hands and bounce up and down and say "Yay! Happy! Happy!" It's awesome. Hearing about other people's toddlers who are throwing tantrums and being difficult, it makes me want to gloat. I've got a good one!

Happy Fourth (like, a week ago)

I am almost caught up posting photos. Over Independence Day weekend, the LaMothes were here for a visit, and we had a fantastic time hanging out with them. We went to the zoo, played at their hotel's pool, and showed them the Epic campus. It was so much fun, but made me homesick for Minnesota!


Why is it so hard to get a decent family photo? Everybody just look at the camera and smile! Oh, well. Maybe when they're older.


I like this one of the boys, though. Chris was doing acrobatics behind me or something to get them to smile.


Darby peeks out of the turtle at the playground.


Despite the daredevil rides Casey went on at Verona Hometown Days, he still wouldn't ride an animal on the carousel.


Kind of odd expressions and not great lighting here, but I love Casey in Chris's hat.

Cooling Off

Poor Darby. I didn't know it at the time, but the poor kid was coming down with something the day we got the pool out. He didn't eat any lunch after we were finished playing, and he woke up from his nap with a fever. That might explain why he didn't look terribly happy in the photos. Or maybe he just didn't care for the way Casey was wielding that hose ...

At the Fair

Okay, I have some catching up to do photo-wise. This first batch is from the Verona Hometown Days about a month ago. Verona was only our hometown for less than a year, but we liked their annual shindig enough to go back even though we have moved on to Cross Plains.

The highlight for Casey was the rides. Verona had their fireworks on a Thursday evening at dusk, which here in Wisconsin doesn't arrive until about 9:30. Darby and I were wiped out for some reason that I don't remember (maybe, I'm guessing, just the fact that I'm a mom, and he's one), so just Chris and Casey went to the fireworks. From what I heard afterward, Casey enjoyed the fireworks all right, but he REALLY was intrigued by the carnival rides. Chris told him that we would go back on Saturday, and that he could ride some rides then. On the way home, Casey told Chris, "I want to ride the zoo train. That's at the top of my list." Chris asked what else was on his list, and Casey thought about it for a while in silence, then said, "Nothing. That's the whole list." As it turned out, there was more on the list. For the next day and a half, all we heard about were what rides he wanted to try.

So we get to the festival and check out a few other things then head over the rides, which Casey was as excited about as ever. Chris bought some tickets for him. Immediately, Casey froze up and refused to go on anything. Chris stayed calm, and we spent the next half an hour wandering around trying to coax him out of his fear. FINALLY, I talked him into trying this really tame-looking ride where he just got to sit on a motorcycle and go around slowly. That was a hit, and after that we got him to try just about everything he qualified for height-wise.

You can't really tell by the strained expression on his face, but this rocket thing was really one of his favorite rides there.

This alligator coaster was one of the ones he was talking about nonstop between Thursday and Saturday. It was his first roller coaster experience ever. He looked really brave before it started moving. Then he looked like he was holding on for dear life. Afterward, he said it was fun, but he didn't want to go again.
Chris even took him on the Tilt-o-whirl, and I took this picture before it starting tilt-o-whirling. This was another one that Casey said he didn't want to go on again.

Darby isn't big enough yet for rides, so he just got to watch. I was worried about how he would take that since he always wants to do whatever Casey's doing, but Darby was great. He just liked watching the rides, and he cheered and clapped for Casey.


I think this is him watching the Cobra ride--something that Casey did NOT go on, but that they both were fascinated with.

Casey the Storyteller

While Casey was playing, he starting composing little stories out loud, so I got my notebook to write them down. Here is one of his stories, exactly as he told it to me:

"Once upon a time, the rocks are falling off the couch, and Casey turns into a little squirrel. Then the squirrel bites a mouse. That's what squirrels like to bite. And then the squirrel saw something big. It was a big rocky giant. It was walking through a rocky forest. The rocky forest turned into a jungle. The jungle turned into a desert. The end."