Splashing in the City

Today my sister and I headed downtown with the 4 kiddos to one of the fountains in Des Moines. More of a cement stream than a fountain. It was one of those excursions that was utterly perfect. Its on the same block as a Starbucks, so obviously that's a huge bonus. Iced chai latte's for us, petite vanilla bean scones for the kidlets. The weather was spectacular. Nice and hot but lots of clouds and breezy. Bennett and Piper got to explore the stream that runs the length of a block. And Dawson and Quinn even got in on the action. The water was only 5 or 6 inches deep everywhere so they crawled and climbed and splashed. It was just so fun to be in the middle of the city too. I think we both said at least 3 times, "man, this is just perfect!". Not a single whine, fit, tantrum or fight. (That's what defines the good and the bad these days). Until it was time to go and realized I forgot dry clothes for Bennett, Bethany forgot a dry diaper for Quinn and we both forgot to pay the meter. So we wrapped up our naked babies and accepted the $15 fine. A small price to pay for a few hours of playdate perfection.

Woodland Wedding

Yesterday I had the awesome privilege of being hired as the stylist for a wedding party. Katie D. is an old friend of my sister's and I did her hair for their 8th grade graduation (and somehow that left enough of an impression to hire me again 10 years later?! Hey, I'll take it.) It was the cutest and most creative wedding I've ever been to. I really wish I'd been able to get more pics of the wedding party but I at least got some of the bride. We were going for a very ethereal look but she still wanted "big hair". (I also somehow managed to delete additional photos I had off of my camera before I double checked that I copied them to my computer correctly. Oh well. You live, you learn.

The bride:

I went to the bride's house to do everyone's hair (6 girls total). It was just cool to be such an integral part of someone's wedding and then to get to go to the wedding and see the finished product. I loved it and would love to do this a lot more. Any ideas on how to get my name out there, all you entrepreneurs?? Bethany and I went to the wedding together and I decided that's the way to do it. I mean really, how many husbands enjoy going to weddings unless they're really close friends or family (and even then...probably not so much)? Bethany and I loved gushing over all the details together and eating all the amazing food. Check her blog  for the post on the wedding. She photographed all the details. Here's a sneak peak:

Don't Blink...

...or you would have missed it. Adam and Kayla's wedding was stunningly beautiful. They got married outdoors at the Rose Gardens in Des Moines and their reception was at the Temple for Performing Arts. It was a hot and humid day, so thankfully they broke the record for the fastest wedding of all time. It was literally less than 5 minutes long. They said "I do" and that was that! No complaints from anyone sitting in the sun! And my son was more than happy to shed his tux as soon as they were pronounced man and wife.

Obviously you can tell my son was thrilled to be here!!

All lined up, waiting to walk down (hurray!! Bennett cooperated! Ok...he'll do just about anything for M&M's)

Everyone's a sucker for the hat!!

One of my favorite Bennett pics ever:

The highlight of my night (and yes, Bethany and I tried every flavor!):

My sis and her handsome soldier the night before his deployment:

So glad to have a new sister-in-law. She'll definitely liven up the Colyer fam (as if we needed any more livening up!!)

I mustache you a question...

Have you figured out the Colyers are crazy yet? Turns out the newest Mrs. Colyer to join the bunch is the craziest one of all. Jon's brother Adam is getting married tomorrow so we had the rehearsal dinner tonight. We've been looking forward to this wedding because, well... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I mean, really... who carries spare stick-on mustaches in their purse just in case anyone feels a strong desire to don a 'stache for the evening? Kayla!! That's who. I don't know where her original obsession with them began but it definitely makes for some good laughs. Jon even had both of his grandmas wearing them by night's end. (I was mostly taking pictures so I escaped un-stached. Phew.)

Judie and Uncle Brian (who loved his so much he refused to take it off.):

The Lovely Couple:

And on the normal side of things, rehearsal went smoothly (amazing how 6 months makes a difference...Bennett actually did as he was told--the FIRST time. And I don't even have to worry about him blowing out their unity candle 'cause they aren't having one. They pretty much shunned all stereotypical wedding traditions.) and the rehearsal dinner at Centro was fabulous. Great food, great family and I don't even need to tell you we had fun.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans (most likely involving facial hair) tomorrow.

The AI Experience (for fans of the show only...otherwise you'll be bored with details!)

Thought some of you would like to hear about our spontaneous trip to the American Idol auditions. Jon and I told Claire a while back that we were going to make her audition this year. We pretty much thought she had it in the bag (well...a trip to Hollywood, at least!). So about 3 days beforehand, Jon figured out they were going to be in Milwaukee so we made arrangements to go. Lucky for us we have some close friends who live there so we got to stay the night with them.

Basically, you have to go to the arena to register and get a wrist band during the 2 days prior to auditions. (I decided to audition too, just for the fun of it.) People camp out overnight to get their bands first because this determines your audition order. We decided we didn't want to bother with the lines so we got our bands on Wednesday around 6:00pm. (registration closed at 9:00 that night) There was no one there and we just walked right up the the table at that point. Super easy.

Auditions were Thursday. When we registered, they told us to be at the arena at 5:00am on Thursday. We got the inside scoop from a close friend of ours who had auditioned twice that it was completely unnecessary to get there at 5 unless you just want the chance to be on TV when they're filming the crowds outside. We chose to sleep as late as possible so we showed up at about 7:45. Again, there was no one waiting outside and we just walked right in. Its assigned seating in the arena so its pretty much pointless to show up at 5:00 on audition day.

Since we were late getting our bands, we were one of the last sections to audition. We didn't sing until 7:00pm. So basically you choose to wait a full day outside (in whatever weather conditions you're stuck in) to get your wrist bands, or you skip that line and wait all day inside the arena to audition. Pros and cons to each, I suppose, but since we were doing it more for the fun and experience, I'd definitely choose the latter any day.

For the first couple hours inside the arena, you do all the big crowd shots where they tell you certain things to say altogether. Like, "Welcome to Milwaukee" or "I'm the next American Idol". Danny Gokey was there and then Ryan Secrest came a little later and we filmed more stuff with him. It was cool to see the behind the scenes stuff.

Our view from the very top row of the arena:

Ryan Secrest at the bottom of this shot:

Then auditions start. They set up 12 tables on the floor of the arena, with 2 judges at each table. So basically, you can hear and see all the auditions as they take place. It was this constant cacophony of voices. While we were waiting (for 9 hours...) we'd walk around and listen to everyone practicing out in the corridors. Very entertaining! And it started to sink in how many unbelievable singers were there. You pretty much only heard amazing voices every where you turned. We figured out much later in the afternoon that you could actually leave the arena. We totally could have caught a movie and then came back. Oh well...next time (kidding).

It was finally our turn and Claire and I lined up in our row of four. We got assigned to our table and were bummed to find out we were only singing for one judge, not two. Also, her stack of "golden tickets" was still pretty large...she hadn't been letting many people through at all. It was so nerve wracking. I felt beyond awkward when I sang. I knew I needed to connect and make eye contact with this expressionless woman sitting 3 feet in front of me but it was just the weirdest thing ever. Claire did great and said she looked at her the whole time (I have no idea how) and she actually let Claire sing a bit longer than than the 20 second minimum so we thought she had a chance. Then she asks our group of four to step forward and proceeds to tell us, "There were some good voices in the group, but you're not what we're looking for for Season 10. Thanks." And that was it! We stepped behind the table, they cut our bracelets off and we were on our way. Kind of anti-climactic. But it was so fun to be a part of it and we can't wait to watch the Milwaukee auditions air since we got to see all the crazies they let through (be looking for a guy in a sparkly silver suit holding a giant toothbrush and a guy in a civil war uniform...among others). I'd estimate they let somewhere between 100 and 200 through the whole day (good and bad). We definitely don't regret going. It was a blast to be a part of it!

Playing Catch-up

Then:

And now:

So I'm a little behind but here's a review of our staycation with Candy and Ava.
We had so much fun together and Bennett and Ava were instant buddies. Bennett was quite transfixed with Ava's imagination and by mid-week they were making up songs together and playing all kinds of made-up games. I think Ava was a little taken aback by Bennett's wild side and had to get used to his tendency to run around naked after every potty break until I tracked down his shorts and underwear. They were quite the pair.

Ava was overjoyed with these tiny toads they found at my parents'. She kept them in a watering can while she ate dinner and was horrified when Jon asked her if she wanted him to eat one. Unfortunately for the toad, he wasn't joking.

A day at Adventureland (the first time there for ALL of us!)

Ava's expression is priceless :)

Both of them cashed out after we hit the waterpark.

We actually got to do a few things without the kids (the highlights of the week...any parent can understand!). One was the 1st Annual Iowa Improv Festival. Huh-larious. (Those random people in the shot are improvers)

We hit the fountains at West Glen on the last day:

Dawson trying to get in on the action:

A few more things we did that aren't pictured were a trip to the library, a short day at the zoo (until we got caught in a torrential downpour)and Prairie Trail park. The week was wonderful and exhausting :) We definitely made up for the 3 years since we'd seen each other. The kids were definitely ready to have their own spaces back by the last couple days but I could have spent a whole other week with Candy. She and I are dreaming of the day we can take a vacation together sans kiddos. Sounds heavenly.

This was Ava's face on the entire ride to the airport. She didn't want to leave : (

Bennett keeps asking if we're going to see "that new Ava" again. I wish we were...

Soaking up the sun

Not too much blog-worthy news lately. We've just been enjoying this weather (doesn't get any better than its been this week). We got this pool off of Craigslist after seeing how much Bennett's been loving his cousin, Piper's. But its not a permanent fixture. A) because there's a tiny hole in the top blown-up ring that we have yet to find and B) because we're pretty sure you can't have a pool this big (its probably chest deep on Bennett if it were filled all the way) without a fenced in yard. So anyway, its fine as-is for the time being but we'll probably re-sell it and find a replacement.


In the pool with our neighbor kids-- Bennett gets SO excited when he sees Jack and Sophie (on the right) outside and bolts for the door (usually before I get any clothes on him. Our whole neighborhood has now seen my naked son):

This is Bennett's latest pool progress:

I'm so proud of him! Now we just have to get those water wings off.

And Dawson, happy as a clam, with our good friend, Caitlin:
Don't let his smile fool you. He's actually been quite a beast at home lately. Mostly because he's been teething nonstop but he also gets so mad and just yells and yells if he has to wait at all for food. I've desperately been trying to teach him the sign for "more", thinking that'll help! He's a very determined guy already and won't sit still for a second. Bennett freaks out whenever Dawson heads for one of his puzzles he's working on. I've been hearing this a lot lately: "Put him in his saucer, Mom." He's already cruising around furniture and climbing. I found him on top of my sister's coffee table the other day! At this age, Bennett would sit completely in awe for an entire Baby Einstein movie. I tried one once for Dawson and I'm pretty sure he didn't look at the TV for more than 3 seconds. He's exactly like his brother, though, that if we're out of the house, he's perfectly content. Thank the Lord for that.

More to come soon...my best friend, Candy, arrives from CA in 5 days!! We're packing the week full of fun stuff. I cannot wait!