Tap Dancing

Our little dancer has discovered tap dancing! She's a natural.

Tap Dancing

Flood of 2009

Rain, rain, go away! We have had so much rain in the past couple days...8.34" to be exact! This has been a very wet August--the wettest one on record in Cedar Rapids. 14.4" is the most rain ever for August. This explains the flood in our backyard and basement. Fortunately, the sun came out yesterday and we are all dried out. No major damage done, just a lot of hard work to move the water out. We did have some fun throughout the process with the swimming pool in the back yard!

Flood of 2009

Iowa State Fair

Today was such a fun day. We left our house around 8:45 this morning and arrived at the fairgrounds in Des Moines around 10:45. We decided to park & shuttle so that we wouldn't have to battle with traffic. We got to take a bus (which is very exciting to a toddler!) to the fair. Moments after we arrived at the gates to the fairgrounds, Addilyn repeatedly said "Eat? Eat?" I guess she also knows that part of the fair experience is eating fried foods and anything you can think of on a stick. The Iowa State Fair has over 35 foods on a stick! I really wanted to try the deep fried Milky Way candy bar, but we settled on a corn dog, a turkey leg, and some french fries. Strangely, these were probably the most healthy choices available! They were very tasty. Now, on to more important things. We ate, saw the "neigh neighs," petted the llamas, watched wool get shaved off sheep ("baa baas"), enjoyed a talent show, looked at all of the huge rides (like the ferris wheel, tilt-o-whirl), observed the crazy clown in a dunk tank, and got suckered in by the carnies with a cheap, plastic pool filled with blue water and magnetic fish. You could pay $3 to play this game, but you would only win a cheap prize. To get the stuffed animal, you have to pay $5. Okay, okay--I fell for it. But look at her face when she got the fish she wanted! We'll keep it forever as a keepsake of the Iowa State Fair, but also as a reminder that daddy will do anything for his sweet daughter. :) We ended the day by petting wet snouts of pigs (Addilyn's favorite part of the day) and seeing the cows. And we got to take a BUS back to our car! So much fun in one day. The funniest part of the whole trip is that we were looking forward to seeing the most famous thing on display at the fair - the Butter Cow. Can you believe amidst the excitement of the day that we forgot to see it?! Oh well, there's always next year.

Iowa State Fair

Dancing at the Downtown Farmer's Market

Good food, fruits & veggies, and really cool music! Addilyn loved it!

Dancing at the Downtown Farmer's Market

Caves are COOL!

Wapsipinicon State Park -- who knew there were caves there?

Caves are COOL!

August Rush

The August rush is on. School is starting soon for mommy, daddy is working hard, and daycare (a.k.a. playtime) begins again. We are taking some time to smell the flowers and harvest the tomatoes and potatoes before everything begins.

August Rush

Brunch at Granite City!

We had a wonderful brunch while daddy was on a "secret mission" at Granite City this morning! Scones, omelets, thick hickory bacon, sausage, french toast, cheesy potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, prime rib, eggs benedict, fruit, and caramel rolls. Mmmmm.... Addilyn's favorite part was eating the STRAWBERRIES!

Brunch at Granite City!