Sullivan Rides in a Grocery Cart

Blurry but cute photo of Sully as a first-time rider in a grocery cart without his car seat. He wasn't feeling well on this trip, and I think that added to his inability to stay somewhat upright. Thanks to Grandma Judy Hennessey for the cart cover -- it was a great thing to have for this little floppy boy's first cart ride. Thanks also to my niece Katelin who helped me carry everything into the grocery store (i.e. diaper bag, cart cover and Sullivan).

Food For Thought

One of my colleagues and buddies sent a few of us a link to this really interesting "presentation"-type video about how the world around us is changing, and how--based an initial viewing of the content--it appears that the global power is gradually shifting from the U.S. to China and India, and the intellectual power seems to be shifting away from humans to computers. I have no deep thoughts on what this all means, but thought that the amassing of all of this data in one place was quite eye-opening and is worth watching if and when you have a moment. Very humbling, if I do say so myself. Click here if you would like to check it out!

I am now seriously concerned that I will not be able to help Sullivan with his elementary school-level homework at this rate. :)

Sullivan's First Trip to Iowa

Over Memorial Day weekend, Gabe, Sullivan and I made the trip to Iowa for our niece Brittney's high school graduation. This was also Sully's first trip to Iowa, and Grandma Sandholm and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Kragt made the trip over to the Pipho-side of Iowa to see Sullivan, and - in the case of the Great-Grandparents Kragt -- get to meet him for the first time!

My brother and his family -- Stuart, Janna, Alyssa and Kent (Keith decided to stay in Arkansas...apparently the now junior in college is too cool for school to go back to Iowa :) ) -- also came up to celebrate Brittney's graduation, so Sullivan got to meet them as well, which was very cool.

We had a great time in Iowa -- it was fun to hang out with the family on the farm, drink a couple beers and just chat and take it easy. Brittney's graduation party was fun, and we ate ourselves silly on turkey and ham sandwiches and ice cream.

Following are a few photos of Sullivan's "firsts" in Iowa:

Sullivan got his first "washtub" bath with Grandma Pipho.

Sullivan sat in a high chair for the first time, and saw his first "milk in a bag" (pictured in the lower left hand corner here -- just like seeing a gazelle in the wild, I'm sure.)

And he met his first calf with Grandpa Pipho.

He got to meet Uncle Cole.

Sullivan met his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Kragt (also pictured here with Mom, Dad and Grandma Sandholm).

Sullivan got his first four-wheeler ride with Grandpa Pipho.

Sullivan got to meet the Arkansas Piphos, including Uncle Stuart, Aunt Janna and cousins Alyssa & Kent. Apparently he really felt like escaping after meeting them or something. :)

And Sullivan got fed and to share some quality time with his cousin, Quade.

There were also lots of other people he met, including Uncle Don, Aunt Robyn, cousins Brittney, Katelin, Abby and Josiah, and he also spent lots of time with Staci, but for some reason we didn't manage to capture all of these moments, so you'll just have to believe me they happened. :)

"French" Night

On May 19, we had our annual "French Night" dinner with Seth & Kelly and Njord and Carolyn. This is a tradition we started about four years ago as a way to actually celebrate Christmas and New Year's together without worrying about gift giving or shelling out a lot of cash to go out to a fancy dinner together to celebrate. What we do instead is make our own fancy dinner -- or, rather, Seth makes us a fancy seven-course dinner, and he and Kelly do all of the shopping in preparation for it :) -- and the rest of us chip in as sous chefs and we all split the costs. We've had LOTS of yummy gourmet meals each year, and the fun part is that we have a different bottle of wine with each course.

Well, this year the meal got pushed back a few months, what with the birthing of babies and Carolyn and Njord moving and remodeling their new condo. Another typical component of this whole event is for us to go to a destination for a weekend where we rent a house to have this dinner and hang out (past locations have been the lighthouse keeper's residence at Point Deception State Park and one of the officer's residences at Fort Warden State Park, coincidentally where "Office and a Gentleman" was filmed), but with the wee ones this year, we thought it would make more sense to stay close to home, and Njord and Carolyn were excited about christening their new condo with this event. So, Njord and Carolyn hosted, and we had a great time!

Rather than going with the usual French-style meal, we went northern Italian this year, which meant five courses rather than seven. We had a tasty antipasto platter, great pork tenderloin, and really good dessert of these little cookies that were then dipped in batter and deep-fried (I forget the appropriate Italian name of them). Definitely good eats.

Oh, and Sullivan is there -- I think he is laying on the floor somewhere playing and wasn't able to make it for the photo. :)