Maybe NOW She'll Understand

As I write this blog, 2 beautiful little girls are missing. Their names are Lyric and Elizabeth and they disappeared this past Friday from by Meyer's Lake in Evansdale. My heart aches for their families. This frightens me. Emma quite often goes on runs or walks by herself. She takes different routes which is a GOOD thing for the most part. I always tell her a specific time that she has to be back home but as many of you know, Em tends to lose track of time and forgets to call if she is going to be late. When I told Em about these 2 little girls I think it scared her. I'm glad it did. Maybe NOW she'll understand why I want her to check in and always, always have her cell phone with her. This just makes me want to NOT let her go out by herself but I can't do that. She needs to be a teenager and it's taken me a long time to let her do the things that other kids her age do. She wants to go to football games this fall at the dome with her friends, go to the mall, just generally hang out and I know in my heart she needs to do this but man oh man I am scared to let her go!! But I will. 


I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. So many things have happened since February, some good, some not so good. Think I'll stick to the good things!


We went to Portland, OR to visit Laura in early June. Allison got to go this time too. We left on June 3 and returned on June 18. The trip was beautiful. The mountains and ocean are breathtaking! I could easily live in the Northwest and be very, very happy there. Maybe someday...
We got to see Reptile Gardens on the way, as well as Bear Country, Wall Drug, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Old Faithful in Yellowstone, and Needles Highway. While in Portland we went to The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry where we spent the entire day trying to figure out scientific puzzles, playing Connect Four with a robot, learning about tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunami's, volcanoes, and earthquakes. We also toured a submarine. While in Portland we ate at so many different types of restaurants that I can't even remember them all! We shopped in the "hippie" district, went to Powell's New and Used Books, Voo Doo Doughnuts, spent an entire day at the ocean and watched the sunset there as well, and we also got to meet the guys from the group, The Dirty Words. Em was thrilled that they signed a bandana for her. They are all very nice guys. Allison and I even went to one of their shows. While there I acquired a taste for Kombucha. No, it is NOT alcoholic. It is what I call a cure all for what ails you. :) Seriously, it is very good! They don't sell the kind that I had in Portland here in Cedar Falls which is a bummer. The stuff here isn't as good. 


This blog post had gotten long enough. More next time. :)