Rob and Emily Raleigh

The year was 1987. I was seven years old with a sunburn so painful that even my eyelids had started peeling, yet there we were under the hot summer sun, waiting for the bus to take us down to the Metrodome where the Twins would play the Brewers. I remember the uniforms on the field, people-watching, doing the wave, and excitedly calling out with the crowd "Kiiiiiirbyyyy PUCKET!" when he was on his way to bat. Now, 21 years later, I was at the Dome again with my family to watch the same teams play ball.

This time around, we were in the cheap seats, and for someone who has recently realized her own selective vertigo, it took some time to be able to feel steady. I can look out of a tall building, or out the window of an airplane, and even switch-back my way up a mountain and love the view from the top- but standing in those seats looking out at the diamond had me feeling like I was one breath away from falling over and landing smack on right field. I could even see in my head ESPN re-playing a clip for weeks of how that blond girl somehow toppled over 20 rows in front of her, bounced over the gate, somersaulted her way through the lower deck and bounded over the next gate only to land on the field where the security guards were waiting to take her away. After making my brother bring me a Coke, cementing myself to the chair, and focusing on a conversation with my aunt, I felt much better. I even stood up to cheer a few times during the game!

Though seeing the Twins lose to the Brewers was not fun, I enjoyed the game. I loved the friendly banter between opposing fans, watching the wave progress around the field, being with my family, the Twins' home run at the end, and eventually... the view from the cheap seats.

I was up early today, thanks to Dallas. But I can't be mad because it is beautiful outside. Just within the fenced boundaries of our yard, I can hear a Robin calling out, a family of bickering squirrels in the oak tree, and scores of birds chattering and singing their morning songs. On top of the pine trees in the corner there are sparrows, a yellow finch, a handful of red birds that I haven't identified yet all trying to find a way to comfortably fit on the sprigs, and another unknown bird that came swooping from the tree and landed on the deck. He took one look at me before flitting away. Our backyard is truly a delightful menagerie.

Rob has been in the Boundary Waters this week and I've been pretty good about making sure Dallas was OK with being home alone all day. One day I raced home during lunch to let her out, and every day since then I've come home from work a little early. I play with her, I take her for walks, I give her treats, I pay attention to her, I've kept the A/C running during the day so she doesn't overheat, she helps me watch my TV programs... She has settled in to not having Rob around and has been pretty well behaved.

But today she's been just crazy. I'm trying to watch a movie and she simply will not let me. She's all, "Pet me! Pet me! Here's my rope, play with me!! What would you do if I rubbed my wet nose all over your arm? Would you pet me then? Ok, then I'll just stare at you with this silly grin on my face and then spill your drink with my fantastically nimble tail!"

There are two games she likes to play: Watch-mommy-try-to-make-me-drop-my-ball, and Tug-mommy's-arms-off-playing-rope. I prefer neither game. If she listened to me when I told her to drop the toy, then she'd realize how much fun it is to go run after it. I'd even be willing to pretend to chase her around a little, IF SHE WOULD EVENTUALLY DROP THE BALL. But no, it's all about her rules.

When we first bought our home my parents gave us a couple of bird feeders which we hung in the backyard. We've enjoyed watching particularly the cardinals eat from one, but we'd have to be out on the deck to see. So I finally moved one feeder to the front yard where I can see it from the kitchen, since I spend a lot of time there. It only took 30 seconds for a sparrow to find the new front yard diner, and a few minutes later all of his friends to stopped by. We've just had a short rain shower so not only are the birds eating but they're swimming through the dewey grass (bathing perhaps?) and drinking water from where it collects in the thick leaves of our shrubs.

It's been a busy week here!

Christmas comes biannually for the Raleighs: once in December, and once in the summer. Last weekend was the Raleigh Christmas celebration in Stillwater. As usual we had enough food to feed the troops in Iraq with some to spare, Christmas stockings for each person, a few yard games, a playful chihuahua, and lots of people who share the same last name. Rob brought home made root beer in a keg for all to enjoy. It was a "just add water" recipe but it was still really good. Wally had a special gift for everyone which was a pine tree sapling in honor of Grandpa Raleigh who took such great pleasure in planting trees every year.

Our Father's Day plan included a brunch at an Eagan restaurant to honor Wally and our newest dad Cal. Later that day Cal and Angie went for a bike ride at a nearby park and left baby Claire with us! They were only gone an hour and Claire slept through most of it, but once she was awake there was no consoling her. She wanted Mommy and Daddy back! I also managed to call my dad to wish him a happy father's day and I found out all about his summer projects and plans. There is no rest for the retired.

This week has been rough- not a lot of sleep, busy at work, etc etc etc, but I had a little shopping spree with my admin co-workers that de-stressed us all. Retail therapy really does work. After returning from that I met up with Lisa for a light dinner at Panera. It was so nice to talk with her. I feel much better than I did earlier this week!

If there's one thing I love about owning a home, it's sitting on the deck on a warm summer evening. We sat out there for a couple hours just talking and playing with the dog. It was the perfect start to the weekend.

Only a week after returning from Missouri we found ourselves traveling out of town again, this time to Princeton, Illinois to see my cousin Meridith get married. Princeton is a small town along I-80 about 60 miles east of the Quad Cities. Meridith's dad and my dad are brothers and they grew up in Moline.

All of the wedding guests were invited to the rehearsal dinner which was held at City County Park just outside of town. Since the bride and groom are both avid baseball fans supporting opposing teams (Meridith grew up a Cubs fan while Evan is forever loyal to the Twins), and since Evan proposed to Meridith at a Cub's game at Wrigley Field by hiding her ring in a bag of Cracker Jacks and encouraging her to find the "prize", the dinner was appropriately themed for their love of the game. We had hot dogs, peanuts and root beer at the Grooms Concessions, played baseball on the park's field, and watched as the bridesmaids took on the groomsmen in a game that closed out the evening.

We were also each given an "Official Wedding Hanky" (made to look like the Homer Hanky) with their names printed on it. I thought that was clever! After the wedding ceremony, instead of throwing birdseed or blowing bubbles everyone waved their wedding hankies as the bride and groom left the church.

There was some time to kill between the ceremony and reception and Dad thought it would be a great time to show us all the work he has done on Uncle Todd's house in the past year or so. The house looks amazing! There's still a lot of work to be done, but it's a very old house with lots of victorian details to it so trying to preserve that history while fixing it up a bit is a challenge.

Probably the only thing I appreciated about high school gym class was learning swing dance moves. Though incredibly awkward at the time for a shy girl like me, it comes in handy now especially at wedding receptions. My brother Tim and I waited all night for the right song to come on so when the DJ announced that a few swing songs were coming up we wasted no time getting ourselves on the dance floor. We can really only remember one move from that gym class (now more than 10 years ago for me!), and although it's a really cool move, we probably over-did that one but it's so much fun to just be whipped around the floor and show off a little bit!

Despite the signature Illinois weather (hot, muggy and buggy), the forecast's thunderstorms skirted around us making it a beautiful day. We were so happy to have made the trip and celebrate with Meridith and Evan!

I see I haven't even touched this blog in months so I'm going to do a quick four-month synopsis of what we've been up to.

February:

• My husband proved himself to be the best one in the PLANET for giving me a spa gift card.
• I turned 28 and realized birthdays are getting harder to face each year.
• The girls and I had a Teppanyaki dinner in St. Paul.
• My friend Melissa had a baby boy and named me his godmother.
• Rob tasted chicken feet for the first time.
• The season of Lent inspired me to visit a nearby church a few times.
• DALLAS WENT INTO HEAT!!! It was quite the surprise since we thought she was spayed.

March:

• Our friends Chad and Leah FINALLY moved to the Cities!! YAY!
• Another girls night was all about fondu at a big fancy house in Stillwater.
• My family's Easter celebration included a birthday cake for all Lamberts/Sanders/Woods born in the months of February through April. The cake had a "typo".

April:

• Our group and then some went to the Gitchee Gumee Brewfest. It made me miss Duluth.
• I've never seen my sister-in-law so excited as when we saw her cheer on Caly at the final championship Rollergirls derby. Caly's team, the Rockits, took home the Golden Skate award!
• I was so happy to make it to my cousin Meridith's bridal shower.
• My brother's girlfriend Lisa and I had a girls day and shopped.
• Rob's sister made us Uncle Rob and Auntie Em. Claire Eileen was born April 16 at 5:50 p.m., was 19.5 inches and weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces. I'm not being biased at all when I say that she is the CUTEST BABY EVER.

May:

• TWO YEARS of marriage already! We celebrated with a steak dinner.
• My youngest brother Tim graduated from college!
• We took a trip to Branson, Missouri with my entire family (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers and girlfriends). There was mini golf, a lazy river, horseback riding, a show, a museum, and lots of the Game of Life, Apples to Apples and Risk was played into the wee hours.
• Our friend Meredith turned 31 and celebrated with a girls only night in.
• Baby Claire is baptized.
• Dallas went on her first backpacking trip. She carried her own food and bedroll.

The summer schedule is already looking pretty full!