Boone County Fair Week

Thursday evening my parents and my sister Emily came over to watch the Boone County Fair parade with us and then we went to the fair to eat dinner, see the animals, and watch the community band Adam is in play a concert at the fairgrounds.

Thankfully the firetrucks didn't have their sirens on,
or he wouldn't have been clapping!

See his stash of candy on the sidewalk?

Enjoying a sucker with Grandpa

Tyler was more interested in the corn boxes than the band concert.
Thanks to Aunt Emily, he got to stay and play!

Hannah enjoying the concert

Tyler found a friend to talk to at the concert. Not sure what they are chatting about, but it looks serious. This little boy's dad plays in the band with Adam.

Friday morning my sister and I went back to the fair with the kids and met up with Roger, Jill, and Juliana Lutz to see the animals again, play in the corn some more, and ultimately to enjoy the Extravaganza working exhibits the 4-Hers offer for kids.

This goat wanted a kiss, so Tyler gave him or her several.
It was a very friendly goat!

Nice sheep and nice 4-Hers who let us pet their sheep!

The rabbits were fun to see,
but the poor things needed some ice bottles!

Finally, we made it into he air conditioned exhibit hall for the Extravaganza. This was BY FAR Tyler's favorite project!

Then back out to the corn boxes one more time before heading home (with some yummy lemonade). Here are two photos to show you how much Tyler has grown in 1 year.

2011 - exactly 3 feet with shoes on

2010 - almost 4 inches shorterOn Saturday Adam and I took the kids back to the fair for lunch and Tyler finally got to try out the rides. They had a discount for the unlimited-ride wristband since it was the last day, so Tyler had lots of fun. It was really hot, so miss Hannah and I got to go check out the 4-Hers fair exhibits while the boys braved the heat to play.

This is the lady-bug ride he kept begging to ride, but it was faster /bumpier than he realized and he cried to get off and didn't want to try it again.

The little ferris wheel was much more his style!

Even Adam got to go down the giant slide - twice!
We'll be back again next year!!!

Day at Grandmas House

Boone Band Festival

Adam plays the bass clarinet in the Boone Municipal Band and they have a Saturday concert where they invite other municipal bands from all over to come and play all during the day. Adam's parents like to come up and watch the bands, so we make a weekend of it. It was almost too hot for Hannah and Mommy!
Close-up of Adam's section

Watching the other bands perform

Roger is a friend from church, his wife also plays the clarinet in the band. He humored Tyler by playing with him for part of the afternoon.

It was great to go out to eat afterwards and then home to air conditioning! Tyler stripped down to his pull-ups before bed and had to show Grandma how he races (or crashes) his cars

Tyler Time

One day it rained and then got hot, but Tyler still wanted to go play in the puddles and get muddy. He complained that his hands were dirty, so I gave him a bucket of CLEAN water to rinse them off ...mere seconds later he had turned the bucket into his own brew of mud, sticks, rocks, and grass!

One happy/messy boy!Digging into the first sweet corn of the season!

Working on his big brother skills

Waiting patiently (or not) for dinner

Taking little sister to the park for the first time

Stationery card

Introducing Her Birth Announcement

Create beautiful birth announcements with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Finally got the baby announcements ordered. Sorry - didn't have the time to make homemade ones this time.

4th of July

Here is how we spent our 4th of July weekend in Knoxville with Adam's family

Cousins played in the sprinkler and the waterslide

Tyler and Hannah cuddled on the couch while watching cartoons

Quick family photoHannah got some quality time with her Papa Haselhuhn

Tyler's first sparkler - he wasn't too impressed

brothers and their sons

sunset before the fireworks

Jacob & Tyler

4th of July Parade in Plesantville

Swimming at Camp

We got invited to join the camp staff at the Iowa 4-H Center for their pool party before their 4th of July break. I took the kids so Tyler could swim with the staff and everyone could see Hannah - and I also got to see several returning camp staff, familiar faces, and old friends again.

It was a really hot day. Hannah tried to stay cool in the shade while Tyler swam.

A couple of very patient camp staff spent some of their precious free time to help Tyler swim. Leslie was one of these wonderful people!

Going down the BIG water slide

Hannah and I got a photo with Abbie Parker.
She is the new camp director who took over for me when I left.

Hannah had had enough of her car seat so we found her a spot in the shade where we could keep an eye on her and the breeze would cool her off while I tried to convince Tyler to get out of the pool so he could go home for a nap.