September 23

I have several pictures/stories to post today...

Audrey and I are in Keokuk for a couple of days visiting my mom. It just happens to be Homecoming weekend, so we took Audrey to watch the Homecoming Parade tonight. It was her very first parade! Now the Keokuk Homecoming parade probably shouldn't even be considered a real parade, but Audrey seemed to like it. She was a bit scared of the fire trucks that kept honking their horns and blaring their sirens. She stared intently (see picture above) at the band and all of the trucks and the kids. She especially liked the sucker that they threw out to her. And when we got back to Nana's house, she kept saying, "Tarade. Again!" And then she kept talking about the trucks and kids and her sucker. So I think she liked it.

The picture above is from tonight's parade, but it has a flashback story. Andrew, one of the Homecoming King candidates this year, is a friend of our family. We have known his family since I was a baby. They have 11 kids, and Andrew is the second youngest. I clearly remember Andrew as a baby; I would have been 12-13 at the time. He was so much fun to hold. He would suck his thumb with one hand, and then he would grab on to your hair with the other hand. He was so sweet and cuddly. And now he is nominated for Homecoming King and will soon be graduating and going to college. Audrey is right when she says to me, "Mommy old!" (which is how she greeted me this morning, by the way!).

And here's a flashback picture from a football game during my senior year of high school. Yes, I know, we were super cool.