Stella & Addilyn's Adventures: September 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Leaves are falling! Time to clean up the yard.

Brrr... Our first taste of cool fall weather! The fireplaces are on in the house and hot cider is delicious on these cold nights. We put Addilyn to work raking and sweeping this evening. We didn't forget to play and have some fun!

Leaves!

Raking the leaves into a pile

Sweeping the leaves into a pile

Whoa! Falling leaves! (Daddy had nothing to do with this!)

WHOA!!!! It's an avalanche of leaves!!!

Wow - leaves are great!

Time to swing!

Getting dark. Better take a bath.

But first, let's string some Halloween lights on the back porch!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Reading?

Addilyn is pretending to read in this video. We were reading a book that daddy read when he was a little kid called "Little Bunny Follows His Nose." Addilyn loves books about bunnies right now. She also likes "Pat the Bunny. Let's Find Bunny." It won't be long and she'll be able to read on her own!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Apple Orchard

Daddy, mommy, Grandma Judy, and Pop-pop Bruce went to Wilson's Orchard in Iowa City today. It has been 1 year since we went to the apple orchard. Reflecting on one year ago, Addilyn is now walking, talking, eating apples, singing, and running through the orchard. This picture makes me realize how time flies and how much we need to take time to enjoy every moment, every second, and every memory.

One year ago (left) and today (right)

Apples!

Here, Grandma! Want a bite?

Sitting in the orchard

Found a sour one!

Is this one sour, too?

This is fun!

Family picture

On the hayrack ride

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

End of Summer

Fresh tomatoes from the garden

Grilled pizza with fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella

Good to the last bite!

Geese eating crackers at Noelridge Park

What are you looking at?

Wheee! This is fun!

Miss Independent

Swinging!

The tomato crop is finishing, leaves are falling from the trees, summer is coming to an end, and fall is just beginning. We're enjoying eating pizza on the grill with fresh veggies from the garden and spending time outdoors at the local parks. Goodbye summer, hello fall!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Camping IN the house

Where are the S'mores, daddy?

"Go Hawks!" Do you see a resemblance here? I think Addilyn thought we were going to the Hawks game since we had the tent up (see post below: "Addilyn's first trip to Kinnick Stadium").

We have had the tent up quite a bit lately. On Monday, we decided to pop it up inside the house. We had lots of fun reading books and playing with the Mickey car inside. The best part was that we didn't get any bug bites and it didn't get cold at night! We didn't sleep in there anyhow, but it was fun during the day.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

CIRCUS!

Our first trip to the Barnum & Bailey circus was so much fun! Mommy, daddy, grammy, grampy, and Auntie Alligator went to the circus today. The neigh-neighs were awesome! We saw horses, elephants, dogs, tigers, trapeze artists, motorcycle riders, and so much more. The best part was the snow cone in a neigh-neigh (thank you, auntie)! Addilyn also got a stuffed pink neigh-neigh and a light up toy from grammy. Thank you, grammy! We had a blast today. This has been a very fun weekend - Herky and a circus. What could be better?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Addilyn's first trip to Kinnick Stadium

Checking out the tent

This tent is cool!

Look at my Herky tattoo! (Which was very quickly removed by Addilyn, but at least we got a quick picture.)

Addilyn & Papa. This is Addilyn's "I Hear" pose. Anytime she hears something that she hasn't heard before, she says, "I Hear" and puts her hand to her ear. In this case, it was the sound of the announcer and crowd noise outside Kinnick Stadium. Ahhh...hearing the sounds of the game for the first time at the Mecca of College Football (Kinnick Stadium)!

Mmm...Good popcorn! And, we made sure to get a souvenir Herky cup to take home!

Go Hawks!

Look at the crowd! Lots of gold today in the stands.

What an AWESOME day! I guess watching football wears a little girl out!

Today was the big day! The season opener for the Hawkeyes! We started the day off with some hot coffee, eggs, and bacon at the campsite. We rolled out of the campground on our bikes at 10:00 am with the bike trailer pulling Addilyn behind. It took us about 45 minutes to ride to the stadium. The hills were pretty challenging, but the weather was perfect. We arrived at the game just after kickoff and Addilyn was in Hawkeye Heaven! Herky, herky, everywhere. We weaved in and out of excited Hawk fans and arrived at our seat. To my surprise, we were on the 30 yard line and in a great seat. The Junior Hawk Club really treats us. Everyone around us was very friendly in a typical Iowa way. The gentleman sitting next to us was very into the game, and he was one of those fans that yells, "GO HAWKS!" at random times. I caught Addilyn jumping a few times. She would then repeat "Go Hawks" and cheer. The folks behind us kept talking to her and saying how awesome it was that she truly enjoying being at the game. In fact, Addilyn actually watched the plays and seemed genuinely interested in what was happening on the field and on the scoreboard. Of course, the band was fun to listen to, and there was lots of loud music that we danced to during the game. My favorite was the "Burrito Lift" when we were literally bouncing up and down on the bleachers. We ate some popcorn and a hot pretzel for lunch at the concession stand, and anticipated a much better second half, considering the first half had UNI leading Iowa 10-3. In the end, the Hawks pulled it out 17-16 over the Panthers by blocking 2 field goals in a row! It was a blast of a day, and another experience to add to Addilyn's lengthy list.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Hawkapalooza in 2 days!

Addilyn's very first Hawkeye football game is on Saturday! We hope to get a picture with Herky. The plan is that daddy is camping with Papa on Friday night, mommy will bring Addie to the campsite at Coralville Lake Saturday morning, and the 3 of us will ride to the game on the bike trails from the campsite to the game. Pictures will be posted soon!