~Snack Dinner~

So it's dinner time after a long rough day and Nick is gone.  My brain in shot and my young diners are likely to be unenthusiastic about anything I make for dinner.  On top of that a storm is brewing outside, and the tornado sirens are going off.  So what to do?

Popcorn for dinner.

You may be saying popcorn for dinner?  

Don't worry.  I made sure our popcorn dinner included a rainbow of colors, and the kids and I ate every bit of it.

 Add calling family while dining in the basement with flashlights in tow as the tornado sirens blare, and you have one good time.... well, once the kids calmed down.  Poor Alec really was quite concerned about the tornado.  Elyssa didn't really understand why we had to stay downstairs.  Cordy was her usual happy self.  I was just happy when Nick finally did come home safely and the sirens turned off.  

Not a bad way to kick off the Spring/tornado season. :-)

~Visiting the Apple Orchard~

While Nick's parents were in town we took them to one of our favorite Iowa places, Center Grove Apple Orchard.  Though it was a bit chilly, we practically had the place to ourselves and the kids had a blast!

The corn pool is still our all time favorite thing to do at the Apple Orchard.  Alec and Lyssa love to jump into the corn over and over again.  I think they really enjoy the feeling of being in the air.  They were kiddos meant to fly.

We also buried Lyssa in the corn!  She was such a good sport about it.  

Since Grandma was there to hold baby Cordy, Nick and I BOTH got to get in and play.  I had such a good time with my little ones.  Last time we came Cordy was only a few weeks old and I was still healing from delivery.  This time I was able to run, jump, dive, "swim", and have all sorts of fun in the corn pool with my kids.  (I'm soooo thankful for a body that is so capable of moving, bending, and doing things!  I still find it so exhilarating after months of not being able to bend over without pain.)

We also got to go down the super slides!  It took a little coaxing for Alec (our notorious self-preservationist), but eventually he even joined in on the fun.  With Cordy strapped to Nick's chest in the front pack we slid down the slides laughing all the way as a fabulous family of five...

And Grandpa was there to capture the moment!  Thank you!  

I love this picture.  It's not very often that you get a picture of all of us spontaneously smiling and laughing like that.  

What a fabulous time we had!  

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandma and Grandpa! 

Our kids have no clue how LUCKY they are to have you for Grandparents.

 We can't wait to see you again!

~Because I'm Morning the Loss of Warm Weather~

Back in the beginning of October on a sunny Saturday morning Nick and I decided that we needed to get out and go on a little adventure with the kids.  We decided to head out to Saylorville Lake and find the amazing wooden park that everyone talks about.  At the last minute we invited some good friends (that luckily have a sense of humor) and headed out on our adventure, not telling the kids where we were going.  Well, it turns out that we really DIDN'T know where we were going, and what should have taken 30 minutes ended up taking an hour and a half to find.  At least there were lots of beautiful colorful leaves to see along the way.  After stopping for directions a couple times we finally made it there.  We played the late morning and early afternoon away, dined on pb&j, and throughly enjoyed the sunshine with friends.

The Amazing Park

I spy Lyssa Lou!

On a GREAT ADVENTURE!

Hide and seek.

Down a dark whole.

I'VE BEEN CAUGHT!

Taking the wheel.

Beautiful Sophie wide awake.

Sleeping Cordy, wishing we had brought the front pack.

Flying, zip-line style.

Giggling friends.

Cheese!

Cordy... still sleeping.

Trying to take a family picture with three small people is not easy.

Eventually we got something we could send to preschool with Alec for "family week".

Oh, warm sunny days... I sure do miss you.

~Balloon Festival 2010~

Way back on July 31st (so an entire month before Cordy joined our family) we decided at the last minute to go to  an awesome balloon festival with some good friends.  

Since we had never been we didn't realize how bad the traffic would be so we actually saw most of the balloons go off from the parking lot.  In some ways though it may have been better because we got to watch the balloons come up and fly over head together, decorating the sky with brightly colored hues.  

The kids were absolutely in awe.  (Check out that monster belly... I'm soooo glad she's not in there anymore.)

Once we got inside we watched the remaining few balloons launch.  It was really neat to see them fill up with air before lifting up into the evening sky.

 Since we didn't plan very well in our rush out the door we settled down and ate fair food for dinner... and the kids climbed all over Nick.  Such a patient guy.

   

We let the kids ride on a few rides and then we settled in to watch the evening fireworks show.

The fireworks really were pretty amazing, especially considering it wasn't the 4th of July, but to be honest it was just as entertaining to watch the kids reactions as it was to see the explosions in the night sky.

 Thanks Chase, Austin, and Kelly for joining us for the evening.  We had a blast!

~Dancing and Singing in the Rain~

July 28, 2010 (Pre-Baby Cordelia)

Iowa rainstorms are fierce during the summer and often keep Alec up at night.  However they do turn Iowa in a lush green Garden of Eden... and they are oh so fun to dance in and go puddle jumping!

Drenched from head to toe.

Then the rumbling thunder rolled in and the big eyes appeared.  

It was time to head inside, but we sure had a lovely time while it lasted. 

~Welcome to Iowa!~

After much anticipation....

and an FHE devoted to making a sign...

Tuesday rolled around and Grandma finally came!
Alec really wanted to make sure grandma had a nice stay so he decided to help her with the bag.
To be honest, we were all pretty excited...

Let the adventures begin!!!

~Sunny Summertime Saturdays~

We promised the babies "swimming" but upon arrival found this sign...

We knew we had to come up with a plan fast.  Lucky for us, Lyssa was already headed towards something else of intrigue.

The Rocket Slide!  Nick braved the heights with Alec....

...who had no clue was he was in for.  Afterwards all he could say was "Wow."

Daring little Lyssa had to take her turn.  She enjoyed the view from the top, and looked so proud of herself once she made it to the bottom, almost as if she was saying "Mom, I don't see what the big fuss was all about.  It's not that scary!"

They Lyssa found something else of intrigue! "Hey Mom!  What's that!?"

A Carousel!  Wow!

They were mesmerized!  "Can we ride it?  Can we?  Which one do you want to ride Lyssa?" 

Then they climbed on with Nick and the loud music kicked on.  Alec LOVED every second, but Lyssa... well, the picture speaks for itself.

We made our way back home to meet up with friends, fill up the kiddy pool, eat light lunches on the deck, and cool off.  Jakob enjoyed throwing water in his own face.  I wish Alec would do that instead of throwing water in Lyssa's face... then again she doesn't seem to mind too much.  

We laughed, played, and ran around in the shade of our massive tree...

and spent some quality time at the babies favorite backyard spot, the swings.

After naptime and dinner, we made our way over to Snookies for kiddie cones all around, and played the evening away at one of our favorite parks.  We may have started out with different plans, but I think it's safe to say that no one ended the day feeling disappointed.  That's the beauty of warm weather.  There is always more fun to be had in the great outdoors...

Happy Summer!