June Tidbits

This is how Brigitta read scriptures in the morning. She yawns through the words. Every. Morning.

Once she yawned twice, burped, farted and sneezed four times while reading only ONE verse!

This girl has some new glasses!

The girls have missed out on Activity Days a lot because they were all indoor but this one was at a splashpad and we were able to join in! I love these photos of Brigitta and Ireland. I challenged them to get in the middle without getting themselves wet.

So cute!

Sydney is the most likely to wander off and do her own thing. She rarely makes it through movie night. If the girls are playing a game, she's the first one out. She definitely cherishes her alone time! I found this note on her door:

Some selfies of Brigitta I discovered on my phone:

You can see bits of my limbs in that first and last one so clearly she took these while I was doing her hair.

I splurged on some bedding for when we have guests in town. I snagged the LAST queen size of this rivulets quilt from Anthropologie and wanted to see how it would look on Sydney's bed. She fell in love with it right away and begged to have it become her permanent bedding but alas, she hasn't learned how to take care of her current bedding so away it goes until we have that lucky guest. I'd also been yearning for those ballet dress and slippers (they are both folded paper maps) from Restoration Hardware and saved up for them (on sale and using a discount to boot!). They were backordered and finally arrived. She gets to keep those up so at least there's that.

While "settling up" with the girls in preparation for doing bank deposits, we discovered Brigita has a load of money! She earned money helping us mulch and turn in cans, but she had $10 she said a friend just gave her. Whaaat? We even owed her more money! And she had what felt like 3lbs in change. Like whaaat???

While doing makeup for the dance recital, Sydney was really struggling with the eyelash curler. In desperation I said, "Just look at me and go to your happy place!" Sydney said, "My happy place is BLINKING!!!" Eventually we got through it and she looked just adorable:

"The gospel is a resource, not an insurance policy or a guarantee." That little gem came up during Relief Society when the teacher asked why some cling to the church during a trial while others walk away. She talked about how we are responsible for our own salvation. Not the insensitive ward member or the nosy leader or the person who have an inappropriate testimony. We can't give those people permission to determine our salvation.

Boosted by the success of her mother-daughter date demands, Sydney roped both Brent and I into a date with her. We took her for some ice cream, a walk and to a little playground. She was so incredibly happy! A little one-on-one time goes a long way with this one!

Gorgeous summer sunset! I love where I live.

A kid threw a giant Jenga block at Sydney's head. Tim gave her the once over to make sure she was ok since she had a small goose egg right on her forehead. She really just needed a little coddling in the moment because she was really crying. After she was deemed fit, Ireland turned to Sydney and said, "To be fair, I think you just have one of those faces boys don't like and want to hit." Waterworks all over again.

Whenever I'm asked for a name when I order, I always say, "Elvis." There is 0 chance they will get Danika right and believe it or not, most people struggle with Wuehler. Everyone knows the name Elvis and if there is a crowd and Elvis is said, most people instinctively hush. Well, for the first time ever, someone actually messed up Elvis!

June is Pride month and all of Iowa City was decked out. This display in the kid's section of the library made me so happy.

Liesel being a Karen:

Liesel was reading this during scripture study:

She looked up from her scriptures and said, "The prisoners with jobs have armed themselves." I laughed so hard!

Whitney rigged up a movie night for the family to enjoy.

In case there is any doubt, let me be clear that these girls adore their aunt and uncle.

We almost spent more time with them downstairs than we did with my parents upstairs! When we returned home the girls only wanted to drink out of mason jars because that's what Tim and Whitney use.

I'm curious why anyone would put avocado on their license plate, but this is Iowa City.

I'm unclear if this a panhandler (he clearly has his own lunch) or just someone doing his own advertising but again this is such a random Iowa City sight!

Verse 11 reminded me of setting up our trust- we've altered the management of our affairs.

We tried Teddy's Bigger Burgers which is a Hawaiian chain so they come with a hot pineapple on them. Delicious? YES! Huge? Also yes. Look at Gita trying to cram that thing in her mouth!

Brigitta loves this song and there was a time she played it incessantly- much to Liesel's chagrin. When it came on the radio just before swim lessons we just had to blast it and sing at the top of our lungs and we pressured Liesel to join in.

It sort of worked- ha!

Sydney met another Sydney at the splashpad and they became fast friends. Eventually, they will go to the same middle school! I'm not one to seek out playdates but it kind of felt like this was meant to be. We finally got to host her at our house and they had a ball.

Be Eccentric Now. Don't Wait for Old Age to Wear Purple

Liesel's hair was increasingly becoming a point of contention between the two of us. She didn't want me to wash, brush or style it anymore and while I'm all for her taking command of her own grooming, she wasn't keeping up on it. Unfortunately, she also inherited the Wuehler cowlicks- one of which is on the back of her head where she can't see it. When she only did a quick brush, the back was still a mess and when I told her, she'd get frustrated and then I'd be annoyed and it was just a vicious cycle every morning. 

Liesel floated the idea of getting her hair cut short and we agreed she could try a color as well. We waited until we were in Iowa City where it was cheaper than the Chicago suburbs and on our final day, we headed to the salon.

Apparently we arrived a little too early so we went to the park across the street until they were ready for her.

Their shocked and laughing faces when I let the teeter totter go makes me smile.

Finally she was up and Liesel showed her stylist (who had brightly colored hair herself) these two pictures for inspiration:

I'm really not all that sentimental when it comes to hair. Sure I've done lots of little girl hair but I didn't think Liesel getting her hair chopped and colored was a big deal. That is, until those long locks of blonde hair began to fall. Even looking back on it, I can't quite explain why I was so overcome with emotion but I straight up started bawling right there in the salon. Another stylist clocked it and smiled at me. Brigitta took my hand and said, "You can still braid my hair, Mom." Somehow these sentiments made it worse and I just cried and cried.

It felt like an iron gate had slammed shut on Liesel's childhood- and I was still behind that gate while she forged on. It wasn't just that I wouldn't be doing her hair anymore, it's that things with Liesel are no longer crystal clear. When she was a baby I knew 99% of the time what she needed. Now I'm not so sure and I feel like I'm shooting from the hip more often than not. She walked in looking like a girl and she walked out looking like a woman. 

I've never wished for my girls to stay little, truly. I love watching them grow and try new things. Brent and I often talk about what we will do when the kids leave home. We dream about it! But there was something here that was... I dunno... involuntary. Like no one asked me, no one checked with me. The changing of the guard was sudden and all at once. Aurgh, does this even make sense? Especially since Liesel and I planned this together? It felt like I agreed to let her ride her bike to a friend's house and she sped off in a Lamborghini while I stupidly stood there saying, "Wait, what?" I somehow wasn't prepared and man those emotions hit me hard. I've always said there is no reason to cry over a haircut unless you are losing it to cancer and yet I was straight up bawling in a salon. I decided to take Liesel's sisters to lunch since the dying portion would take a while. I didn't think she'd seen my and I didn't want to embarrass her either.

Before:

After:

Even in the pictures you can see how much brighter she is, how happy she is. This haircut and color suite her to a T. She's stunning. She looks so chic and hip, so grown up and I dunno, socially conscious. You have to have some guts to have a hairstyle like that. Now she could show a little bit on the outside how she feels on the inside. Liesel couldn't take her eyes off of her own reflection and she kept shaking her head and looking at it from all angles. She gushed to her stylist how much she loved it. As we headed home she took selfies.

And somehow I felt like I'd lost her with one simple haircut. Weird.

Meanwhile Gita played with filters and asked if she could get her hair colored like this:

Absolutely not Gita- mama's heart can only take so much!

Just Keep Swimming

 Getting the girls settled into swim lessons ended up being a debacle of epic proportions. Normally we just use the park district but they weren't offering lessons this summer so I went with the University of Iowa. Even though I called to confirm, when we showed up, there was no one to teach them. The person I was supposed to connect with was out and not answering his phone (office or mobile). One of the assistant swim coaches for the University of Iowa stepped in and gave the girls an assessment so when a coach was assigned, they'd know where to begin. We were comped the first day of lessons and stayed long afterward to hang out and play. Eventually everything was worked out, but it was several phone calls to increasingly higher ranking staff until I heard back.  

Liesel and Ireland worked on lifeguarding techniques like fetching bricks from the bottom of the pool. Sydney and Brigitta focused on basic skills in the shallow end and I heaved a sigh of relief that Brigitta made such strides this year. Her swimming skills have worried me the most- especially since she's such a dare devil.

A chunk of our day was spent right here. If they weren't in lessons, the girls just played. The water was chock full of chlorine and in spite of my efforts, the girls hair suffered. Eventually I stopped waiting until we were at my parent's house to wash it out- we did it in the locker room right after they finished. That helped some, but it took a while to get their hair back to normal once lessons were finished.

Sydney met the cutest little friend at the pool. Her grandpa would bring her and we even exchanged numbers so they could meet up. He said all my daughters were incredibly kind, which was so lovely to hear.

The splash pad and lazy river areas were perfect for those two while the rest of the girls tackled the climbing wall over and over. 

They got to know which lifeguards were strict about them not getting on top and which ones were more lenient. Watch Brigitta flip into the water when she's done:

I usually read or listened to a podcast but if one of them did a particularly difficult climb, they wanted all my attention (hence all the photos).

Some of those climbs (like this one where the wall curves out) are really tough when their hands are wet and slippery.

You can really see the sense of accomplishment on Ireland's face when she makes it to the top!

Man they loved that place!

On our last day I was kind of desperate to wrap things up and go home. They all insisted on stopping to take photos with Herky in his swim trunks. Sydney is pulling a frown because she didn't want it to be over.

Of course they need individual shots:

One day we met up with Whitney at City Park so the girls could get some sunshine while they swam. I was shocked Liesel was brave enough to flip off of the high dive!

I don't know why this video is so funny to me- something about how Liesel is so particular that Ireland position herself for the best video possible. Ireland is doing a Mario Bros pose and sings a bit of the theme song before she hits the water.

A sweet little split leap:

I'd seen something similar to this on social media and thought I'd try to replicate it... which didn't really work. I don't think it looks like she's actually sitting on a wall and sinking into it a bit... which was the idea. Still, I love how Liesel is game for any photo op.

It was so lovely to get back to a pre-pandemic activity- even if we had to iron out some problems to get there. The girls had a blast in swimming this summer!

Handcarts and Ice Skates

I'm embarrassed to say this is the first time I've visited the Mormon Handcart Park with the girls. It's a lovely little hike with lots of shade and Whitney joined us with Dakota. Since it wasn't too far of a walk, we all really enjoyed ourselves and I made a mental note to come back the next time we are in Iowa City.

The original painting of that image below hangs in my home ward- a member painted it.

Check out the vines climbing all the way to the top of this statuesque tree!

I shall be telling this with a sigh 

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

 two roads diverged in a wood and I--

  I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference! 

Robert Frost

 Brigitta makes me laugh! She was so proud of her newfound skill in dropping and catching a stick.

Brent and I were trying to figure out what generation of the church we and our girls are as our family history goes back to the pioneers on both sides. A call to my sister Katrina confirmed I am a seventh generation member which makes the girls an eighth!!! Most people with pioneer ancestors only are fifth but my great, great, great, great grandmother was the first to join the church. Her daughter (circled in red below) was actually mentioned in the book Saints and in the podcast #16 Not Doubting nor Despairing!

Sarah Ann Haigh and her mother were part of the Martin Handcart Company which experienced some of the most devastating losses of life on their journey west. I have to give this girl some serious moxie in helping others when she undoubtedly was struggling herself. So glad she got a shout out and that the girls have this connection with her.

After grabbing some lunch, we traded the heat for some ice. 

Brigitta and Ireland took to ice skating so quickly last winter, I figured all the girls would love this. It was immediately apparent that Sydney was incredibly unsteady on those skates so I got that dolphin to help steady her (and then everyone ended up using). 

They got a little conga line going.

Sydney clung to the sides when she first went out on the rink. Her whole ice skating experience did a 180* when she had a little something to hold onto.

Brigitta attacked the ice like everything else in life. She forgot a sweater so I loaned her mine and she preferred to have the sleeves whip around her rather than rolling them up. 

We met up with Whitney for dinner and talked dance. You are a true Iowa Citizen if you know how to pronounce this:

Brent isn't a fan so whenever we are in Iowa City without him we make sure to stop by. Sydney was rather excited, as you can see:

I had a good chat with my dad while my mom took Ireland out for a walk to help clear her lungs. My parents are getting older and it is becoming all too apparent there will be some rough waters to navigate as we try to keep them as healthy and independent as possible. I've heard this time of life is the toughest- obligations with children on top of obligations to ageing parents. 

But let's not borrow trouble from tomorrow- for now they are here. My girls get to spend time with them and make memories and for that I am incredibly grateful.