i love iowa!

i had a super trip!  after our drive up there, uncle steve and three of my cousins luke, gabe and naomi were in town for a weekend visit.  it was really hot, but we had a great time, especially at the bettendorf children’s museum.   

mommy arrived in iowa just in time to see me run the jr. bix!  i ran all by myself this year!  grandma and grandpa were also there to cheer me on and take a really great video.  i got another medal to add to my collection and a delicious whitey’s popsicle at the end.       

  

mommy and i met friends melanie and dylan (2) at the john deere pavilion one morning.  i loved getting on all the big machines and testing them all out.  i think we decided that place will be on our list of places to visit every time we are back in the QC!  super fun!

  

  

i also went swimming at uncle jerry and aunt marilyn’s pool a few times.  one time my cousins joined us and we had a great time beating the heat.  i have definitely kicked the fear of jumping in the pool!  i loved jumping in the deep end (with only the help of my puddle jumper)! 

       

i also went to the fair twice this year!  i saw blake shelton one night and miranda lambert another night.  they were both very good shows and i loved singing along to “white liar” with miranda.  i used a water bottle for my microphone and i think it worked great!    

 

here are a few other fun pictures from my visit.  can’t wait to go back for the holidays!

   

where did summer go???

even though it is technically still summer, it feels more like fall around here!  temps are back down in the 70s and school has started!  let me catch everyone up on the first part of july here in the mountains.

the fourth of july was great fun!  we walked to the parade downtown, got lots of candy and beads, then got caught in a downpour on the walk home!  i loved putting on my raingear when we got home and stomping in what looked like a stream in our yard!

       

i went to my first build and grow workshop at lowe’s hardware last month.  mommy went with me and the project was to build a little wooden tow truck.  it was a tough one, but we got a little help from some nice folks and i got a new toy, who i named MATER!

  

grandma and grandpa arrived in july and we had a nice visit.  we played outside a lot, went to the park and to wildcat lake with some friends.  i rode back to iowa with them again this year and i loved every minute of it!   

it’s summertime!

my preschool ended for summer just two weeks ago but i have kept very busy during that time!  we had visitors last week from south carolina.  my friends anthony and mackenzie were here and we had a blast playing together!  we spent a lot of time outside around water since it was nice and warm.  we played in my pool at home one afternoon, went to the banner elk park and played in the creek the next day and also went to wildcat lake one day.  we also had plans to go to the pool at the Y, but there was a thunderstorm so we had to stay home and play instead!   

     

last week, thomas the train was at tweetsie for his annual event there.  i was so excited to go see him, especially since we missed him last year because we were moving into our house that week.  it was lots of fun and not crowded at all on the day we went!  

 

this week has been very busy for me.  i am going to a summer camp in the mornings, vacation bible school in the evenings and i also have swim lessons a couple of afternoons at the Y.  i have enjoyed all of it, especially since i get to see all my friends and we have lots of fun together.  i have camp and swim lessons again next week but no VBS so things will slow down just a little bit.  since we have been busy having fun, the summer seems to be flying past us!  i hope it doesn’t go by too fast!