Post from Erin:
Well, I never thought I’d be one of THOSE people… you know, those crazy Apple people who LOVE their iPhones and won’t shut up about how awesome they are. For as long as I’ve known Doug, he’s been an ardent Microsoft man and very much anti-Apple. I, however, am a “creative” person and have always been fond of the simple design and elegance of Apple. But I chose my man and prepared myself to live in a PC world, trying to keep a smile on my face. Life went on as predicted for several years, but then Doug broke down about two years ago and we both got video iPods. I thought to myself, “He’s beginning to see the light! Be patient!”

During those past couple of years, I clung to glimmers of hope. I still remember when Doug remarked, “Those I’m a Mac/I’m a PC commercials are pretty funny!”

And finally, the phrase I was waiting to hear: “I think we should look into getting iPhones.” (This is even more incredible when you consider that we’d have to pay hefty early termination fees to break our 7-month contracts with Verizon!) I was cautious. Was he serious? Was I delirous??

Thankfully, Doug was very serious. And last Thursday, my dream became a reality. We got our new phones and haven’t missed our old phones one bit. I know this sounds dorky, but I really really enjoy using my phone now! It’s so fun! I love the Google search app with voice search. How freakin’ cool is that? And Doug is now showing me a shotgun app. And now it’s so easy to upload my pics and video to facebook, where before the process was so laborious and awful. So can a little phone make that big of a difference? Absolutely!! Smart, intuitive design is SOOOO freakin’ wonderful!

Now I need to work on getting my Macbook Pro…

We survived our first major road trip with both girls… woo hoo! It took us about 6 hours to get to Erin’s parents in central Iowa, but we made it. Her brother Nick and his three little girls were already out there and Molly had such a fun time with her cousins! By the next time we see them, little Nora will be able to keep up with them all, too. Grandpa took his girls out to the Pine Lake spillway for fishing, then we hit Ahoy Fountain for ice cream and splashed around at the Eldora Aquatic Center. Good times!

From there, we all traveled onward another 4-5 hours to South Dakota for a Robbins family reunion. We stopped in Sioux Falls on the way to see the Heckel side as well. Grandma Jo has Alzheimers but she was doing ok and seemed happy. I hadn’t seen Grandma Jo for two years, and it was tough seeing how the illness has progressed since I saw her last. But at least she was smiling and having a good time with all the little ones running around her house.

The Robbins reunion was a lot of fun… the weather was incredible and everyone was able to make it out. It was bittersweet, though, as Grandma Dorothe will be moving off the farm in the fall. This will be the last time we’ll get to enjoy the farmstead… Grandma’s porchswing, her beautiful gardens, her kitchen, the narrow and steep stairway, the mailbox… even the mile-long gravel road that leads up to her house… Erin was trying to soak it all in one final time. And seeing our girls ride on that porchswing brought joy to her heart.

On Saturday evening, we were able to get the Robbins cousins together for another round of volleyball in the grass. Some things never change! Trevor is still able to dominate the net without even lifting his feet and the trash talk between teams was as vibrant as ever. We thought of every conceivable way to divide teams, but seemed like the most even distribution was “Robbins” last namers vs. the “others” and the cousins vs. the spouses/fiances. Good times. And we even have t-shirts to prove it!

Did anyone catch this on The Daily Show last week? Apparently the New York Times invited Jason Jones over to their headquarters and here’s what they got:
End Times

Also, I thought Jon Stewart’s skewering of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” sponsorship was pure gold:
Morning Joe is sarcasm

Ahhhhh… who would keep the media in check if it weren’t for The Daily Show?

- Erin