No child left inside

It's almost painful to say but there are times when I dread going outside with Claire. Why? Because I know that all trips outside inevitably end with a return indoors at which point I know that Claire will protest, often loudly.

Here are some pictures from recent outdoor excursions.


Here is Claire at Madison's "Brat Fest" over Memorial Day weekend, where 190,000+ brats were consumed. Claire did her part. Our friend Nate and Claire's friend Molly look on.

Here is Claire at the state Capitol during a Wednesday morning trip to the farmer's market. Some of you may think she looks Photoshopped into the scene. We agree.

Claire ponders whether or not to hug the tree.

Claire forces her dad to work off a donut consumed at the Saturday Farmer's Market.

Claire demonstrates her love for a special someone.

-WcH

Our little troll

This past weekend Claire decided that shirts should be worn like this and kept putting her shirt up over her head while mom and dad laughed hysterically.




-WcH

Ambling in the Arb: Part Deux

Claire is enjoying having a stay at home dad who lets her spend lots of time outside. These pictures are from a picnic and walk in Longenecker Gardens in the UW-Madison Arboretum where the lilacs were in full bloom.

Ready or not?

Claire is showing interest in the potty. G&G Cooper have a perfect Claire-sized one that Claire loved to sit on while she was last in Dubuque. Nothing came out.

Ambling in the Arb

On a sunny Spring Sunday Claire, Kate and Grandma ambled through the Dubuque Arboretum in preparation for Leadville, CO's "moseying" contest during "Boom Days" this summer. Apparently the best part was crossing the bridge, though seeing the fish was a pretty close second.






-WcH

And a happy mother's day to all

I had a wonderful mother's day! (despite the early reminder from my daughter that today was my special day... I guess she just wanted me to be able to enjoy even more of the day.)

We had a great brunch with good friends who are also leaving town soon. :(

Will cooked a wonderful dinner (actually, this frequently happens, even if it's not Mother's day.)

And Claire was her usual wonderful, happy, busy self!

Will and Claire also gave me a great gift! I don't usually post about gifts I have been given or anything like that, but this was different.

You know those "gifts" where someone has donated in your name to a charity (of their choice)? Or a couple weeks ago I finally won a door prize after participating in an environmental event. What did I win? ... carbon offsets. How exciting. I guess I can stop feeling guilty for taking the bus to work instead of biking now.

At first glance my mother's day gift might seem something like those gifts, but really, it's not. Will and Claire got me a gift certificate to Kiva.org that I could use to loan to any of the applicants I wanted to. You can see the pictures and stories of Sandra and Verita on the right sidebar to our blog. (just a mention for those of you using "Google Reader") At least until they are fully funded, then it will be someone else.

I'm not going to go on and on about it, but it really was fun to read about all the people and how the loan is going to help them and then to choose. Then, when the loan is repaid (no, I will not make money off the poor people, just (hopefully) break even) I can either take the money back out... or pick someone new to help - this gift could keep on giving for a very, very long time!

A very nice mother's day for me... and hopefully a little better one for Sandra and Verita, too.

-K