Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Crazy Busy Fun Weekend

Warning: long post ahead - Will is appalled. 

This past weekend was a big one.  My mom, Becky and Sarah threw a shower for Clocker Baby.  This was kind of a big deal because I've been kind of pest about having showers thrown for me, but Becky assured me it would be ok, so I trusted her and I have to say they did a really great job of pulling off a Green Shower.  Thanks to everyone who attended and didn't give us a bunch of noisy, plastic toys!  The weekend actually started way back on Monday when my mom arrived to start working on cleaning the house and getting stuff ready for the shower.  Becky arrived on Wednesday and the two of them worked really hard to get stuff done around here before everyone else arrived.  Will and I owe a special thanks to them for the clean house - for the first time in years the bugs were cleaned out of the dining room light!  

Will also worked really, really hard in preparation for the shower.  He got the sconces up in the living room and finished painting the bathroom and got the new sconces up in there too.  He even hung the wind chime in the bathroom for me, even though it wasn't one of those things that really had to be done.  Watch later this fall for the new bathroom floor - exciting!  


On Friday the weekend officially started with the arrival of all of the rest of the out of town family members.  Family members arrived from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio just in time for pizza and beer.  Betsy has some pictures from Friday night on her blog.  Here is my sister Sarah's son, Drew, trying to get some of Becky's beer - beer brewed by Will to torture me through my pregnancy.  The kid has great taste, this is a particularly hoppy beer and I hope there is some left over for me.


On Friday night Bill also gave Will and I the canoe that he built for the baby.  This is an actual replica of a canoe, one quarter the size of a full sized wooden canoe.  It is super, super cool, though this picture doesn't do it justice, plus I'm making a funny face in it.  Hopefully Bill has some better pictures of it, because we don't, though we have the actual canoe. 


The shower was on Saturday.  Mom, Becky and Sarah made all kinds of great food (there was a lot of eating over the weekend).  People did a great job of sticking with the whole Green theme - including organic gifts, recycled gifts, and reused packaging.  Here is a sleeper that Will's Grandma Honora made - I assume that Will and possibly Rob and Betsy all slept in this and I didn't ask, but probably Henry and Clara (Betsy's kids) have as well.  



And here are some fun bibs that Becky and Sarah gave me.  Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures during the shower!

Here are my mom, Becky (on the right) and Sarah (on the left) after the shower.  They did a great job.  


The festivities continued after the shower ended.  The out of town family members came and went as they pleased.  Some stayed around and rested, some went to the local art fairs or museums and my mom and sisters and I went to see my Grandpa.  


Grandpa was in a great mood and told me to take good care of the baby (which he called her, maybe he knows something the rest of us don't).  He also told me that Will and I should be ashamed of ourselves for hitting the deer.  I assured him that we are.  Here is one more picture from that visit - I have to post this because I think it is hilarious.  Sorry I honed in on your picture, Sarah! 
 

Later Saturday evening we had all the out of town family members over for dinner.  Jean was kind of enough to bring us some Iowa corn to accompany the delicious potato salad she made and the burgers and brats Will grilled.  We also ate lots of left overs from the shower, especially my favorite cake - Chocolate Fudge from the 50's Grill - voted best chocolate cake in the Twin Cities.  If you haven't had it, come visit and we will get some (Will and I come up with any excuse to buy their cake) and I should also mention that I am not usually a fan of chocolate cake.  

The weekend started to wind down on Sunday.  Becky and my mom left for Colorado that morning, and Sarah and Mike left after Henry and Zach had a game of baseball in the front yard - here is an action shot of Zach and Henry playing.  It appears that Zach has just hit the ball and Henry is getting ready to get the ball to try to tag Zach.  


I also love this one.  


Will's family came over for some relaxing and hanging out Sunday afternoon.  Betsy thought it would be good to get a picture of Clocker Baby with the Decker cousins.  I know this is a repeat photo for some of you, but in this one you can actually see my belly.  I especially like this shot of Eleanor - what great smile!  


By Monday morning everyone was on their way back home and Will and I had to head to work. I ended up going to the lab and collecting some work and coming back home as I was quite tired.  I actually took a nap (gasp!) on Monday - this is a big deal as I never nap.  We are still recovering from the weekend - both with cleaning up the house and catching up on our sleep.  It was definitely worth it - thanks to everyone who came out, I know how tiring it is to travel such a long way for a short visit!

5 comments:

Betsy said...

I didn't think that was such a long post! Very exciting to have something new to read.
I, also, appear to be making a funny face in the canoe picture. I can't seem to enlarge the photo, which is probably for the best.
We were so happy to be there and be a part of the Clocker Celebrations! Can't wait for that little tyke to make an appearance!

Sarah said...

Great pictures, Sam, except for the one of me and Grandpa. All those pictures I don't love. I do love the action shots of Henry and Zach. Good job taking those, Will! Thanks for your hospitality this weekend- we had a blast!

fredecker said...

For some reason when I posted the pictures this time, I did it so that they wouldn't enlarge when you click on them. I have no idea what I did differently this time and Will wasn't sure either. I need a blogging expert to guide me.

The little tyke is doing a number on my ribs tonight! Ouch!

zinncaulfield said...

Hey--I took a lot of photos during the shower. Did you get them on Snapfish?

Goldenzinns said...

Did you really notice the bugs gone or did Becky tell you I had done that? I had to earn my keep. It was so much fun and so hard to leave. Loved all the great food and time with Will's family! Can't wait to meet Clocker baby in person.