Gretchen really wanted to play soccer this fall but wasn't all that hot on it went it came to actually playing with a bunch of kids she had never met. She needed a pep talk from Daddy before agreeing to play during the first game.

Once she is convinced to join in she really tries her best. The balls for the 'Just for Kicks' league are soft foam so even though she kicked this ball really hard it just kind of rolled along.

Happy to be done with the game and ready to dive into that snack!

Gretchen was really excited to go to preschool and see some of her friends from daycare. She has had a lot of fun so far, though says that they do the same thing everyday - darn schedule! Here she headed out the front door on the first day. She calls this her "God save the Queen" shirt.

First day of third grade.

First soccer practice ever.

First picture of our puppy Rommel.

Gretchen had her very first soccer practice last night. After watching Katie from the sidelines for the last few years she was so excited to get her very own team.

The excitement wore off and was replaced by tears about ten minutes into practice when Gretch declared that she changed her mind and didn't want to play soccer. Twenty-five minutes and a pep talk from Daddy and Katie later, she was ready to go back out for the last ten minutes.

She promptly went out to the middle of the field and kicked the ball all the way down to the goal all by herself. When we got home she was pretty fired up and told Daddy that she kicked that ball "ka-pow!" right into the goal. Hopefully next Monday goes a little smoother.

The girls and I went on late summer adventures - mini-golfing at Blank Golf Course and a trip to the Blank Park Zoo. Mini-golf turned out to be a lesson in patience for us non-golfers and rather distracting to be so close to the airport. I don't know how anyone plays real golf with planes constantly landing. The girls' favorite parts were a little frog and fetching their balls (and mine) out of the fountains.

At the end of second grade Katie wrote a report about red pandas. She was so excited to check them out at the zoo and they put on quite a show walking all around their cage and one of them came right up to where we were on the other side of the glass. Gretchen's favorites were the fish at the discovery center.

This frog was about 1 inch long.

I have no idea what number hole this was - might have been 8.

Gretchen doesn't swing at the ball so much as drag it towards the hole.

So excited by the fish!

Crossing the swinging rope bridge.

When we sat down for a few minutes to have a snack and watch the gibbons swing and howl there were two ground squirrels (squinties), one eating a tomato slice and the other eating a french fry coated in 'cheese' sauce. I pointed them out to the girls as squintie-Gretchen and squintie-Katie - matching the squinties to the girls' appetites.

This year is my 15 year high school reunion. I doubt very much that I will go - haven’t been to a class reunion yet and not really my thing. It’s funny that though I will avoid the class reunion, I’ve had some really great mini-reunions this summer.

I have had the pleasure of squeezing in some time this summer to reconnect face to face, share a meal, a glass of wine, watch our children become instant playmates, and laugh over memories, including only the tiniest amounts of gossip. All of us have very busy lives, filled with family, demanding jobs, church and community activities and even live hundreds of miles apart. It calms the soul to be able to steal a few moments and reflect in the friendships that have been there all along – way before husbands, children, and careers and all the responsibilities and worries of adult life.

Many people move in and out of our lives and I think that we are drawn to retain certain relationships; there is something about this connection that fills part of your being. Life directs us in separate ways and we become so different and similar at the same time.

The friends I have been so fortunate to reconnect with this summer are truly wonderful women. Some of them I have known forever, friendships formed in kindergarten, middle school and college. I do get to see a couple of them fairly frequently but it is different though when you have time to relax and enjoy the company, rather than spend an hour in what seems to be fast-forward.

It is comforting to know that I can pop up with my brood in tow on Maria’s doorstep and feel so welcome, or dive into dinner and two hours of non-stop chatter with Jen and Angie, then on another night with Angela and Marisa. We chat and reacquaint so quickly, like we just met for coffee last week when in reality for some of us, it had been years. I am so thankful for these women, the beautiful friendships that we share and the brief moments that we have been given this summer.

Gretchen was a melancholy baby. The first two years of her life she didn't smile very much and if she did it was too quick to get on film. She has always been a great eater and until she was 18 months old, she was a terrible sleeper - difficult to get down and up every night at least once.

In the last couple of years she has become a bright, thoughtful little girl with an infectious laugh. Several times in the last 6 months or so she has said that she'd like to start over as a baby - 'you know, like when we lived in Colorado'. We moved back to Iowa when she was 5 months old so I dare say that she has limited memories of living in Colorado.

Tonight, she started out talking about wanting to start over and be a baby again and then became really upset. It boiled down to that she doesn't want us to leave her and would like to live with me and Dad forever. I think she has figured out that her Grandma Weena :) and Grandpa King are my parents and I don't live with them anymore. Apparently the thought of not living with her Mom and Dad upsets her quite a bit and she would rather not grow up and move out.

I'm sure that it will come back to haunt me someday, but she really wanted me to agree to let her live with us forever. I could not resist. What else could I say? Of course, our sweet little blond can live with us forever.

Summertime

I am completely blown away that it is July already. June seemed to last just over a week -- a week filled with birthdays, soccer and a quick family vacation. While the lovely Iowa heat and humidity will soon make me a fool -- I really hope the next 8 weeks or so slow down a little for crying out loud. I am not ready to start school shopping and all of that nonsense, I've barely had my toes in the pool!

For Independence Day tomorrow, we'll be attending the classic Norwalk parade on the front lawn of my Uncle Bob's house one last time since they are in the process of moving to Colfax. The parade will start off with my husband and Dad walking/riding with the American Legion, followed by every baseball team, church, marching band, firetruck and horse in town. It's such a long parade that it's amazing that there is anyone left to watch. Afterwards, we'll head down to the Faust acreage for the remainder of the weekend, hopefully roasting some marshmallows and seeing a few fireworks.

I just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies (taking some to the parade and some to the acreage) and one of my favorite summer pies. Thought I'd share the recipe since it's so easy and so yummy. It's from the Summer 2007 issue of Kraft Food and Family.

Lemonade Stand Pie

1/3 cup lemonade drink mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 - 8 oz. tub cool whip, thawed
graham cracker pie crust

If you are going to be ambitious and make your own pie crust, make sure that it's completely cool before you start making the pie.

Place drink mix a large bowl, add water and stir until mix is dissolved. Add ice cream. Beat with electric mixer on low until well blended. Gently fold in cool whip. (If it's really soupy it helps to put your bowl in the freezer for a few minutes.) Spoon into the crust and smooth out, mounding up in the middle if you can. Freeze at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.