Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch

I spent last weekend in Clarinda with my Mom and Sister for the Craft Carnival. I left the boys at home for some quality guy time. Friends from church asked us to go to an orchard with them on Sunday, so I drove home in time and then we all met up and drove to the Center Grove Orchard near Cambridge. None of us had been there before and it was much bigger than any of us expected! Tyler and Julianna had a great time playing in/on/around all of the activity areas. Here are some of their adventures:

Getting ready to jump on the giant pillow

Chasing each other around the straw maze

Mom and Tyler going down the giant slide!Holding hands and leading the way in the corn mazeHere is the BIG pumpkin patch!Our chosen family "gump-kin"The giant "corn pool" way a big hit!Tyler got to drive a tractor AND ride on a tractor/wagon at the orchardTyler's highlight at the end was eating an apple from the big bag we bought in the store on the way out! Dad got ice cream and Mom got some apple donuts and we shared some apple cider (YUM)! It was a great family outing and we had lots of fun with our friends who were kind enough to invite us along for the adventure!

New Sand Box

Way back in June, my dad came over to help Adam build a sand box for Tyler

Tyler helped - by lifting the "heabee blocks"

Here is the finished project...and here is where it sat - for the last four months!Finally, the moons aligned and it worked out for Adam to take a day off to do yard work and get the sand box set up in the yard - and for grandpa to be home to help load and unload the sand from their yard and bring over to fill the big box!

Tyler played and played in his new sand box today!

He had so much fun, he was laying down and rolling in the sand!
He had to have a bath before lunch!

Thank you Daddy, Grandpa, and Uncle David for helping give me this fun place to play!!!
Love, Tyler

Playing Ball with Grandpa

Tyler has been excited to "break in" his new T-ball set! He has played with Mom & Dad, Grandpa & Grandma Haselhuhn, and then took it over to Ames to play with Grandpa Stephens. He likes to bat one-handed and hit the ball with the handle of the bat, just to see if that worked better.

Birthday Party

We celebrated Tyler's second birthday this past Saturday with a Thomas the Train themed party with our family. Tyler loved opening all his presents, getting to play with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents....and eating cake! He is growing up so fast!

He couldn't wait to play with his new drill and all his new train toys!

I decorated his Thomas cake - took a long time, but he really liked it!

2nd Birthday Cake

1st Birthday Cake

Same bib, same blue eyes, one year older!

Tyler Turns TWO!

On Wednesday morning, October 6th we woke our sleeping toddler up by singing him Happy Birthday like we did last year - here are the two videos to compare:

2009

2010

Then we took Tyler out for a birthday breakfast. We drove Dad home so he could work and then Tyler and Mom went to the Library to play with the trains and go to story time. We were there for 2.5 hours!!!
We had birthday lunch at McDonnalds and then Tyler met a new friend who was very nice and helped him play in the big play area (it is really built for kids taller than Tyler but he has figured out how to maneuver his way around already). We had a great day!

Weekend Trip to SWIA

On the first weekend in October we drove down to my hometown (Clarinda). Saturday morning we bundled up and went to watch the 3-hour Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree Parade on the Clarinda town square. Lots of bands and lots of chilly wind. Adam ended up taking Tyler back to my grandparent's house early to warm up and I stayed to watch the parade, ate at the new Runza restaurant in town, and met up with family for a trip to the apple orchard and a hike at Waubonsie State Park. Adam and Tyler stayed home to catch up on some much-needed rest!

When I got back from the park, I snapped these pictures of Tyler's fun ride with Dad and Great-uncle Lyle on the combine harvesting soybeans. It was the FIRST combine ride for both Tyler AND his dad!! Tyler really liked watching the combine unload into the wagons!Saturday evening we were invited over to my Aunt Mary's near Red Oak for some Stephens fall family fun! We went on a hayride, roasted hot dogs, played cards, listened on the radio to the ISU Football team win, and Tyler played, and played, and played with his second cousins.

On Sunday Tyler and cousin Kelsey enjoyed the nice weather by playing in Great-grandma's yard.