On the Road Again

Yes, it's true . . . After being home one day from our weekend trip to the farm, Kate and I loaded up all the kids on Tuesday and took a trip back to our home town (Carson, Iowa). We wanted to visit our cousin and her new baby before the kids went back to school. And celebrate Brady and Sydney's birthdays with Dad and Mitch.

But, we first stopped by to see our grandparents on the way . . .
And we ate lunch with Grandma.

Grandpa always gets teary-eyed when we come. I think he wasn't looking at the camera because he didn't want to show his tears!

Tuesday was Sydney's actual birthday. When we arrived at my aunt's house, she had gone all out with balloons . . .

. . . and bubbles!

Baseball with Uncle

The birthday girl (with her caterpillar cupcakes)!

Dinner out on the patio

My Aunt Janell really wanted to get a picture of the three of us with our babies.

My cousin's baby, Courtney Lois, is ready for the party.

And so is Grey!

The fam

Uncle and his biggest fans

Papa loves his baby boys . . .

Brady has wanted a guitar for two years and finally got one (that I picked out from my dad). He loved it!When I drove into Kate's driveway on Wednesday, this is what I saw . . .

A Trip to the Farm

This past weekend we took a little trip to the Ehresman farm (my brother-in-law, Mark's, parent's) to celebrate Brady and Sydney's birthdays (August 2nd & 4th). Jason and I had been wanting to visit the farm for quite awhile because Mark and Kate and his parents have invited us a number of times.

Saturday afternoon, Mark, Kate, Jason and I loaded up and got the full tour with Eric, Mark's brother. The first stop was Eric's house, where there were berries growing . . .

. . . and a two-day old baby calf being taken care of in the back yard. Not sure what I was cracking up about . . . we all laughed a lot during our little tour!

Of course I was not about to stick my fingers in the calf's mouth, but Jason tried it out.

Here is just one of the many cow lots that Eric and his dad have.

Eric telling us about these cows . . .

I'll spare you all the other pictures I took of cows! You might think that visiting a farm would be boring, but it was not at all. In fact, it was quite intriguing! And I'll tell you something . . . Good farmers are SMART. I mean really smart. It was fun to ask Eric many questions about how taking care of cows really works. Farmers have to be incredible managers and really good with numbers. That is just the start. Figuring out what types of feed to use and how to rotate the cows in different pastures to maximize the growing grass, etc. Jason and I were very impressed.

After the farm tour it was time to set up tents in the back yard for all the boys (including Mark and Jason) to sleep in. I think "camping" was Brady's birthday wish (just like last year).

After dinner the boys (which included several of Brady's cousins) played football in the front yard. I think Jason's arm is still recovering . . . but he loved it!Mark's sister has two boys in junior high and Mark's brother has seven kids. One of the seven is Levi - Brady's best buddy. Seriously, they are attached at the hip whenever they are together. And they are quite the redneck boys. After waking up from camping at around 6:30a, they shot two sparrows with the BB gun . . . and it was all they could talk about the rest of the day.And lots of wrestling together . . .

A beautiful sunset after a great day.

Greysen had fun hanging out at Grandpa and Grandmas. Mr. Krinkle Nose! Sydney blows out her three candles!

Brady got a cowboy hat for his birthday.

And my favorite picture from the weekend . . . I got Syd (at a garage sale for $2) a pair of roller skates you wear over your shoes. Here she is with her new Dora backpack, trying out her skates in the garage, not knowing anyone was around. Oh the simple joys of a three year old. Adorable!

Goin' Joggin'

Abram got to take his first rides in the jogging stroller this week. For the past couple months, I've been taking him to my sister's house and leave him there to sleep while I go run (which usually means I end up pushing Mya or Sydney in the jogging stroller!). This week, I decided to see how it went taking Abram in the jogging stroller.

First of all, it was like pushing a feather, compared to Mya or Sydney. Abram loved it and slept most of the time.

Since the stroller doesn't have a shade/cover, I put Greysen's fishing hat on him to keep the sun out of his eyes.
I couldn't resist! It looks like a sombrero on his tiny little head. Oh, what a cutie!