The Algeras

Sara loves playing at Holland Heights Park. Here she is sliding with Daddy Tuesday night. Ben will have more and better edited video up on Facebook soon!

Sara had a great day today - Grandpa came from New Jersey to visit her! She started jumping up and down as soon as she saw him get out of his car. And within an hour she had him reading Green Eggs and Ham and Duck for President. Ben and I truly appreciate the reading break. Sara loves her books! She reads them to David, too. It's so funny to hear her version of the story. It usually has a tangential relationship to the actual words.
Ben came home for lunch so Sara got to sit by Dad and Grandpa. She made sure everyone was sitting where she wanted them to. Sara opened up some presesnts - she got a Scooby Doo fishing pole from Grandpa. When we tried to help her cast and reel she pulled out her favorite sentence - "No, I do it myself!"
After lunch Ben went back to an afternoon of meetings and the rest of us went to Veldheers to get pumpkins. When we got there they had just finished plowing the patch under because they didn't have a very good crop! Sara didn't care. She picked her pumpkin off the wagon and then picked a "baby punkin" for David. She got to see their kittens, although she didn't herd them like she did last year. This year she had a purpose; "get my pumpkin!" She chatted about pumpkin patches until she fell asleep on the ride home.
After dinner Sara got more presents! She got a card in the mail from Great Grandpa and Grandma Abma. It had glitter on it - what else is necessary to fascinate a 2 year old? Grandma sent new sheets and a new puzzle. Sara has been making the puzzle since she opened it. It has animal pieces and she was able to match them all to the right spot from the first time! Now she is making the puzzle then dumping the pieces out and shouting "Again! Puzzle again! I do it!"
Soon it will be bedtime. David is nearly down already but I think Sara will take some more convincing. Why sleep when you can play with Grandpa?

Today was Sara's first haircut! She was starting to get a shaggy dog look going - hair always in her eyes. So we went to get things trimmed up and get some bangs. It looks really cute! She has that 50's Barbie doll look going on when I curl it all up. She was very quiet and shy while she was getting it cut, but as soon as a we got in the car she started patting her head and saying "mom, I so pretty! Hair is so nice!" She couldn't wait to get to Grandma's and show it off.
When we got to Grandma's, there was a backhoe digging holes to connect the new house across the street to the utility lines. The kids loved watching it. Sara was very excited about the "dump truck". She loved playing with Ally and Andrew even though Andrew kept running off with her books. David was fussy but Grandma got him to calm down. Finally, they were all worn out and we headed off for naps. They took good ones!
After nap, we squeezed in a little outside time before it started sprinkling. I don't know what I'll do with her when it gets to cold to go out. She knows exactly where her hat and jacket are and demands racing and ball playing. I guess we will just bundle up!
Ben was in Detroit again today for a class. He really enjoyed it. Unfortunatly the corporate shuttle had been double booked and he and his classmates had to drive back to Holland. I bundled up the kids and picked him up at the car rental place, drove back to Tulip City Airport to get the truck and then headed home. Ben picked up a Frosty for me at Wendy's as a peace offering!
Now Ben is upstairs reading Duck for President and I am blogging and eating my ice cream. Mmmmmm. David is starting to wiggle in an "I'll be needing some food soon" way. Mom to the rescue!

Sara had a great day today because her friends came to play! First Wendy and Hayden came over for a mom walk and a stop at the park. It was a little wet from the rain last night, but that doesn't stop our monkey children.
Anika joined us after preschool, and Dominique brought Parker too! They are here for a little visit and are heading back to Wisconsin tomorrow. (Thanks for the canned treats, guys!). Anika wanted all the kids to play school, but there is a reason 2 year olds don't mix with school. The attention span just isn't there. Sara and Hayden did have fun coloring together. They kept running around the easel to see what the other one was drawing. They had fun eating chicken nuggets and banging on things. Somehow, David pulled off a nap through most of the craziness.
Sara was so worn out after the morning she crashed for a nap about 5 minutes after everyone left. David snoozed a while too, so I got in enough sleep to replace what I didn't get in the night. Nice!
After napping, Sara was ready to rip. We read lots of books and made sandcastles out of legos. Her latest favorite book is Duck for President. Fortunatly it is a cute book that is fun to read. If you ask her who is running for president she says "Duck and Barack Obama!" She's up to date on her current events!
Ben had a long day in Detroit today, but he's finally home and has taken over reading about Duck and the recounts. David is taking his after dinner snooze. It's finally completely quiet here...how nice. I think I'll go enjoy it by reading a chapter or two of a book with more than 20 pages!

What! This used to be about boats! I wonder how long it will take Ben to notice I've taken over his blog address. Since he hasn't updated since March, I figured he wouldn't miss it. I thought about continuing Sara's blog and adding a David blog but that seemed like so much work. And every now and then Ben or I do something blogworthy. So this blog will be about anything and everything concerning the Algera family.

Most of you readers (is there anyone except the grandparents?) know us very well, but I'll start with a short intro.

Ben - Sara calls him daddyman, and that's just what he is. A daddy superhero! He is also an engineer, triathlete, photographer, backpacker and a gadget-buying pack rat (he's been called Joe Campmor). He is my loving husband and I couldn't wish for a better one!

Em - I usually answer to Mommy, mommy, mommy!!!! I'm a mom of two, an ICU nurse, a reader, a cook, a backpacker and a blogger once again.

Sara - Born 10/12/06, she will soon be 2. She is running around constantly and talking up a storm. Much of this blog may end up being about what Sara said and did on any given day. She keeps us smiling! We are learning patience every day as we learn to parent a toddler. She definitely knows her mind!

David - Born 6/25/08, he is just over 3 months old. He still mainly lives for eating, sleeping and pooping but has now added smiling and giggling to his bag of tricks. He also likes to look at mirrors and shadows, shake rattles and watch his sister pull tricks to get him to laugh. He thinks tummy time is a joke since he learned to roll over at the age of 2 weeks. Hopefully he will master the fine art of sleeping through the night before his mommy goes crazy.

That's my family! Let the stories begin!

After seeing the start of the Watertribe Everglades Challenge this year, I have become re-inspired and actually purchased plans for a boat:

XCR Sailing Canoe

Ideally, I will be able to start construction later this year, hopefully launching sometime in 2009, and if everything goes perfectly, do the EC in 2010.

Wish me luck!