It's been awhile ...

Sorry for a delayed blog dear and loyal readers. It's been a busy few days. As you know from my last post I had a very interesting day on Monday, June 28. The following photos and comments cover the time from June 29-July 5 and a lot happened!

I got stitches on Monday and had my 18 month doctor's appointment Wednesday. I had my finger pricked and got a couple of shots so, for a few hours, I had more Band-Aids than any other kid anywhere.

Mom and Dad felt bad about things so they took me out to dinner Wednesday night. It was fun. The Band-Aid came off my finger and I bled all over Dad, applesauce ended up all over Mom, (Don't ask ... let's just chalk it up to poor decision making on my part.) and to top it off my nose was running so snot was everywhere.

(Mom and Dad left an extra big tip for our waitress.)


Friday at school we had a 4th of July family picnic. Mom and Dad took time from work to come over and, as it turns out, all the kids sat quietly and ate with their parents. Not me! (I'm Pierce the conqueror!) I decided that the only things I really wanted were my chips and cookie. After that I needed to stretch my legs and drug Dad all over the place. My friends just sat there quietly being cute but I wasn't feeling it ...


Mom got me out of school early and we headed home for a nap. Afterwards we checked out the Ashby wading pool. It was a lot of fun and I'm lucky to have a Mom who will take me. (You might wonder if there are photos of me in the pool. There aren't. However, I spent so much time playing with this truck that Mom got a picture of that!)


Saturday morning I got my stitches out. It hurt a little bit but I tried to be really brave. Here is a photo right before we went into the doctor's office.


The rest of the day was pretty mellow. I debuted my new "stitchless" face at the Urbandale 4th of July parade ...

... then Mom worked hard getting food ready for our visit to the Fletchers while Dad and I hung out in the basement. I'd not met Nolan or Karlin before so that was fun. Mom told me all about them and I'm glad they are around to keep Grant busy. They are little babies though, so we didn't have anything to talk about. A nice stare and point is all they are going to get from me for awhile ... I have Grant's toys to play with!


Sunday we went to church, Grandma Maggy stopped over for a bit then Mom's aunt Sherry and her husband John came over for pizza. I had lots to show them and talk about.


Monday came and Dad was really excited because he got to golf! After the round he gave me a ride in the cart and, by the end, I was having fun!


Then we met the rest of Dad's playing partners for lunch. One had his family with him so I got to see my friend Grant White and run around. (I haven't seen him in months and honestly don't remember him being this fast!)


Finally, after a bit of a nap and some relaxation Mom and Dad "attacked" my hair. What started as a "trim" quickly became a "shearing". They say it is a nice summer cut. I want a few minutes with each of them and the trimmers to see what kind of summer cut I can give them!

But you know, all's well that ends well. I got a piece of pizza for my troubles!



I'll post again soon ...

Much love.

Pierce

Give me five ...

... stitches in the head! I was running along at school, minding my own business when all of the sudden a chair jumped out and grabbed me!

Mom was called. She called Dad. They both called the Dr., came to school, loaded me up and drove faster than Uncle Eric would have liked to take me to the hospital. Once there I was whisked away to the ER and upon further inspection this is what the Dr. found.

After what they call "triage" everything got a bit hazy. The staff put medicine on the cut to numb it then wrapped my head and made me hang out for awhile. (Dad thought I looked like a Civil War soldier.)

Next they gave me medicine to drink. It was good. My hands felt just like two balloons .... I had become comfortably numb.

Then, we waited.

Thanks to a Thomas video provided by a VERY cheerful "child life specialist" I had something to keep me busy and I could just lay on the bed and pick my belly button. It was very mellow.

Then, all hell broke loose! I was minding my own business when a swarm of folks came in, held me down, put a bright light in my eyes and went to work. Mom and Dad held up well and I was proud of them but what a few minutes!

Five stitches and a Daffy Duck Bandaid later and I got to go home. I was still kind of loopy but got to have apple juice and an oatmeal cream pie. I also got to watch Nemo.

Not a bad day, I guess.

Pierce.

I love you ... now I'm going to puke.

What an interesting week! My outside play time has been cut considerably because of all the rain and, for the first time this week I took shelter from a tornado.

On Friday, school had a really fun event called "Fathers and Floats". Dad stopped by and we shared some treats.

After that we went back to Flynn Wright so I could say "Hi!" to everyone. Polly want a cracker?! Too bad, I'm going to eat it first!

Yep, someday I'm going to have a chair and a desk and a phone and a ... oh wait ... if I have those things I can't play all day. Nevermind.

Friday was a good day because I also got mail! Uncle Chris sent a postcard from Chicago.

Saturday, while Dad was braving the car dealer (oil change) I got out my pool for the first time. It took awhile to fill it up (Mom had to help a lot), but we got it ready just in time for the sun to warm the water.

I'm pretty excited about it, as you can tell! (By the way, check out all my teeth!)

When the time came to actually get into the pool I was nervous and tried to convince Mom that I should play with my mower instead but she helped me through it.

Hmmm ... this isn't so bad after all!

Safety is a big thing for Dad and he thought I needed the blow-up floater/sun shield that I had last year. Mom humored him but he quickly say that I had things under control and didn't need it this year!

Today was Father's Day so Dad golfed, we met for coffee and then hung out at home. We were supposed to go to an I-Cubs baseball game but I had a fever and the weather was threatening. Instead we chilled for awhile then went shopping for some new toy tractors. When we got to Machine Shed there were lots of tractors on display.

Here I am explaining to Mom that the John Deere introduced the Model "M" in response to Ford's use of the Ferguson three-point hitch. These tractors featured the "Touch-O-Matic" hydraulic controls. Fascinating.

Mom got kind of glassy-eyed and we turned to look at swans swimming in a nearby pond.

After that it got all interesting. We were inside looking at tractors and I thought it would be a great idea to puke all over Dad. Home we went to clean up then we took a trip to the Dr. Things are fine and she suspects I'm getting my "eye teeth" and that's messing me up. So, happy Father's Day, Dad. (Sorry about the shirt.)

On the way home from the Dr. we got to watch Mercy's helicopter land. That was way cool!

Once we got home for good today I helped Dad open some gifts, I took a nap, we watched the U.S. Open then called it a night. I'm going to stay home tomorrow and hope to feel better.

Oh, one more thing before I close out this update. Today Grandma Kathy drove her tractor in the Denmark Heritage Day parade. Way to go!

Have a great week, everyone. Remember, if I puke on you it is a sign of affection.

Pierce

Back at it ...

The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy! I did squeeze in a fun trip to see Uncle Eric, though. Mom, Dad and I got to his house late last Friday night and spent a lazy morning Saturday. Mom and I caught up on a couple of old "Saved by the Bell" episodes and it was quite a nice bonding experience.

Saturday, Uncle Eric took us to the best place ever! If you haven't been, you have to check out the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park. We spend a long time there and I saw lots of animals, played with tons of stuff and made a vow that yes, I would return!

If I was a cow, I don't think I could sneak up on anyone if I had to wear one of these. However, I can see why they are so popular with musicians.

I met several new friends. Animals are really cool!
Pumping water was fun. Dad splashed Mom but I was told in no uncertain terms that I couldn't post a photo.

And, finally, just when I thought it couldn't get any better?! This place had sand!

Ah ... nothing like a good Fruit Chiller after a long, hot day.

In addition to being a police officer, Uncle Eric is a volunteer fireman ... his office(s) are so much cooler than Mom and Dad's!

His work wardrobe is pretty awesome, too!

There also is a very cool playground by Uncle Eric's house and we played there as a group Sunday morning. A good time was had by all ...

This playground even had a curly slide, which has quickly become a favorite of mine.

Adults trying to remember how to play hopscotch ... nothing funnier!

Don't you hate it when you pick out a great outfit then you find out a friend, co-worker or, in this case, Dad is wearing almost the same thing?! Geez, Dad ... get your own cool outfit and quit copying mine!

Thursday we hung out with Grant! He is just about ready to welcome a little brother and a little sister to the family. He really helped me at McDonald's and at the playground and I know he'll be an awesome big brother.

I really like that the trash cans thank you every time you use them. I was able to get a lot of the pesky mulch from this particular playground and put it where it belongs. While I don't do it for the recognition a simple "Thank You" is very nice.

Last night we went and hung out with the Dillons for awhile. They had a lot of great food and Maguire shared his "big boy" toys with me. I need to stock up on Matchbox cars and dinosaurs. His dad and my other friend Steve are participating in the Hy-Vee Triathlon today so it was an early night.

Today Grandma Maggy picked me up and we went to the birthday party of a co-worker's son. Very cool! There was a lot to do and I met several new friends.

That's it for now ...

Later!

Pierce

Opposite corners ...

This was another busy week. Dad had his annual Okoboji guys' golf trip so Mom and I went to Denmark to visit Grandma and Grandpa. For several days the Miller family was about as far away from each other as we could be and still stay in the state of Iowa.

My week started with a haircut. I was feeling a bit shaggy and with warmer weather at hand I asked Mom to "even it out" a bit.

Dad left Wednesday and that evening Grandma Maggy came over. I showed her my efforts in the yard ...

... then we went to Snookies for some ice cream.

Mom and I left on Thursday after school. Before getting to Denmark we stopped in Iowa City to have dinner with the Waldschmidts. I got to play with my friend Lauren, meet her brother Max and play on some fun things at the mall!

This trip was the best! I love tractors and trucks so Denmark was the place to be. Friday I got to watch some really huge machines work at Grandma and Grandpa's new house.

From a distance I could help direct things and the guys doing the work seemed to appreciate my opinions.

"Grandpa Dave, I think they need to put more slope in that line ... "

I also got to give my two cents on home remodeling questions ... "Grandma, I think I'd go with dovetail joints for your wooden floors."

Mom and Dad have been helping me practice my animal sounds and I got to test my mooing skills with Grandpa's cows. They are a LOT bigger in person than they are in my books!

Saturday was trash day and I think the gentleman from Floyd's did a fine job for Grandma and Grandpa. I can relate to his quest for a clean, orderly world.

A visit to see Clayton is always a lot of fun for me and I got to show him one of my books this time. He seemed to really like it!

Mom, Grandma and I also paid our respects as it was Memorial Day weekend. My Great-Grandpa Harley Houston served with honor and that makes Mom, Uncle Eric, Grandma and Grandpa really proud.

If you look closely, to Grandpa Dave's left, you'll see me in the tractor. IT WAS AWESOME! (He'll be able to tell where I rode with him this fall as those rows may not be as straight as the rest of the field.)

After my ride I had lots of questions and Grandma Kathy was very patient with me. "That? That? That? That?" (You get the picture.)

While I hate to brag I have been working out a lot. Notice the rock hard abs and muscular pipes!

Everyone got back to Des Moines Sunday evening. It was good to be together as a family again.

This afternoon we wanted to do something outside so we went to Saylorville Lake. I got to watch boats and get a stroller ride on a trail.

We also had a really fun family picnic. It as a great way to spend the afternoon.

Mom says it is the Miller in me ... I just think it is common sense ... potato chips are cool!

Have a great week, everyone!

Much love ...

Pierce