Tour of Iowa

We began our tour of Iowa by heading to North Liberty for the Bisgard’s housewarming party. It was so fun seeing them and the Iowa City crew again!

Adam grew up playing a game made up by the Bisgards called “garage ball.” I would need him to do a guest article on the blog to explain all the rules-but they LOVE IT!  The guys were able to break in the new garage with a couple heated games. Pictured here are Jace and Adam determining whether or not the ball was in the strike zone.

Mr. B in mid-pitch and Adam ready to field the hit.

The kids had a blast! Nothing better than a party:)

Jaeley update

 

In the part- baby book purpose of this blog I want to take a minute to record Jaeley’s 3 year-old stats. At her 3 year doctor appointment she was 38 lbs and 39 inches tall. (95th percentile in weight and 85th percentile in height) She talks in full, long, loud sentences and we often have to remind her that we’re sitting right next to her:) Jae was completely potty trained a few months before her 3rd birthday- and it was accomplished with M&M rewards- it’s pretty hard decision whether or not you want to poop in your diaper or get a piece of chocolate, but she eventually figured it out!:)

Favorite foods are juice, cheese, and ICE CREAM. (She takes after her Great Grandpa Meinders and Papa and thinks ice cream is a good breakfast food.) She takes after Daddy and Grandma Ellen in that she loves a good debate-and sometimes I get the feeling she is telling me off!  Jaeley is obsessed with babies and loves talking to and playing with them:)

She LOVES to pretend and loves all things Princess (Jasmine, Belle, Ariel, Tianna, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty.)  Jaeley wants to be Buzz Lightyear when she grows up, “So I can FLY!!!”

On Wednesday she ASKED to have her fingernails painted for the first time. Her toenails were first painted by Celli Whipple in Jefferson when she was 4 weeks old and I left her there for a few minutes while I got my hair cut:) It must have been a girly day because she also insisted on her “twirly dress.”

Swimming at Valley View

Today we took advantage of the super hot weather and the fact that our friend, Erika, wanted to hang out with us and headed to “the huge waterpark” as Brevin calls it:) It was a good thing she was along because it was WAY too crowded for one mom to be able to keep track of both kids at the same time. Brevin loves to swim underwater with his goggles on; pulling the water back with he goes. Jae likes jumping off the edge (with “NO HELP!”) and will only accept assistance when the coughing and choking starts. We also had to have a good cry about not getting to play with another girls’ Barbie mermaids. It was sad:(

Weekend at Ahnya and Papa’s

Breakfast on the deck with Papa

We ride the gator on our “race track” around and around through the garage and out onto the driveway. Brevin had to have the gator “unplugged” for awhile because he kept running into things on purpose. So he and Ahnya brainstormed things he could run into and he thought of dinosaurs. So Papa drew him a dinosaur on a piece of cardboard and he preceded to smash into while Papa held it up in front of him. How fun is that!?

 

When we’re done riding we like to park by the front door.

Fishing in the pond- the sunfish are very cooperative and bite almost as soon as we throw our poles in.

We went to the drive-in with the whole family on our trip earlier this summer. Kara Jo likes it when I do her hair;) Jae requested a “white” malt and Brevin wanted cheeseballs. We ended up eating all of that PLUS Ahnya’s rootbeer and cheeseballs. Oops.

While celebrating our 8th anniversary in Chicago, we scalped Cubs tix for  $40/piece. Great game to be at- this was during the '”Go Cubs, Go!” celebration at the end. We Pricelined a hotel out by O’Hare because the downtown hotels were booked and took the train downtown Sunday morning so I could do my 8 mile run on Lake Michigan. Adam was a trooper and went along- pretty easy to keep up with his slow wife I guess:)

Weddings!

Today we had two special weddings to attend, so unfortunately we had to split up. The adults headed to Chicago to my friend Carrie’s wedding and Brev and Jae went with Ahnya and Papa to Cousin Rachel and Tyson’s wedding in Waverly.

Brevin and Jaeley with “Princess Rachel.” She looked BEAUTIFUL!

B and J pretending to get married, of course! That is kind of the theme of the summer. Ahnya reported that Brevin spent all his time running around with Cousin Parker and Jaeley made Rachel and all the bridesmaids spin their dresses over and over. Congratulations Rachel and Tyson!!

 

Congratulations Carrie and Luke! It was so fun to hang out with the AXO ladies…almost felt like a college girl again:)

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 8th anniversary! I don’t have any of our wedding pics scanned onto the computer yet, so instead-here is a picture of our new kitchen table we found at Costco last weekend. Adam celebrated our anniversary by putting it together while the kids and I were at bible school tonight. It replaces Adam’s grandma’s table we have been using since we got married.

Erin and Evan’s wedding

Today we went to Adam’s cousin Erin’s wedding at Reiman Gardens in Ames. It was a beautiful wedding and such a nice day! 

During the ceremony the kids munched on animal crackers and watched the bees buzz around on the flowers. They were mostly quiet:)

Congratulations Erin and Evan! Thank you for including us in your day:)


Playing in the garden with Maggie, Riley, and an “adopted” cousin for the day:)

Jaeley is a lucky girl that we’ve had a few weddings this summer so she can live out the princess life. When she saw Erin coming down the aisle she exclaimed “There’s the princess!…..Where’s her king?” In this video she and Brevin were pretending to be prince/princess while the groom was singing to the bride. Brevin delivers an intense performance; and it’s kind of half dancing/half wrestling. Notice the kiss on the cheek from Jaeley. Now this is one video that will be good and embarrassing in a few years.
*Please note-You can scroll to the bottom of the blog and "pause" our music so it doesn't conflict with the sound in the video.*