Over the weekend

I haven't spent much time in the cyber world over the last 4 days. I've been too busy: 

• hosting and "entertaining" 2 parents, 2 sisters, 1 brother-in-law, 3 nieces, and 1 nephew in town to celebrate (a tad early) my boys' 2nd birthday
• stripping the boys down at Mimi's so they could eat their first Oreo dirt cup (hey, they had on white shirts)
• eating (and savoring) Iowa corn on the cob and BLTs with Iowa tomatoes
• laughing until my side hurt at (naked besides diaper) Reagan and Kiefer playing with a pitcher and the garden hose in the backyard and loving how they knew they were the entertainment for the evening
• laughing even harder when (now, fully naked) Kiefer went potty, standing up, on the patio, and had no idea what was happening but liked the applause he got for "going potty"
• laughing even more when Reagan (also fully naked) realized his brother was getting attention for going potty, and proceeded to push and pull and tug trying to achieve the same potty-result and being frustrated when he came up dry
• baking and preparing and making lists and sorting supplies for the "outside" birthday party that was moved inside due to the threat of rain that ended up being a brief and light shower
• watching Reagan and Kiefer open up tricycles and tents and pots and pans and play-doh and legos and inflatable football and baseball sets and realizing turning 2 makes them big boys
• enjoying the pancake bar and pancake birthday cakes at the party
• huffing and puffing when I looked forward to and then started to prepare homemade ice cream to find out the machine's motor had somehow burned out (and our hand crank was left behind at a friends' house)
  
• watching endless hours of Olympic swimming, gymnastics, track and volleyball events
• clapping and cheering for "the old guy" catching up and seemingly flying out of the water to win the relay for the Americans and being one of the 40 or whatever million people watch Michael Phelps make Olympic history
• secretly clapping and cheering when the Chinese girl fell during her floor routine and watching cute-as-can-be-Iowa-girl Shawn Johnson receive two silver medals
• hanging out on my cousin's porch, again not believing the reality of turning 2 as Reagan and Kiefer all-by-themselves climbed up the ladder and down the slide over and over and over again
• sadly saying good bye to 2 sisters, 1 brother in law, 3 nieces, and 1 nephew but being thankful to have at least 2 more days with the 2 parents