Chapter 1 - The Big Catch Up

I know it's been a while since we lasted posted. . . sorry about that. There's no excuse other than the days slip by surprisingly easy lately. At any rate, here is what has been going on in the last two weeks. The post is long; please bear with us.

On May 15 Grandma and Grandpa F. came to visit. We had a really nice time, although it went by way too quickly! Some highlights of our visit included Konrad playing with his new OX toy (so cute!) and going to the zoo in Battle Creek. The zoo was really neat, as the peacocks were out wandering freely and we also fed the giraffes. K slept the whole time (as usual), but it was fun none the less. Also, Gma and Gpa watch little K while Joel and I had our first date out since Konrad was born. The timing was perfect as we were celebrating our 2nd anniversary, as well. We ended up at the Grand Mere Inn having a really delicious dinner (complete with wine and baked brie.)

Last week Friday J & I went to look at day care centers. It's hard to believe that my maternity leave will be up on Monday!! We settled on the YWCA near our house and K will be going for his first day tomorrow. I am very nervous, although I know it will be okay. I am planning to go to GR for a meeting with the company I work for to catch up on what I've missed while I've been out and planning for next week's start back. The plan after that is that he will attend 1 day per week (Wednesdays) so I can get the bulk of my work done then. The nice part is that they will allow us "drop in daycare," meaning we can drop him off anytime with 24 hours notice. This is a key feature for us, as I my schedule requires this sort of flexibility in daycare.

On Saturday we took the family to GR to visit Founders Brewery and visit with Angela, Scott, Jeremy, Kub, Kristy and Kasper. It was Konrad's first trip to a bar and he did very well. Kristy did a great job of rocking him to sleep and it was so nice to see our friends and catch up. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for the pub crawl that started after we left. Maybe next time! We are sure they all had a beer or two for us, though.

Monday Joel surprised me by planning for the three of us to visit Chicago to see the new Modern Art wing of the art museum. It was awesome! The architecture of the building is really beautiful. (Although the modern design did lead to considerable confusion for many patrons trying to visit the bathroom. They might want to rethink that.) The view of Millennium Park and the surrounding city from the second and third floors was spectacular and I really enjoyed the new exhibits. To top it off we had a little picnic in the park and then Gma & Gpa G were at the house when we returned to share pizza and cake with us. I say cake. It was actually this amazing raspberry/cream cheese tort-like cake that my mom made. Thanks Mom! Only problem is they left the cake here and I can't stop wanting to eat it! I think it will be visiting Joel's co-workers tomorrow.