Trek Fest Parade

Alice, the expert candy collector, makes it into the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Riverside, a small town about five minutes away from us, decided it needed a gimic. So, the town asked Gene Roddenberry, the author of the Star Trek series, if the 'small town in Iowa' where Captain Kirk will be born (it hasn't happened yet--I think it's 2030?), could officially be Riverside, IA. They got permission and so now each year celebrate Trek Fest. William Shatner came to Riverside for one of the festivals and donated a marble park bench. We went to a few of the activities, including the parade, costume contest, pet contest, and demolition derby. Alice now gets excited whenever she hears the word 'parade.'

Alice's New Look

Alice is sporting pigtails now that she has enough hair. She really likes them and keeps them in most of the time, though she sometimes wants to feel them so much that they work their way out. We are also getting a lot more questions about her hemangioma, which is more visible with pigtails. When Bruce dropped Alice off at nursery last Sunday, the nursery worker asked him if Alice had bumped her head. He didn't know what she was talking about, but said she did have a bruise on her cheek from falling down. Later, the same nursery worker asked me about it, and I figured out what she was referring to, and was able to explain. It's surprising that people think it's a bump from a fall. I think if you had a bump that big, you'd probably be in the emergency room with a major concussion.


Below is Alice talking on the phone to Bruce. This was the first time that she called him on her own. I dialed the number, of course, but she said 'Hi Dada' when he answered, which was surprising. It's hard to get her to talk on the phone sometimes. She just likes to listen usually.

Parkinson Genes

Well, if there were any doubts before, this will clear it up. Our pediatrician was worried about Alice's weight, so we had to go in for a special appointment in between well-child visits. Alice has been in the 90s for weight and height until recently, when her weight started dropping percentile-wise, and was in the 50th percentile for this special appointment (her height was 97th percentile). Anyways, the pediatrician asked me all these questions about her diet and then told me I needed to start adding butter and oil to everything she eats and also to put cream in her milk. She also asked if Alice liked fries. Well of course, all kids like fries, but should I really be pushing fries on her? I told the pediatrician that she really needed to see my husband, because she wouldn't worry about Alice after that. I just think the Parkinson genes are kicking in and Alice is going to be tall and skinny just like her dad.

Fun in the Backyard

Every evening we've been going out back to enjoy the wonderful blueberry season. Alice really likes to pick blueberries, but isn't very excited about eating them. She'll either give them to us to eat or stuff a whole bunch in her mouth and then spit them out.


We've also really had fun with our first garden. The radishes and Romaine have gone to seed already, but our squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are flourishing, and we're looking forward to bell peppers, tomatoes, and watermelon, which are all doing quite well. Our only disappointment has been the corn--not because it didn't grow well, but because deer have been eating the tops of all the ears.

This is actually one of two garden plots we have. There used to be a shed close to the house and when Tom, our landlord, moved it, he said we could plant there as well.

We have 8 flourishing watermelon vines with lots of little watermelons on them, so I think I might just get my fill of watermelon this summer!


Another fun thing we've been doing is selling drinks to people who come out to pick blueberries. We've been doing it for three weeks now. It was a little slow at first, but the hotter it gets, the better our sales. So far we've sold 177 drinks and made a profit of about $90. Not bad for throwing some ice and drinks in the cooler every morning and collecting the money every evening. We're going to take the money and have a really nice dinner at the end of the season and maybe get Alice a new toy since she has been so helpful, as you can see above. Actually, all she wants to do is steal ice from the cooler, but we try to get her to help put drinks in. Every once in awhile I'll let her put a few quarters in her piggy bank, which she thinks is so neat.