Mommy needs to go back to kindergarten

John is at a conference in Germany for four days, and even though he has only been gone for a day, the wheels are already starting to fall off. I thought I was doing pretty well this morning - get up, let the dog out, have coffee, feed Evan, feed myself, dress Evan, dress myself, clean up from breakfast, and pack lunches. Then, as we were about to walk out the door, I saw this (and am such an awesome mommy that I stopped to take pictures before fixing it)


Yup, those are two shoes on the wrong feet. I guess I need to go back to kindergarten and have someone teach me left and right again. Fortunately, Evan didn't seem bothered by it at all, which is good since he had been walking around like this for about half an hour.


At the rate I'm going, John may just come home to find Nicky sitting in the high chair and Evan eating fish sticks out of the dog bowl.

Boston sandbox

On our vacation to Lake Tahoe, Evan had such a great time playing in the sand at the beach that we thought we should try to make him a sandbox to play in at home. I've heard a saying that "everything is bigger in Texas" and I can't attest to whether or not that is true, but one thing I have found is that "everything is smaller in Boston." So, we bring you Evan's very Boston-sized sandbox.


His favorite part of playing in the sandbox was shoveling up sand and tossing it into the air. We joke that by the time we move he will probably have filled in the whole space under the patio. It's a good thing sand is cheap . . .

Also, I caught this big smile on Evan the other day and thought I would share it with you. One of his fun new games is to pile a bunch of his stuffed animals into a box and push them around the house while making car noises. Here he is with "Tim Bob", which my brother's friend Brandy made for him last Christmas - there's a matching "Lucy Lou" but she's already in the "car." Maybe if Evan gets enough driving practice, he can take a shift at the wheel on our next trip to Chicago.

Lake Tahoe + Cousin Colin + Spatulas = Fun!

by Evan Heemstra

Right now my Mommy and Daddy are pretty busy working on their research proposals, so I thought I would tell you about my fun vacation to Chicago and Lake Tahoe. A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Chicago, and though I did sleep most of the way it was still not very fun. But, at the end of the drive I got to hang out with my Grandpa and Grandma, so it was totally worth it.

A couple of days later, we flew to Lake Tahoe where I spent some time relaxing (day care can be sooooo stressful!)


and also visited the playground and had fun going down the slide on my own. I don't really like to eat solid foods like bread, hot dogs, or mandarin oranges, but those wood chips they have at the playground are yummy!

One of the best parts of vacation was that my cousin Colin, Uncle Jason, and Aunt Robin joined us in Tahoe for a week - they are way more fun than my dorky parents!

Our parents brought a bunch of toys, but we had much more fun playing with the spatulas (and the Corona box you see in the background).

The grown-ups had some good ideas, like taking us to the pool

and to the beach - the water was cold, but I found that the sand was almost as yummy as the wood chips from the playground.


We had one rainy day, so we all went down to Carson City to see the Childrens Museum (complete with my first time rock climbing).


And, since no visit to Carson City is complete without a photo op in front of the Governor's mansion . . .


We went hiking a lot - not a bad way to spend naptime!


But, my parents also had some not great ideas, like taking us for a bike ride in a trailer.


Despite the malfeasance of the bike trailer, I had a really great time hanging out with all of my family!