A few more things

Grandpa Fish with Levi and Noah following inspection of the tractors.

I have to make a second post in 2012 that says I’ve been busy.

What happened in May?

I was elected president of the Iowa Broadcast News Association.

Started coaching Noah’s tee-ball team for the second time. The Reds are playing good ball.

Went to a few Iowa Cubs game.

Planted a garden after cutting out a bunch of sod.

Had a Go-Pro camera run over twice on Uncle Gordon’s farm.

Checked out the Lego’s in a Reiman Gardens.

Continued work on the Call Committee.

Didn’t have a chance to tell you that Brooke Bouma and Megan Salois are pregnant.

Watched Noah “graduate” from Kindergarten.

Went north to the great town of Elgin.

Spent time on the farm.

And to start June, a friend and colleague Mark Pearson passed away. I hope June gets better.

Home Alone Again For A 10th Time

Amy and her boys prior to her world adventure.

This post is a little behind the times, but the Yeager Boys are home alone, again. This is the tenth time we’ve been left to fend for ourselves.

We are in the middle of a week where we try to survive on pizza and Goldfish crackers. So far, the diet is holding up and so are we.

The boys had some entertainers this week as I had some church commitments.

So, we’ve been getting by. The boys probably think this is a win-win for them. They get a fun babysitter and don’t have to have ‘stinky daddy’ every night mama is gone.

We attempted church on Saturday night. That was interesting. It was noisy collection weekend where we were encouraged to bring loose change and the kids would collect the coins.

Noah was holding metal bread pans to catch the clanking money. Levi wanted to join the fun. Levi proceeded to walk to the front of the sanctuary, walk past his brother and start climbing the communion railing. Lutherans traditionally don’t move that fast. But I did that night. I think my mother would say I’ve always moved that fast in church since I was that age.

School is in session. The boys seem tired every night and morning.

They are getting food, albeit hot dogs for Levi.

Mom has nothing to worry about.

Or does she?

YBHA VI Starts With A Delay

Momma and her boys before departure.

The Yeager boys are left alone again.
What could possibly go wrong this time? Another knot the size of Italy? A trip to the surgeon? All of Europe being shut down for Royal Wedding?

Each of these work trips has been an adventure. Some, more than others.

We learned from the last delayed return trip from Holland.

What started out as an excuse for a family photo has turned into a superstition buster. We didn’t take a picture with Amy, Noah and Levi in April and she had some extra time on the company dime.

This departure was a little different as it came during the week and not on a Saturday. So, we took the group picture the night before her adventure. I guess I should have gotten both boys up this morning as Amy’s flights were delayed and rerouted for a six-hour stretch on Tuesday. She originally was headed to Detroit with final destination of Amsterdam. Now she’s flying through Minneapolis.

So, her boss and the other traveler in their group used the Des Moines International Airport as their remote office to plow through some email this afternoon.

The storms finally cleared and her flight landed in MSP then took off for Holland.

Our first day was pretty good. Noah had Kindermusik tonight. He’s of the age where he gets about 30 minutes with Miss Tina and the last 15 minutes with families. So Levi and I hung out in the hall waiting for our time to come in and see what Noah had done. Levi is pretty good during family time as he thinks it is pretty cool to be in the same room as the big kids.

When we got home, it was bath time and bed. Both boys were tired and went to bed pretty easy. I think they are still tired form Noah’s birthday gatherings. Let’s hope they sleep well and be good for Dad. Otherwise, they may not get their surprise later in the week.

Join us next time when we talk about the songs we listen to here in the U.S.A.

Day 12 – Awaiting Confirmation

I hope by the time I write again to you here, Amy will be fast asleep after a big day of traveling. There’s a good chance she will be on a plane by the time I wake up Thursday morning. Today Amy, Robert and Gary made the trip from France to Spain with hopes of flying back to the states today.

Levi is at attention to see his Mommy again.

It has meant a lot to receive all your wonderful comments about our family and Amy’s trip adventure. I don’t think she fully realizes how many people are hoping for a safe return and happy ending. Thank you so much.

We’ve also had some great help from everyone making these last 12 days go so well. Also, thanks to Levi for sleeping through the night last night. That is always a winner, winner chicken dinner.

Tonight while feeding Levi before bed it gave me a chance to reflect. I have really enjoyed this time with my boys. It has just been us, with huge amounts of help, to hang out and have fun. I’ve gotten to spend time with them and be there for them. That being said, it is even more fun to share that with Amy. I love being a dad. This is the greatest job I’ve ever had. And I can’t wait to see us together again.

Noah holds up his treat.

Ok, back to the nice things others have done for us and speaking of good things to eat, a big thanks to Chef Mike for the random package he sent yesterday. He had sent a picture earlier in the week. Then we get a package sent to the Yeager Boys. Noah holds the loot. He also tells Mike thanks in this video. Always good to have Cardinals peanuts.

And more with the video talk… Levi really is developing into the talker. Imagine that. I’m really not sure where that comes from. He really gets going about 35 seconds in.

Here’s a little fun video to just listen to. It makes me happy.

Also thanks to everyone’s friend Romelle and this nice post he wrote on The (Convoluted) Mind of a Single Man. Give it a look. Thanks Romelle.

Finally, this European Vacation for Amy (really, don’t you think it feels like “look kids, Big Ben, Parliament,”) has been some fun. She’s been in 5 countries in the last 6 days. Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and now Spain. Not bad for a work trip that was only to last 6 days. Now I’m just hoping she can make it 6 countries real soon.

Day 11 – Little Boy’s Prayer

Noah and Levi have been dressed each day for school in clean clothes.

Noah finally gave me a weak moment tonight when he prayed for the volcano to stop so Mommy can come home.

Up until this point, I’ve not had Noah break down and that just about did it tonight for both of us. He has been a great little boy this entire ordeal, even if he doesn’t know exactly what is going on with Amy’s trip home from Holland.

Amy, Levi’s hair will look blond to you when you get back. Plus he’s really good at sitting up by himself and his laugh is contagious as always. Tonight I took the boys to Culver’s for supper like in Day 1 and to Target to get a few things. Thanks to Tammy for remembering us and the staff for being helpful.

Here’s what happened today. The image is from the BBC and shows flight patterns around the ash cloud. Impressive to say the least.

Ash, flight patterns and plans in the air. Image from BBC.

Amy, Gary and Robert loaded up in their rental car and headed south through France with a goal of Madrid, Spain. There were headed to Bordeaux tonight with the last 6-7 hour drive Wednesday to Spain. She says traffic wasn’t that heavy. We’re still hoping for a Thursday flight home.

Our story of travel trouble is not unique. Countless people are impacted by this volcano’s ash. As people try to get home to or from Europe, we just hope for a safe ending for all parties.

This has been called the worst air travel issues since 9-11. My friend Scott Harves reminded me of his story from that week in September. Scott was a segment producer for ESPN’s College Game Day. The schedule usually included travel to a college campus on Monday or Tuesday, shoot the story on Tuesday or early Wednesday and get back to Bristol to cram a story together for Saturday. That week in 2001, Scott was in Tallahassee, Florida and the campus of Florida State University. Scott was on the ground and already on campus when the attacks happened. Scott posted this note to me:

You reminded me of the time I got stuck in Florida for 9-11, spoke with Bobby Bowden for two days, games got postponed, ended up driving home Thursday/Friday that week.  That was creepy.

Again, everyone has a story now of where they were and where they were trying to get to.

Levi. I just wanted to put in another picture of Levi for fun. So, here you go.

We did get our story told in the Des Moines Register. Here is the link.. There’s an interesting line about how we’re learning as parents on this one. Marc Hansen wrote the story. Also in that story is Ryan Becker’s tale.

I also talked to WHO-TV 13. That story has yet to post, which means it probably won’t. I’ve got here on DVD, but won’t get that posted tonight. I’m wiped as Levi decided to wake up a couple of times overnight.

My old college professor Liz is also in Europe. She and her husband plus another couple are trying to get home as well. Liz reminded me to keep on top of the laundry. That is done. Liz is in Madrid and hopes to fly home Thursday.

By the way, this blog hasn’t had this much traffic since the posts about Ali Farokhmanesh or the TV Reporter wearing hats posts.

And the link fest wouldn’t be complete without a post from Kristin as she visited the farm over the weekend. Kristin starts with a reference to Noah’s joke telling ability.

By the way, here’s what is on the Iowa Journal this week.