My 4 Year Old

Last week Lila turned four years old. Four!! Where has the time gone? Yesterday I took her to her very first day of Vacation Bible School. She cried when I left (it was a bit chaotic with all the kids). I admit my eyes watered and my heart hurt when I saw her crying. I wanted to run back and say "ok, I'll stay a little longer", but I knew it would only make it harder when I had to leave again. And I knew she would have a fun time, I did. (At this point, I also knew that come September when I drop her off for her first day of preschool, I'd better bring kleenex! I think a lot of it is the pregnancy hormones causing me to be more emotional.) A very kind VBS worker pulled Lila into her lap, and she stopped crying. When I picked her up a couple hours later, she was all smiles, and there were no tears this morning. I couldn't help but think of our loving Father in heaven though... does He hurt when we are hurting and feeling alone? I hope that I can be aware of those around me who need friendship and comforting; I was so thankful to the VBS worker for noticing my girl.

Anyway, didn't mean to get so heavy, but that is what we have going on this week. I am so thankful that I enjoy Lila so much – not that there aren't moments when I'd gladly send her to school – but for the most part, I really enjoy my time with her. (Also, on the way home today after dropping her off, Wyatt must have said "Lila?" every couple of minutes! I don't know if he will know what to do on days she is at school.)

So in honor of her turning four, I thought I would share a little bit of who she is at this age:

1. She doesn't like me to "do" her hair. If I say let's put a ponytail in your hair, she says, "No, Mom, I want it to be just hair today."

2. She loves to do anything craft-like... coloring, painting, stickers, cutting, glue, etc.

3. She loves, loves, loves to look at books and have you read books to her.

4. She is working on sounding out short words. She doesn't have a strong desire to read for herself yet, but she can do it when I ask her to.

5. She likes to tell Wyatt what to do or what to say. For the most part, he is agreeable.

6. She plays by herself very well, taking care of all her stuffed animals and putting them to bed or playing doctor with them, etc.

7. She likes to say the mealtime prayer. Ben asked her recently if she wanted to pray, and she didn't respond so he started praying. Well, she started crying so we said "ok, you can have a turn." This was her prayer: "Dear God, we bless you for this food. Please let Mommy and Daddy let me say the prayer everyday."

8. In general, she is not a picky eater. However, she does not like potatoes, unless they are french fries. Not even mashed potatoes. Quirk: she likes to eat her cupcake from the top down (frosting first).

9. She asks some big questions sometimes. Like "where does the water go when it goes down the sink?" or "Is God in the sky?"

10. She is practical. My sister-in-law asked her recently if she would rather have a baby brother or a baby sister. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I think I'll just wait and see what it is." :)

I'll try to get some birthday pictures posted soon.

Road Trip: ISU

On the way home, we made our last stop in Ames, Iowa (ISU Cyclone country for those who don't know). There we ate lunch with 2 good college friends and toured around the campus a bit, prompting Lila to ask "Where are we going?"... she didn't understand that the journey was the destination! We took a group picture standing in front of the Memorial Union, with the ISU Campanile in the background. Yes, it is a beautiful campus.

Then that evening we got to visit with Ben's college roommate and his family. We had not seen them in about 7-8 years. They have a boy and girl very close in age to ours, so it was fun. We played at a park for a little bit and then went to dinner. It was sprinkling on us a little bit, so I didn't have my camera out (no pics). We stayed in a hotel that night, swam in the pool and then drove the next day to Wichita. Then the following day we drove home. After that many hours in the car, we were all glad to be home!

Road Trip: Great Grandma

The next leg of our trip was stopping to see my Grandma. This picture was taken in my uncle's backyard (he & his wife live in the same town as my Grandma). However, it kind of reminds me of my Grandma's farm - which she lived on most of her life before moving to town - what with the clothesline and windmill in the background. Anyway, I just like this picture because of that. My Grandma is 85 this month. She has 4 children, 12 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren (I think!).

We stayed at my aunt & uncle's house; my parents stayed at my Grandma's house. There was a sandbox where we stayed, so the kids were happy!

The 2nd day of our visit, we went out to my cousin's house/farm to see some of the extended family. Wyatt was enamored with this outdoor cat. He didn't seem to mind the attention.

My cousin Amber is one year younger than me, and she had a little boy, Logan, six weeks after I had Wyatt.

My Grandma with her youngest great-grandchildren (all who were in attendance that day too). I love the little half-smile on Wyatt's face. I see that expression a lot around here; he is my little mischievous guy.

I sat him in the tree to take a picture, and he thought that was great fun! Notice the scratch on his nose? He takes after his mommy that way - I always had some kind of scratch on my face at that age too!

We ate lunch and got out of the sun a bit in the garage. My aunt and cousin had thought of everything - including crayons and coloring books! Here Lila is showing Logan how to color. It was fun to see so much family. The kids will probably be a few years older (at least) before we see everyone again.

Road Trip: Great Grandpa

Our next stop was Sibley, Iowa... where my Grandpa lives. A few years ago he moved into an assisted living place, so we decided to spend a little time before dinner playing at the town park (a little more room to run around). I used to play at this same park when I was little. Some of the equipment has changed over the years, but this VERY TALL slide is still there. I was very impressed that Lila was willing to go down it!

To give you an idea of how tall it is, you can see Ben standing on the ladder toward the top.

The first time she went down with Daddy.

Then she decided she would be brave enough to go by herself... although not brave enough to open her eyes!

But she went down a couple more times and by the end, she was a pro. I took her up the ladder once, but then came back down (it is high up there!!) Way to be fearless, Lila!

Wyatt probably would have been willing to try the big slide, but we kept him on this one.

Here's a broader picture of the park. It is a really nice park and takes up a whole city block.

Back at my Grandpa's place we had some fun too... riding on Great Grandpa's walker.

Talking on Great Grandpa's phone.

And taking pictures of course!

Here are the "Edwards"... (L-R) Edward Henry Brandt, Duane Edward Brandt, and Wyatt Edward Amey.

Road Trip: Omaha Zoo

Our next stop was visiting my brother and his family who live in Iowa, about 30-40 minutes from Omaha, NE. My sister-in-law had a great idea to go to the Omaha Zoo one day. I had never been there before, and now I can say I definitely recommend going if you are in the area! It was very neat... and we didn't even make it through all the exhibits!

We stopped on the way to eat lunch and by the time we got to the zoo, Wyatt had fallen asleep. Fortunately we were able to move him from the car to the stroller, and he stayed asleep! I propped his head up with our little diaper bag. He slept for about 45 minutes - but a short nap is better than no nap!

The first exhibit we went in was a rainforest exhibit (almost all the exhibits were indoors - very nice on a hot day!). Here Lila, Jim and Heath are crossing a little rope bridge. There were lots of neat paths, alcoves and other things to explore.

Here Lila is laughing about something, but I can't remember what.

This was a vine that kids could swing on.

Jim points out something in the water to Lila.

Lila and Grandpa Brandt

(We also met up with my parents at my brother's place... they would continue to travel with us when we visited my grandparents... up next!)

Here's a pic of my Mom & Dad with all their grandchildren.

The next exhibit we went to was a desert dome. The paths were smoother here, so Wyatt could get down and run around a little bit.

I thought this shot turned out neat - don't even know what he was looking at!

After the desert exhibit, Janina joined us (she flew into Omaha that day).

There was also a neat aquarium exhibit. Pictured here are my nephew Heath, with his parents and then Grandpa holding Wyatt. By this time it was getting to be dinner time and we were all ready to sit down somewhere. Plus the zoo was closing soon. Maybe sometime in the future we will get to go back and see the exhibits we missed. (If you were wondering about the tables, they were setting up for some kind of dinner that was that night... kind of a cool place to have a dinner!)

Road Trip: Friends

After leaving Wichita, we stopped to see some friends in Kansas City (I didn't take in my camera) and then drove a little more and stopped to see a good college friend of ours, Amanda. She lives out in the country and has goats and donkeys. I thought Lila would love getting to feed the animals, but I didn't count on the fact that it had rained and was therefore, muddy. Walking around to get to the goats, her shoe got stuck and her foot came out... right into the mud.

Even the goats couldn't distract her from her squishy toes, poor girl.

So we took her inside and washed off her feet before going to see the donkeys. Much better! Donkeys like to eat grass, but a special treat is a carrot! (They also really like peppermints, but only Amanda fed them those.)

Here's Lila, Wyatt, Amanda and Ben petting the donkeys.

In her front yard, she had a little bench, so I got a picture of the two of them together. We also went inside for a little bit and *tried* to play with Amanda's cats. They were not used to kids and wanted to hide. Lila kept trying to feed the cat too, even though we told her cats only eat when they want to. Then we said goodbye and headed down the road to my brother's.

Road Trip: Wichita

On our great road trip to Iowa, we stopped for a few days in Wichita to visit Ben's family. We stayed at Ben's parents house. They are the BEST hotel in Kansas :) His brother's family also lives in Wichita. Lila and Wyatt both have a cousin very close in age to them, so we always have a fun time! While we were there this time, Aunt Pam had a duplicate dress someone had given Rachel... so we put it on Lila and went outside to take pictures!

Just because they have on the same outfit doesn't mean they will look at the same person!

Such a good hug!

Then Wyatt jumps in front of my camera, smiles and says "Chee!"

Trying to get a natural smile from her.

There's one!

Wyatt enjoyed going for rides.

Then all the kids discovered how fun banging on the metal trash can with sticks could be.

This is a shot of Wyatt pulling the toy wheelbarrow up Ben's parents driveway. All of the pictures were taken at their house. But this shot looks like some old country lane, I love it.