GG and Gpa Come to Visit

GG and Grandpa Green decided to take a last minute trip, and we were one of their destinations! They were able to spend a few days with us here in Iowa.

First stop was Pella:

We saw the windmill, and of course the big wooden shoes, we enjoyed way too many pastries, and Grandpa couldn't leave until he bought Cole some toys :)

(a T-Rex and a dump truck!)

We also visited Ames and Iowa State University. We had to see at least one stadium for Grandpa :)

We had a fun time playing with GG and Grandpa.

Thanks for visiting us...hope you can come again soon!

Carousel

Cole has been begging me to go to the carousel at Union Park downtown Des Moines. I finally took him and he refused to sit on the animals. He stayed on the bench the entire time:

Elise sat on the zebra and a horse and danced to the music, but Cole still refused to get off the bench.

I decided that we would try it again, but this time with friends. Cole finally got on a horse by Rykker, but he still a little nervous

I thought I would try having him ride with El, but it made him even more upset

He seemed to think it was fun when he was by his girlfriends Morgan and Katelyn though :)

He finally decided he liked it...when everyone else was all done :)

Once again, Elise was happy to sit on the animals and dance to the music

It started raining on us so we ate lunch at the covered pavilion. We figured we were already wet from the rain, so we might as well get even more wet and play in the splash pad at the park

The rain didn't stop Cole from enjoying the playground either

I love the summers here in Iowa. There is so much to do and see.

I wish summer would last all year long!

Iowa State Fair

It's fair time! We couldn't miss the biggest even in Iowa, so we went last night with some friends.

There was an exotic petting zoo this year where you could feed the animals. Cole had fun feeding the animals, but Ellie wasn't so sure about them. Elise cried when she saw the camels...

She also cried when this goat tried to eat her stroller :)

Cole pointed out that one of the cows "had an accident" when we saw it doing it's business :)

The kangaroos were the only animals that didn't make Elise cry,

probably because they were the only ones that ignored us

This sign was posted on the way out

And now you see why Elise cried the whole time :)

As always there was the butter cow

This year the rest of the butter sculptures were about

"Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss

They sure know how to grow 'em here in Iowa :

We discovered why Iowa has such a high obesity rate

Ben took Cole to see the train exhibit because Cole is obsessed with trains!

We had a fun night. Cole loved the deep fried oreos, the animals and the trains. Elise loved all the music, and did her crazy dancing the whole night :)

As always, the fair was a fun family adventure!

I Love Our Zoo!

We have the best zoo! There aren't a lot of animals, but it is the perfect size for a 3 yr old and there is always an animal to feed :) Today Cole got to feed a giraffe for the first time.

The first piece of lettuce both Cole and Rykker just threw at the giraffe. The second piece they let the giraffe eat out of their hands...but they both pulled away pretty quick :)

Sweet Corn Festival 2010

Iowa is known for it's corn...and we got the best of the best at Adel's annual Sweet Corn Festival this weekend. Once again the festival did not let us down. It started out with a small town parade, followed by all-you-can-eat lip smacking corn on the cob, and ended with the fire station water fights to cool us down in the hot and humid weather.

Only in Iowa would the parade have tractors, church floats, and semi trucks :)

It was an awesome parade!

We made it out with pockets full of candy, bubbles, mardi gras beads, and a beach ball!

We all enjoyed the delicious corn...but Elise enjoyed it the most!

Kaleb, Morgan and Cole were more focused on being super heros:

The water fights were fun to watch and the kids ended up soaked!

The best way to end a fun and hot day is ice cream!

DQ never fails to satisfy:)