When RAGBRAI came to town

We had the great statewide bike ride RAGBRAI stop in town this summer for one night, the last night of the trip. More than 20,000 people descended on Tipton that night - eight of them at our house (Will's coworker Mike and his group, Team Xtreme).


We live in the center of town, which was The Place to Be in Tipton that night (and, we'd argue, every night). They set up a stage, a beer garden and a big place to party ... and closed off the highway to traffic in front of our house.

But before Mom and Dad shuffled the kids off to their overnight sitters (hey, we HAD to party that night), they got to participate in RAGBRAI ... if only for a few blocks. And Daddy's friends Tommy and Andrew got some photos. More of their photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiptonragbrai/)

If Gabi knew was gelato was, she'd regret passing this coffee shop.

Unwitting riding advertisement for Mom's tie-dye tent (a half-block away).

Mostly, we went in circles.

Daddy had fun, too. But more fun that night. Not that he remembers.

Daddy shows off his biking form.

Here's what the kids missed out on. Mom and Dad are down there somewhere.

hey...

Just wanted to stop by today to say that we are back from our monthlong European tour!

So ... now I can get back to blogging. Sorry for the delay!

Oh, wait - we didn't go to Europe. I have no other excuses for why I have not blogged!

Well, I do have FOUR excuses, but they are actually the reason that I NEED to blog! :)

I will try to be better. (No promises...really.)

But here is a cute little story to get you through.

Yesterday, I was wrestling with my sweet, adorable, youngest daughter while trying to brush her hair.

She had on a cute pair of bib overalls and lovely, light-blue shirt. I knew that she NEEDED pigtails to complete the outfit. Well, we really have different style opinions, AND we are BOTH strong-willed. (But I did win!)

So after all the crying (me) and cursing (her), we finally ended it. And she was ADORABLE (I didn't get a picture, of course). 

I tried to end on a happy note, saying, "You look so cute with your hair up! Your friends at school (a class of boys) will LOVE it!" She grumped away.

Later we were in the car, and from the rearview mirror I heard:
"Mom, you were right..."

"Oh?  What about, Gabs?"

"I am CUTE!"

"YES YOU ARE!"

There, all better!