Meeting George

Sylvia really likes Curious George and had the opportunity to meet him a couple of weeks ago. She said he was soft.

Hoefer Family Vacation

The Hoefer clan headed to the Chicago area this past weekend. The adults were outnumbered eight to nine. We left Iowa City Thursday evening and got to the hotel for some swimming and pizza from Gino's East. Our first night in the hotel was very tiring. Sylvia slept for a couple of hours before we came to bed and was then up from 10:00 until 2:00. After moving locations 4 or 5 times, she finally fell asleep on the floor next to our bed. Then, Erickson woke up at 3:00 and 5:00 to eat. It was an exhausting night but we still had energy for 6 Flags over Great America the next day.

Dan had Sylvia measured as we entered the park and she was tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides. We started the day off with a carousel ride. Gretchen and I rode three times with the boys while they ate. Sylvia loved all the rides. I took her on her first roller coaster, The Little Dipper. At one point she said she didn't like it but by the end she thought it was fun. Dan could see her face as we came down the first hill and said she had a funny look on her face. I also took her on the log ride which I thought twice about as we bumped around and headed up the big hill. We also took her on the Raging River. She wasn't too sure about the water rides but I talked to her all the way through them and I think she enjoyed them. (I'm using the Adventureland names since I can't remember what they were called at 6 Flags.) I still can't believe she's old enough and tall enough to go on all these rides. There are lots of great kids' rides at Great America

Saturday we headed to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The traffic was horrible due to some flooding and the fact that we were in Chicago. It took us almost 3 hours to get to the museum after changing routes a few times and stopping to feed Eric and eat lunch. Although a lot of the museum is for older children, there are some really neat activities for younger children too. If we had not been so tired I would have taken more time to look at a map and focus on the preschool activities. Sylvia's favorite things at the museum were the airplane and the cow.

Hotel Pool
We changed our Sunday morning plans (after spending a large portion of Saturday in the car) and played in the pool. Sylvia is getting really good at swimming with a fun noodle. She snuck up on Grandma and got her all wet. Sylvia loves spending time with her cousins and has been talking about them a lot since we got home.


The Hotel
My sister-in-law, Becky, booked us some great hotel rooms. We took our monitor with so we could put the kiddos down at night and then play games in my parents' room. Eric recently found his feet and loved hanging out on the hotel bed like this.

Dedication

On July 11th we had Erickson dedicated. As his parents we committed to...
provide a Christian home
teach about the Lord from the Bible
pray for your child often
be an example of a committed Christian
do all you can to help your child come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and follow Him as Lord

Our families joined us for the service followed by lunch at Bennigans.

Great Nana enjoyed spending some time with 9 of her great grandchildren.
Eric and his cousin, Raymond, who is 8 days younger than him.

Free Summer Entertainment

Lots of houses in our neighborhood have been torn down recently with many more coming down soon. Sylvia loves watching the backhoes and bobcats at work. She even knows the difference between treads and tires. This house was across the street from us. Sylvia keeps asking which houses the backhoe is going to get. She even said, "The backhoe might get our house." Well, the backhoe will probably get our house...but not till next summer. I'm thinking it will be a good reminder that earthly things are only temporary.

ggma

Dan's Grandma got to meet Erickson while she was in town a few weeks ago.

Trying to Ride the Bus

I was without a car today and decided to head downtown via the bus to do some shopping, visit the library, and see Dan. Sylvia loves riding the bus so although it was sprinkling I knew it would be worth it. We headed out without much time to make it to the bus stop, but I walked very quickly and even ran while pushing the double stroller when we were getting closer. I started walking again about 20 feet from the stop with 1.5 minutes to spare and the bus drove by at that very moment. Needless to say, I was frustrated that the bus was early and didn't stop, and I know had a disappointed 2.5 year old who didn't understand why she wasn't on the bus. I told Sylvia that the bus driver had made a mistake, we headed home, and I called the bus company to let them know their bus was running early which caused us to miss it. Sylvia and I talked a little more about making mistakes. I asked her if she ever made mistakes and she said, "Yes, and Bumpkin." (which is what she calls my dad...we have no idea where it came from.)

After calming down a little, I decided to catch the next bus since I already had the kids and our stuff packed up. So, we headed to the stop with plenty of time to spare. We got there about five minutes early and sang "The Wheels on the Bus." We waved at a friend driving by and then they stopped to talk to us on their way out of the neighborhood. While talking, the bus came over the top of the hill and started heading towards our stop, and then proceeded to drive right past us as we stood at the bus stop. Sylvia started crying immediately and I was very frustrated at this point. I had now walked to the bus stop twice in the sprinkling rain with both of my children in the double stroller. So, I went up to Sylvia and tried to explain to her that the bus driver had made a mistake again and that it was okay to be sad and mad. We talked about how God wants us to be patient and forgiving...although I was not in the mood to do either. I called the bus company again to let them know what happened and they said, "sorry," and that they'd talk to the bus driver. I was hoping for a free bus pass or something.

Anyway, tonight Sylvia opened her devotional book to a random page like she always does and the reading was about being patient and forgiving with people who make mistakes like God is with us. I believe I may have learned more from that lesson than Sylvia did at this point. We prayed together, and I asked God to forgive me for getting so upset. When Dan came in the room to say, "goodnight," Sylvia said, "God wants us to forgive the bus driver for driving by." She is soaking up so much right now, and I pray that I can be a good example to her.

Scooter

Eric has been scooting himself off his playmat and across the room for about a month now. Who knows how far he could have gotten this time. He ended up running into the TV stand.
This kid moves a lot more than Sylvia did. Diaper changes are getting more and more tricky.