Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!!

We had a fun day celebrating our nations birthday. We went to the Waukee City parade and after party. The kids loved the parade. Cole was in heaven with the fire trucks, tractors, vintage cars, motorcycles, and big trucks...and Ellie just stuffed her mouth with candy the whole time :) It was hot, of course, but it wasn't too humid today. It was a great parade!! The party at the park afterward was fun, but we were too hot to stay too long. We decided to go home and cool off with our patriotic popsicles. Here are some pics of our fun day:

The blow-up train at the park after the parade

Red, white and blue popsicles to cool us off after the parade and park

Poor Daddy had to study the whole day and missed all the fun. His first board exam is tomorrow. Good luck Ben!!

Now we are waiting for the fireworks to start. What a fun, relaxing and perfect holiday!

Pence's Place

We started off our 4th of July weekend with a party at President Pence's house. He's not our branch president anymore, but he's always up for a party! We love his house. Cole was so excited when I told him where we were going. It's more fun than an amusement park for my kids...and it's free!!

There was lots of swinging (which is El's favorite past time lately) :

And lots of bouncing:

And of course a ride on the paddleboats

It wouldn't be a day at the Pence's without the lawnmower rides! My kids couldn't get enough of it if you can't tell:

As always, we had a blast!! Thanks Pence family!

Toothpaste

Guess what Ellie found? Sigh.

At least she is clean, I guess. All she had to say for herself was "uh-oh" with a big smile on her face. She is lucky she is so stinking cute!! :)

Carpool BBQ

The Pettits had a bbq for Ben's adoptive carpool to celebrate the end of 2nd year, boards, and carpooling. We will take any excuse to get together and eat :)

There was plenty of good food:

Ellie's dinner consisted of mostly cheese balls and cookies :)

And of course there was an abundance of good times with good friends:

The only downside was that Ellie decided to sit in a pile of ants and had bites all over her legs :( Besides that it was a perfect summer evening!

We have lucked out living in such a great place and having such great friends!!

P.S.

For history's sake here is the Carpool 1A roster:

Allreds: Matt, Chrissy and Alexis

Halls: Jared and Lindsey

Pettits: Ryan, Danna, Addie and Eli

Pfeiffers: Mike, Nicole, Morgan and Aubrey

Portelas: Dustin, Katie and Ashlyn

Summer Days

I haven't been very good at updating this summer. I have been working, Ben has been studying for boards, and the kids have been playing. Here are our favorite things to do lately:

Flying kites and being outside,

Swimming at the aquatic center,

(Ben seriously studies all the time, even at the pool!)

And lots of hanging out and chillaxin' :)

(Note that Ellie's hair is finally long enough for cute little pig tails!!)

Basically for the kids and I it's a little work and a LOT of play :) We are just loving summertime in Iowa but wishing Ben could enjoy it with us. Three more weeks until Ben is done with boards!!