Gona's fish tank

This Sunday was spent playing with Gona's new fish tank. There is a battle between her and her brother, Mike, as to who can get the biggest tank....I think she won. She bought a 125 gallon tank and put it in her Barbados room. It looks really great there, and once there are some fish in it, it will probably look even better :) Tim and Janice were visiting this weekend, and met McKenna. In true Skinner style McKenna proceeded to poop all over Aunt Janice's lap. According to Denny and Josh, she deserved it, but I was embarrassed none the less. As soon as we get pictures of the gargantuan tank, I will post them!

Busy weekend

This weekend has been very busy. On Thursday we went to the Iowa State Fair; and for anyone who hasn't been, it is quite the experience. Only in Iowa are there such attractions as a lifesized cow and superman carved out of butter, tractor pulls, and over 20 items you can eat on a stick; including deep fried twinkies, oreos, and hohos. We went mainly to see Hairball, a cover hits 80s band. They were pretty good, and I sang along to most of the songs!

Friday, Josh went to Scott's house in Boone and played poker. He won 2 of the 4 games, and his winnings more than covered fair expenses, as well as many more poker buy ins in the future. Brandi speant all day Friday driving back and forth from doctor to physical therapist and back again. It seems that I pulled my achelis tendon, probably pushing myself too hard in aerobics classes. So I have been given some excersies to do and have two appointments next week to check on my progress. So, since we were running around like crazy Friday, McKenna had no naps and was very tierd. So we speant Friday night watching movies and relaxing!

Saturday Scott, Melissa, Char, and Jamie came over for dinner. We speant the whole night talking and didn't quite get to the games, but had a great time! We tried out a new roast chicken recipe, and Scott gave away his secret to the infamous strawberry dip, YUM!

Fun Workout

I know this is kind of pointless, and has nothing to do with our family - but these guys look like they are having much more fun on their workout than I am!

Luau

Yesterday we waited FOREVER for the air conditioning guy to come. Our air conditioner has been working overtime this summer, and finally needed service. Luckily it was a simple repair, and we are back to a nice cool house today! After the air conditioner was fixed, we went to Valley Junction to go shopping. Valley Junction is a really neat area of old West Des Moines. It is reminiscent of old downtowns with store fronts all lined up. Lots of unique and fun stores. We had to try and find something fun for Brian and Rika's wedding gift :) Finally we went to Scott and Melissa's luau in Boone. We planned on staying a few hours, and ended up staying until way past midnight. Luckily McKenna fell asleep at Gona and Bacas. They were nice enough to let us barge in at 1 in the morning to shuttle sleeping baby home! She didn't make a peep until we tried to put her in her crib....of course!

Fish Fry at Gona and Baca

On Thursday we went to Gona and Baca's for a fish fry. We ate fish that the boys caught in Canada on thier fishing trip. We had a "shore lunch" that Baca made with fried fish, Lewis beans (made with beer), fruit, bread and brownies. I made my parchment fish that I learned at a cooking class in Seattle. Was pretty fun! Emmi, Kade and Aaron came too! Even though it was a little warm, McKenna wore the outfit that Connie and Jim got her; very stylish!

Bath Time

Yesterday we had a great time going out to lunch with Kim-Marie. She trained at our store and now runs the biggest Best Buy in Iowa in Des Moines. We went to Mojo's in Johnston; great food! She gave McKenna a very cute Woodstock stuffed animal from Charlie Brown. Today was pretty uneventful; but we managed to get some very cute pictures from bathtime! Denise and Rhett Faaborg gave McKenna the cutest lamb towel with her name embroidered on the back. She LOVES it!

Dinner with Friends

Last night we went out with Jason, Letisha, Chad and Tara. We went to dinner at a very nice italian place in downtown Des Moines called Centro. We talked about Jason and Letisha's wedding plans and Sorin and Amy's wedding. We were glad to hear that Chloe is doing fine and that the bladder infection that she had before will not require any surgery. She will have to take antibiotics but that sounds much better to us than anything invasive! Aunti Em was nice enough to come down and babysit McKenna. They went on a walk and tried on a bunch of clothes that she hadn't worn yet. Sounds like it was a good time :) Earlier in the day we played on the blanky that Aunti Chelsey made McKenna - as shown in the picture!

Met Nanny Heather

Today we ventured off to Ames (about 20 miles from our house) to meet McKenna's new nanny. She is about 1 mile from both Josh's office and my Best Buy; we couldn't ask for a better location. This way if either one of us wants to drop in at lunch, or in case there is an emergency, she is very close. Also - we get to spend an extra hour with her (half an hour there, and half an hour home) even if it is only a car ride. Then we had lunch with Daddy and Aunti Em at Applebees. I also went to Best Buy while waiting for Josh so that McKenna's many admirers could play with and hold her. We found out GREAT news that our good friend Scott is NOT accepting a job in Conneticut. Some big wig high end appliance company has been wining and dining him in an attempt to steal him away. But apparently he made his decision today to stay with Best Buy. That is very good news for me, becuase we have a blast at work, and he helps make the time fly!

Heather is going to be a great nanny. She has a house full of fun toys, and a backyard with the biggest playground I have ever seen. She is limiting her daycare to just a few babies, one of which is only a month older than McKenna. Hopefully her and Abbey will be great friends! Things just seem to be coming together!

Josh's Reunion

Yesterday was Josh's 10 year high school reunion....crazy! I can't believe its been that long since we were in high school (well I still have 2 years left until my 10th, but still!) It was fun meeting some of the people that, since yesterday, I have only heard about. It is a really fun stage in life. Most people are married, or engaged. Most had kids (a lot of which were McKenna's age.) It will be fun to see how all the kids have changed at the next one!

The reunion was held in Nevada, catered by Hickory Park. The night before there was a big gathering at Legends, a cool bar in Ames. Josh missed out on that because he got back from fishing late. There were some people that he didn't get to see, but for the most part his good friends all came to the picnic. Later that night Matt and Charity Johnson, Sarah and Wes Davis, Jason Montegna and Damon came over to play poker. Damon - who doesn't even like poker - ended up winning the whole thing! Jason, Matt and Charity stayed way after the game catching up and talking about who was doing what from high school. I think the resoultion was that while most people have really grown and become good natured, there are still many who still crave the neediness of high school cliques. Luckily those people were, and probably never will be friends of ours.

Sleepover at Gona's!

Last night was McKenna's first sleepover! Brandi had a 5:30 aerobics class, and since Josh (aka babysitter during class) is gone, we thought it would be easiest just to stay the night at Gona's house! McKenna did great, and actually slept longer than usual. Judy, Aunti Em, and Hills came over and we had chinese food, margaritas, and a lot of fun talking!This morning, after we got home, McKenna discovered her mirror. Her Uncle Brandon got her a jungle themed toy with dangly animals, a mirror, music, and lots of fun textures and noises! She has been staring and talking to herself for almost half an hour. Looks like she discovered a new friend!

While Daddy's Away

Since Josh is gone fishing in Canada with his dad, we have been keeping busy on girly outings. After a bath, we went to lunch with Auntie Em and Gona at Panera; then went shopping for new shoes. Yesterday we went to a Best Buy softball game and got to see a lot of people who hadn't met McKenna yet. Brandi is looking forward to working with all the crazy people again!
Some new overalls --------------->

Getting cuddly after bath time

Grandma Great's

Today we ventured out to Grandma and Grandpa Great's in Perry. They just harvested about 100 ears of sweet corn from Mike's garden. We cut, cooked, and froze it to eat later! We got to take some of it home along with homemade applesauce, yum! Bridgot is going out to the western border of the state to meet up with all the Ragbriers. Every year thousands of people come from all over the world to ride across the state of Iowa on their bikes, border to border. Along the way they camp, stop at many vendor's booths, drink, and have a great time! It is quite the event! This year Lance Armstrong is going to ride the last day along with the group. Should be quite fun!

Some pictures of McKenna

So I realized that I didn't have any pictures of McKenna posted! And, since we all think she is the cutest thing ever, I had to put some up!



Here she is playing in her crib. We decorated the room with a jungle theme, with giraffes, zebras, elephants, and alligators. She loves watching the mobile spin and has recently learned how to smile!

And the second one is of her laying on the couch. Lately she is very interested in playing with her hands and sticking out her tounge :)

McKenna is 2 months old!

Hard to imagine that our baby is already 2 months old. We are trying out this blog thing to keep all our friends who are everywhere up to date on the crazy Skinner family. Not too much going on. Josh is having fun working in his shop. He has made a workbench for both his father and himself. Very impressive, especially for his first endeaver. McKenna is discovering new things everyday; her latest being her hands. She gets cuter and more active every hour it seems. You can actually see her learning! Brandi is debating over whether to go back to work. Best Buy is in the process of trying to get job share program established. This would allow for a 3 day work week at 60% of her current salary....pretty hard to resist!

We are anxious to see all our Seattle friends. We will be there over labor day for our good friends Bryan and Rika's wedding. We are also planning a trip to go boating in Wisconsin sometime in August! Take care - till next time!