Wednesday was our last day, but we still had a lot to look forward to.  We started by meeting Lea’s old friend, Margaux, for some big foamy cappuccinos at Lake Coffee (& Ice Cream.  & Iowa wines…).

But I recommend the cappuccino!

It was great catching up with Margaux.  She’s spent the past couple years living in Austria, and is now on her way to Chicago.  She has one of the most adventurous spirits I’ve ever met, and it’s wonderfully contagious.  Can’t you tell?

After some good coffee talk, we drove over for one last play date with Anna.  When we first pulled up, we couldn’t tear her away from this bike rack. Funny how little kids become attracted to things we later learn not to notice.

Carla learned a cool technique to help Anna learn to walk. She wraps a blanket under Anna’s arms and holds the ends, which gives her just enough stabilization that she can get used to walking on her own without falling down on her soft little rear bumper.

She seems to like it!

Here’s another one of Anna’s daddy faces.

And here’s her funny crab walk. Carla says that she walks like this on the hard concrete because it hurts her knees, and apparently she doesn’t like crawling on the grass, either.

Wheee!  I love you, baby.

Our flight wasn’t until 5:00, so we had time to drive back down to Des Moines for a late lunch with my folks and my niece, Madison and nephew, Jack.

We met at a restaurant called Centro.  This doesn’t technically qualify as a stop on our Iowa culinary tour because it’s relatively new and it definitely doesn’t fit within the same genre of eatery.  But, we do usually eat here every time we come home.

 

And here’s Jack.

Lunch was very tasty, and now we had one more stop for the day.  Remember how I mentioned that Tim’s family couldn’t make it to Anna’s birthday party?  (It’s OK if you don’t; that was like two weeks ago I said that).  It’s because he had just become a grandpa!  His daughter Kendra (Lea’s cousin) had a beautiful baby girl – Braylin.  And we got to see her when she was just three days old!

“Look at dose wittle feet!”

 

Looks kind of like one of those suckerfish that cleans the side of your fish tank…  But much, much cuter, of course. 🙂

Yeah, yeah.  My wife looks pretty natural with a baby.  Quit pushing, K?

 

Braylin’s aunts Robyn and Rochelle noticed that she always wraps her hand up around her right ear when she falls asleep, and that her right ear lays more flat than her left, which leads them to believe that’s how she slept in the womb.  It makes me feel really weird to imagine having ever been inside a person.  Really weird!

Man.  Look how little she is compared to my hand.  This baby is in mint condition.

Here’s Braylin’s aunt, Robyn and brother, Cooper.  He’s a cute little guy.

Grandma, Ginger.  Or as Cooper says, “Ginga!”

Awwwww.  I see a hard man getting a little soft.

Life is good. (Do I have to use a ™ to say that now?)

 

Well, that’s all he wrote.  We had a good healthy dose of family, friends and home.  Looking forward to next time!