Parade Fun

While I was teaching CPR on Saturday, Andy was watching Luke and decided to take him and Brady to the parade in Huxley. Jon was on daddy duty too that morning so he also loaded up the twins and the 2 guys took care of 4 boys. They had a great time at the parade...I heard that Brady was the least behaved (surprise!!) but that he and Luke LOVED riding in the car together. Here are some pics from the parade.


Look at these cuties!

Bryce was in the parade (which is why Andy was watching Luke)

31 and Having Fun...

On Saturday I turned the big 3-1...Yikes! Oh well, I figure once you get past 30, all the years will seem the same until I turn 40...but let's not even think about that! I spent the majority of my day teaching a CPR class...yahoo! Oh well, didn't have much of a choice and got paid really well so it was all good. After working, we were planning to go out for dinner but my allergies had other plans in mind. So we decided to get takeout and a movie. It was a great night with my boys...check out the beautiful flowers I got!!



I just love Brady's smile in this pic!

How beautiful are these flowers? They remind me of the flowers we had in our wedding...Love em! Great job honey!

Birthday Time

On Sunday we headed to Brad and Steph's for Jaxson's 4th Birthday Party. It was great seeing everyone and catching up. For some reason Brady decided to be shy but after a while he warmed up and had fun. He was lovin' on his cousin Holden...he kept wanting to give him kisses...too cute! Happy Birthday Jaxson!


Pre-Party pic with Mama

Pre-Party Pic with Daddy

Trying to give Holden kisses

Wordless Wednesday

...I like Mommy's shoes...
Do I sense a future runner????

Splash Park

On Saturday we tried to beat the heat by visiting Ankeny's Splash Park. It was perfect for Brady...he could run all around and after the initial 5 minutes it took him to warm up to the spraying water, he was on-the-loose! He was a maniac and all over the place! He had a good time until he decided not to listen to his mommy and daddy anymore...he thought he would continue to try to run out the gate and head for the car repeatedly...so our trip was just over an hour. So we took him home, ate lunch and gave him a much needed nap!

State Fair Fun

On Wednesday after work, we headed to the State Fair. We chose to go during the week because we knew that we wouldn't stay long so going over the weekends when it's jam packed didn't sound too fun to us! We stayed less than 2 hours but had fun. Brady LOVED seeing all the animals! Here are a couple pics from our time at the fair.


With Clifford...Brady didn't quite know what to think!

He loved the baby chicks!

In front of daddy's favorite...the fire truck! Not sure who was more excited, Brady or daddy!

Mr. Everywhere...

Brady is oh so on-the-go! He is really fast and loves to add a little skip in to his running. He has now mastered jumping and LOVES to stop and just jump and jump! Here are a few fun pics of him playing and being ornery! Enjoy!




I wonder how many times we say 'No Brady, please get down' in a day???

Daddy Loves Me....

Brady has a handful of favorite books but his all time favorite is a book called 'Daddy Loves Me'...I could recite the entire book for you as we read it multiple times a day. He also has 'Mommy Loves Me' but it is up in his room and we don't read that one as much. He will give me the book to read and as soon as I'm done, he will run over to Andy and want him to read it...he will continue this back and forth for a very long time...but we love it!


Reading time with Daddy!

Worldless Wednesday

...Love this face...

Oh, Brady...

Brady makes us laugh every day. He is learning new things, saying more words (his favorites now are 'Hi' and 'Bye'...he says them to everyone no matter where we are or what we're doing)...he really likes to run around with just his shorts on and no shirt...I crack up cuz when he is wearing no shirt, he sticks his belly out and when he runs, he leads with his tummy...too funny! He also likes to point to body parts, he has a few mastered!
His new favorite TV show is Wheel of Fortune...he loves to clap along with the contestants! What a ham! :-)



This is my nose mommy!

Fun at Jester Park

On Sunday we took full advantage of the great weather! We started our day with a nice morning walk...then we got home, packed a picnic lunch and headed to Jester Park so Brady could play on the playground and so we could have a nice family picnic. Brady got to run all around, go down the slides, swing (A LOT!)and have a nice lunch. On the way home we stopped at the Reising Sun cafe in Polk City (a cute place I like to get coffee at) for some yummy ice cream! We got home and Brady took a nap. Later after he got up we went for another walk! It was so great to be outside soaking up a beautiful day! Here are some fun pics!

Fun Friday Foto!

Here's a rare picture of just Andy and me. We took this before the wedding we went to last Saturday...Love you honey!

Last Weekend...

Well, let me back track a little here...Last weekend we were Brady-free. I met my dad in Stuart and Brady spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Petersen! I'm not sure who was more excited though! So Friday night, Andy and I decided it would be a great opportunity to have a date night! So, we tried the Tokyo Steakhouse in Ankeny as we both were craving sushi! It did not disappoint, it was really good! We will definitely go back. And to prove just how lame we are these days, we did some shopping afterwards and ran some errands (oh how 'date nights' have changed) and I headed to bed early as I was getting up early to run with Mollie in the morning and Andy had a couple beverages on Bryce and Meggie's new patio (which looks amazing!!). Then on Saturday I had a good (hot) run with Mollie, Andy helped Bryce put together a play set for Luke, I ran to the mall for a bit and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for a wedding we had that afternoon/evening. A friend of Andy's from back home was getting married in downtown DSM and the reception was at the Hotel Savery. Hence, is why we were baby-free...not exactly a perfect setting for a wild and crazy 20 month old. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was gorgeous! Ahhh, I love weddings! After a great night, we headed home and got some shut-eye. Then on Sunday I met my dad in Stuart to pick up Brady in the morning. Then he and I hit up the mall for a few more things, ate some lunch and then headed home. He was wiped out from his fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and fell asleep within just a couple minutes in the car and slept for over 3 hours when we got home. He got lots of play time at the park in town (dad said around 5 hours on Saturday)...hmmm...I wonder if my dad needed a nap after all the playing too!
For some reason, I didn't take any pics over the weekend! I'll have to do better this week!

Vacation!!!

We have been back from vacation for almost a week now...wow time goes by fast! We had a great time...here is a recap....
We headed out around 9 a.m. on Saturday morning for the drive. We had invested in portable DVD players that strap on the back of the front seats and brought lots of toys and books in order to keep Brady entertained...well 15 minutes into the drive, he was going ballistic...so out came the paci and his monkey...then he was all good! We spread out the driving by stopping at the outlet mall in Medford (Nike Clearance store and Gap..woohoo!) where we got LOTS of good deals and ate some lunch. Then we stopped at the outlets in Albertville and I would have loved to stayed longer but we needed to get going. We arrived in good time.
Our vacation home was very nice...fireplace, 60" T.V., jacuzzi tubs, washer/dryer, central air...it was great! There are also lots of activities to do, the owner has a Pottery Place where you can paint any type of pottery you can think of and daily crafts...one day we made hammered rings...it was fun!
Most of the week consisted of relaxing, boating, getting some sun (the weather was perfect..NO humidity!), the guys golfed and went fishing, I read a great book, Brady played and entertained everyone (which he LOVES), a Bags tournament, Minnow races, etc. Luckily we had lots of family there so there was never a shortage of help with watching Brady. The ladies went in to Alexandria and got pedicures. It was a great time with family and everyone had a great time. I didn't take as many pics as I had intended on but here are a couple...



Brady 15 minutes into our drive...


Running around...

There was a nice play set for the kids, a huge sand box and we played some sand volleyball too!

Grandpa Tony and Brady

Ready for the boat!

Some mama time

Playing on the beach (it was a little steep!)