August -

Where do I begin..

August was a very busy month, so there are LOTS of pictures.

We'll start with the first weekend. We headed to the farmers market. Watched some dancers, listened to some music, rode the train and of course, ate some food and picked up a few vegetables.

They have piano's around Des Moines during the summer. One being on the same streets as the Farmers Market. I think Q and Cam could have played on that thing all morning.

The following weekend, we headed to my company open house. We had a little remodeling project that actually relocated us across the street for about 10 months. Finally, we moved back to our home office and it's so nice! Our desks now raise and lower, we have more desk space. They added a fitness room, lockers and showers, plus it just feels and looks like a new building.

the last time you will probably see my desk so cleaned off. 

We headed to Kansas City that Sunday,  so we could get up bright and early to head to Worlds of Fun that following Monday. But first, we had a little pool time. The kids LOVED the pool. There was a baby pool that only went to 3feet deep and a much larger pool that went 8ish feet deep and had a high and low diving board. They wanted to go back the next day. Bobbie and Dylan had all kinds of life jackets, noodles and other pool stuff. so, it was awesome, and we'll definitely be back next year for more pool time. Q swam(with a life jacket on) almost all the way across the pool, and it's a large pool. He loved jumping off the edge of the pool and watching D jump off the diving board. I have it on video, and we watch it frequently. .

On to Worlds of Fun!! It was hot, but since we went on a Monday, which was a day before most schools started around the KC area, there wasn't a ton of people. The kids LOVED all the rides. Even Ben got to ride a few.

Cam wanted nothing to do with Snoopy

And he only agreed for a pick with Charlie Brown, if
Bobbie would hold him. D wasn't much of a fan either, hence
the distance. 

We kept Ben cool by pouring water on his head. 

Q and D both got told to keep their hands in the boat. ha! 

Q was TERRIFIED of this ride at first, but ended up going on
it several times. 

On our way out, each kid got to spin the wheel for $2, I think, and were guaranteed a prize. They all ended up with balls.

We headed home right from Worlds of Fun.. the kids were asleep before we even got out of the parking lot. Not surprised, when they woke up, they realized we weren't at Bobbie and Dylan's house and were very sad. For the next several weeks, all I heard was, "when can we go back to Bobbie and Dylan's house." We love visiting them!

Friday, the 14th, we headed to Hickory Park for Cameron's birthday dinner - He loved having the people sing to him. and he doesn't love ice cream very much, which means, I get to eat his. ha!

there is often a long wait, so they play a
movie for the kids while we wait. 

Cam is not happy this is not a Herky! 

I have a video of them singing to him.. we'll see if this works.

That night, Bobbie, Dylan and Vera came to stay with us, and we headed to the one and only.. Iowa State Fair on Saturday. We hit up all the staples - baby animals, Little Hands on the Farm, spin art, The Big Yellow Slide (several times), Pork producers for lunch, the Big Boar, and cow, ice cream from the dairy farm, butter cow, got our hawkeye football posters, and looked at the tractors - Cam's favorite.. and since it was his birthday after all.

So our lunch/dinner is almost always the same every year. Vera gets food from the pork producers, Bobbie and I split a tenderloin and fries (this year was the best ever) and Jeremy and the kids get corn dogs. We use the tables at the pork producers and the plan works out great.

Our 3rd time down, Cam convinced me that he's a big boy an can go down by himself. I was hoping he'd chicken out at last minute and still ride with me.. but, nope.. he did it all by himself and LOVED it!

That afternoon, we celebrated Cam's birthday with cake and ice cream, which are 2 things he doesn't love. He'd rather have chips and dip.

We said goodbye to Vera, Bobbie and Dylan and welcomed Nancy and Emily over for more Cameron birthday fun!

The neighbor guy had a living room full of toys he was going to get rid of, and invited all the neighbors to come get stuff. This is what Jeremy came home with. I didn't allow the kids to go because I'm sure they would have wanted it all. But pretty sure, all the toys they would have picked would have taken up less space than this thing. Although, it has brought a few hours of entertainment for me.... and the boys.

Back to School night - This is about a week before school starts, and the kids get to go meet their teacher, drop off all their school supplies and get familiar with their room.  Quentin was SO excited!

Cam was excited until it actually happened, then froze and didn't want to say much. And yes, he's using Quentin's old backpack.. I asked him if he wanted a new one, and he chose to use Quentin's old on. No arguments from me.

Cam got a birthday card in the mail from GG - he was SO EXCITED!! and then wanted to check the mail everyday for more letters for him.

We have a lot of nice parks around us, but I like the school playgrounds the best. I'm not sure if I'm suppose to take the kids there outside of school hours, but I do anyway. And I LOVE the surface, especially for Ben. Plus, the equipment is pretty nice and it's a large area for the kids to run and play.

Jeremy's summer project was organizing the garage. He built these shelves first.. which have come in handy..for his crap.

The last day of the fair, Jeremy and I headed back. It was so nice to go without kids and see things we might not normally see. I will admit, I did miss the stroller for throwing stuff in though. Huge thanks to Nancy for hanging out with the kids.

By far, the best place at the fair. 

I always like looking at the sand castle and photography stuff

Jeremy tried the back wrapped brisket? I
had a bite, and it really wasn't bad

neither was the brisket mac and cheese. 

Ice cream from the dairy barn is the only way
to go when it comes to ice cream though. 

Other pictures from the month of August....

Quentin had his first day of Kindergarten
There is a special post for that, so
go check it out! 

I planted some sunflowers this summer.. they get these little green bugs that eat the middle.. they're so gross. but some of the flowers were so pretty.

A sunrise on one of my morning runs

 Dinner outside is always a hit. The kids always ask if we can eat outside, and Quentin will always ask if he can eat his favorite corn outside.

My overflowing garden is in full swing.

My watermelon - I could never get one to fully grow. ;( we'll try again next year.

When Ben gets up before anyone else, we go
on morning walks. 

And, I leave you with the family picture we took this month. And, somewhere I've lost pictures of mom's birthday dinner. I'm sure I have them, and will add when I do find them. along with a video of Quentin jumping and swimming at the pool.