The Engbers Blog

I'm not quite sure why we haven't brought out our play medical kit until now, but it's no surprise Olivia took right too it! Uncle Trav : See how she favors the scalpel? A future surgeon perhaps??

...just some more familiar lake sites

Wednesday was a beautiful day at the lake and we took advantage of the wonderful sunshine by skiing, fishing, and swimming! Livi opted to skip the swimming suit and go straight for the water in her diaper. Check out Connor's blog for some more great pictures of our week (he has become quite the photographer!)

We are continuing to have fun at the lake. Yesterday we had a nice morning and then later in the afternoon it started to rain and continued through the night. This morning Jon, Kevin, Bryant, Connor, and Grandpa Engbers all went fishing and it started to downpour! They, of course, stayed out because the fish were biting like crazy :) Olivia has had a little fever the past couple of days which has been a bummer, but she hasn't been acting too sick. Here is a picture of the cabin Jon, Olivia, and I are staying at this year. Grandpa Engbers teaching Jon how to clean fish. Olivia having a snack at the picnic table.

Jon, Bryant, and Connor were brave enough to take the plunge today into the near- hypothermic stage lake. After the initial shock and hypothermia set in, Connor seemed to enjoy himself. Jon and Bryant v-lined it for the boat as soon as they could :) Ok , I am exaggerating slightly...the lake, however, is not quite warm enough for me to enter just yet! Swimming at Sandy Beach. Nick will be joining the gang on Thursday and I am confident he will add to the craziness :)

We started out at 5:30 am yesterday morning and finally arrived in Walker at about 2:00pm. It was a long day of driving, but Livi did well and we were all excited to be at Ten Mile for another week of fun! It has been unseasonably cool here. Thankfully, yesterday afternoon the sun was shining and the rays gave us enough warmth to be outside. Livi had fun playing on the beach. The minute I turned my head she tried to eat the sand. I guess I can't say this surprised me much :) Olivia also went for a ride on grandpa's boat....she wasn't so sure about the life jacket. Connor, Linda, and Jon on our first boat ride of the week. Daddy and Olivia on the dock at Happiness Resort

Our vacation started a little early this week with a trip to Chicago. (Although I'm not so sure Jon would call it a vacation since the reason we did go was for him to take his step 2 boards test all day on Wednesday!) We decided to go a day early to Chicago and spend some time there. We first checked out Lincoln Park Zoo right in downtown and then walked down by the lake. After checking into our hotel we got a chance to meet up with Nick and eat dinner at the Cheesecake factory. Wednesday was Jon's test day, so Livi and I hung out at our hotel in the morning and then found a park in the afternoon before picking Jon up and heading back to Iowa City again! Our car is now almost all packed again and we will get up bright and early in the morning to go to Ten Mile Lake. I am hoping to be able to update with some fun pictures throughout the week, so stay tuned :)

In anticipation of our trip to the lake next weekend, Erin got Olivia her very own Dora the Explorer fishing pole last week. We have been "practicing" this weekend, and, while she doesn't completely understand the concept of reeling in the line, she sure enjoys watching me do it or just holding on to the pole. She has figured out that it is much easier to get the fish to come in if she just pulls on the line rather than turning the reel. She also likes to play the part of the fish by crawling after the little fish at the end of the line as I reel it in. It is funny to watch her try to grab the fish while it is floating in front of her. Whether we catch the big one or not this year, it looks like we are going to have a lot of fun! Can't wait to see everyone next week!! I have never thought about using my feet to cast before. Maybe Livi is onto something?

Olivia has been learning a few more tricks. We are amazed at how much Olivia is changing from day to day and learning new things. She seems to catch on very quickly to everything we teach her and is always wanting to copy what we do or say!!! ...here is a little video to show what Livi has been learning.

I think our week so far can be described by a few key items pictured below. Olivia has discovered her love of lift-the-flap books. She gets so excited to find how the flap on the page lifts up and see the surprise underneath! If I lay all Olivia's books out in front of her, she will most definitely find the two lift-the-flap books that she has :) I am now in search of a lift-the-flap book that is a little more durable for Livi's not-so-gentle lifting techniques! I have been busy exploring the possibilities of my brand new photo printer! I MUST get going on my scrapbooking again, and this printer is just the motivation I need. Maybe I will have some finished pages to post in the near future?!?! Jon's buddy this week (and last) has been his coffee pot. The rotation he is on right now (urology) calls for some earlier mornings (setting the alarm with numbers beginning in 4...ouch!) Thankfully he has 2 relaxing weeks off after this Friday!

Olivia's new favorite thing to do is find Jon's medical journal magazines underneath the end table in the living room. She sneaks her way over there, pulls the magazines out, and crinkles, rips, and explores the pages. Usually me or Jon then proceed to pull her away and show her all her fun toys and books she CAN play with. Minutes later she scoots her way back over to those much more fun magazines. It is amazing how no matter where I sit her down on the floor she finds her way over there! (And just now as I am sitting here typing this, I moved her books to where the magazines had been and moved the magazines to a higher spot. And yet, somehow she has managed to find a lonely magazine I missed and she is squealing in delight at her found treasure!) And to think, just last week her favorite toy was a water bottle. This week: magazines.