Strange Kid

It is a GORGEOUS day today in Iowa -- only in the mid 70s with a nice breeze and hardly a cloud in the sky.  We went out to the backyard this morning and the girls played and played!  They loved running in the grass, pretending in the play house, climbing up and down the slides, and kicking the soccer balls into the net. 

What was I doing? I brought out some MOPS stuff and magazines and sat on the blanket for a nice time of reading in the sun!  PRETTY PERFECT!  We were out there for an hour and a half... no whining, no arguing, no "needing mommy".  It was great!  I hope I got a little sun in the process, too! 

I grabbed some Goldfish and drinks for a nice snack out on my blanket.  I have a strange kid, though.  Being silly, I took some of the Goldfish and stuck them between Grace's toes.  I thought that she would laugh, take them out, and then throw them away,  and we would have a good laugh.  BUT... my strange girl giggled and giggled and then had other plans.....

 ....Gross!  At least she did have a bath last night... it could have been worse!

Iowa State Fair -- part three

Along with eating yummy fair foods, riding rides and going to the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit, we got to pet a number of baby animals.  We even got to see a calf that was less than 12 hours old (I am glad that my babies aren't that big!!!!)  The girls LOVED seeing the animals and touching them.  We used a lot of hand sanitizer before we left them... especially for our little thumb sucker!

Back in the stroller again!

Iowa State Fair -- part two

We have another member of the Lightner Family in love with roller coasters!  Grace now joins her daddy and Uncle Kenny in their addiction to these rides!  She got to ride one for the first time at the fair and Danny made sure that she did it "the right way" with her hands up the whole time.  She had a HUGE smile when she went up the stairs to the ride, a HUGE smile during the ride, and then a HUGE smile and giggle when she came off of the ride!  Danny was delighted that Grace shares in another one of his favorite activities!  :)

The girls also rode the Bumper Boats and the Merry Go Round ....

Finally....a good CRASH!

Grace did one more ride by herself... the swings! 

Stay tuned for part three...

Iowa State Fair -- part one

We had a great time at the Iowa State Fair on Monday.  It was a MUCH cooler day so we were able to be outside -- unlike last week!  We enjoyed good food, rides, animals and just being together.  It was weird being at the fair in the summer... this east coast girl is used to the fair in the fall. 

One of Grace's favorite things was "Little Hands on the Farm".  It is an adorable hand-on experience for the kids. 

Grace planted a carrot seed and Hannah planted a green pepper seed....

We picked apples from the tree...

We collected eggs from the chickens....

Grace rode a John Deere Tractor...

 Hannah fed the sheep while Grace collected its wool...

 Grace milked the cow... (look at that pregnant belly!!!)

 It was really fun to do the chores on the Farm. After collecting all of these things (and more) we headed to the pretend Farmers Market to sell them.  They gave us a pretend dollar which the girls used to buy a treat at the Store.  They each got Fruit Snacks!  YUMMY! 

We will be back to that year after year!  It was a highlight for Grace!

Off to the Omaha Zoo

For our last day with KaKa, we decided to go an a great adventure to Omaha to go to the Zoo.  Being 8 months pregnant with two kids already, it is a challenge to have the energy to keep up with the kids all day and do a special adventure.  Danny and I thought that we should take advantage of Kelsey's extra hands, eyes, and energy and make this special trip!  It was great!

We had never been to Nebraska -- but we are sure that we will take the 2 hour trip again to see this zoo and do some of the other things that Omaha has to offer.

The girls LOVED exploring with Kelsey!

This looks real.... but it wasn't!  I'm not sure Grace is THAT brave!

No, Hannah is not having a Time Out... we thought it was cute to make it look like she was caged. (We did think about caging her a few times.. it would have been easier!)

One of their favorite things was the Merry-Go-Round.  Hannah kept crying, "Whoa!" every time the horse went up in the air!  Too cute..

After that we headed to the Barnyard where the highlight was the goats!

She is just like her Auntie KK... talking to the animals!  :)

"Hi.  I'm Grace.  What is your name, goat?"

Another highlight was the butterfly garden... some of the butterflies even landed on us!  So cool!

Penguins!

...a swing bridge from the jungle!

There were MANY more pictures and memories.... it was a great day even though the heat was incredible.

Lonely Lake

On Tuesday morning we got ready and went directly to the Lake -- Big Creek. It is a place that we really like to go to as a family, and we had to show Kelsey.  Even though Danny had to work, we managed to have fun.  When we arrived we were stunned to see that we were the ONLY ONES THERE!  It was a lonely lake... but we LOVED it!  It was SO peaceful to be there without the noise of other kids or their parents.  There was no one to share the beach with, and I didn't have to worry about where the kids went... and their occasional kicking or throwing sand wouldn't annoy any one today... cool!  Another couple came after we were there for 45 minutes.. but they headed to the other side of the beach and 4 families came total by the time we were ready to leave.  Crazy... this place would have been crowded if we were in NH... hot day, sunny, FREE, water, sand!  Sounds perfect to me!

It was really a relaxing morning by the water and in the water, especially since the girls had plenty to do... build in the sand, collect rocks, play in the water, dance on the boogie boards... so much fun!

Apples and Nutella plus baking

Monday was filled with a doctors appointment for me and fun at home. Kelsey loved hearing the baby's heart beat at the doctor's and hearing the good report of my growing baby. We stopped off at Target to get a few groceries including peanut butter cups to make a famous Kelsey dessert -- brownie cupcakes with PB cups! YUMMY!! Grace helped her make them, of course!


After naps, we had a delicious snack -- apples and Nutella! What a great combination... not as good as chocolate and peanut butter, but it is pretty good. AND you can feel good about eating it because you are eating apples (we don't always eat them proportionately, though). This yummy snack is one of the things that Kelsey got us hooked on back in NH and we make sure that we have plenty of it here when she comes. We have to remind Grace that every bite of Nutella needs to also have a bit of apple with it! Otherwise she would just eat the Nutella with her fingers!

Happy girl... with a full tummy!