Rags in a bag

I think this is the first time a kid pouts/cries at the park when she wasn't told she needed to go home. She had started looking at photos on my phone before this trip to the park, so partway through playing she stopped and asked to see my phone. I told her we weren't going to look at pictures while we were at the park. So instead of looking at pictures, I took a photo of her pouting at the park. ha! 

This photo is documenting that my mom WILL get up on the trampoline. All these years she told us she "couldn't" ha! Thank you Dad for the picture. 

This photo was taken about the time that ISU came out with their "clear bag policy" for games. While Ryan and I were talking about it, Addison came into the kitchen with her rags in her clear bag. Haha! She was ready to go to a game I guess. 

Our little baseball player. We are getting closer to getting her to hold the bat right. She may not hold the bat right but she can sure whack the ball! She is getting pretty good at catching too. She was playing catch with Grandpa Ron and caught two balls at the same time. Pretty good!

My new trike

Addison got a new trike for her birthday. We decided to test out the wheels on after this summer. Yes, I'm still about 3 months behind on posting! She was super excited when we put the trike together. I'm not sure she knew what it was, but she was excited. The trike is a little larger than Addison but that didn't stop her.

Trike = 1    Addison = 0

She fell and skinned her knee pretty good. We were shocked, but she didn't cry. No way that didn't hurt! She probably knew if she cried we would go inside. ha! She is one determined little girl. 

So then she walked the trike. We kept telling her the trike was too big, so she started pushing it. This made Ryan and I laugh, she is going to grow up like Phoebe on Friends and only push her bike. Her and Ryan walked it up and down the block a few times. 

And since then, she wants to get the trike out pretty frequently. She apparently enjoys pushing it! She thankfully can't ring the bell yet, but I can't get Ryan to quit ringing it. I am pretty sure houses 4 blocks away hear the bell....

Founder's Day Part II

We didn't find this section of the Science Center until we were about done. But they have a whole section geared towards toddlers. Addison LOVED the grocery section. She had it all to herself too, apparently none of the other kids thought it was cool - ha! 

The scanner actually beeps and she could punch the keys on the register. 

Then we found the apron - too funny! 

And the giant bubbles. I have a video of Ryan making giant bubbles for Addison that she loves to watch. It was this giant container of solution and then when you pull the metal ring out, it creates a giant bubble. She was sad we found this at the end of the night! 

My work has no events for it's employees or families, so I think it's really nice Ruan does this. We would probably have never gone to the Science Center without this event and Addison had a blast! 

Ruan Founder's Day

Every summer Ruan has a Founder's Day celebration for their employees. They alternate between the zoo and the science center. Last year was ridiculous hot and miserable at the zoo. This year, it was perfect weather outside and we were inside at the science center. ha! Addison had a blast. There was a "ball wall" that you could send balls through a little course, well there were balls everywhere on the floor. Addison loved picking them up and putting them away.

She was amazed by the beach ball in the air. She thought it was pretty funny. 

We need to teach Addison to like snakes, as Ryan and I hate hate hate them. So we figured we need to teach our kid to be the tough one. ha! 

While the employees were at the awards presentation, Addison and I kept playing. We found this rubber pit down at the end of a hallway. We were in this pit for a good 30 minutes. I'm not even sure what the pieces are, chopped up rubber or plastic. The point of the pit was to be an archaeologist and "dig" for bones. She had lots of fun! 

Bubbles

This kid LOVES bubbles! She gets so excited to chase them around to pop them. She especially loves stomping on them in the grass - ha!

We got this toy from my mom, called the Glove-A-Bubble and it's a game changer. You can see Ryan wearing the glove in the top photos. It produces sooo many bubbles!

We were cleaning out Ryan's car and she climbed in and put her seat belt on. We didn't know she even knew to do that since she would never actually see ours on when we are in the front seat! 

Madison County Fair

 Loving the lawn tractors at the fair. It took her a while to warm up to the tractors and not need someone to sit with her. Finally she was brave enough to sit by herself.

We apparently didn't take any photos in the barns, but we did go through all the animal barns. Addison loved the cows and the sheep. We also saw llamas, pigs, goats and horses. We even petted a horse. She was terrified and cried but her mean mom made her pet it. She was scared of the horses but not of the cows. She loved the cows! 

The other side of the pride rock. 

We wore her out. This is how she was relaxing on the way home from Winterset. It was a good day! 

Visiting Winterset

We had a weekend in July without much going on, so we decided last minute to head to Winterset for the day. Addison was just getting over a fever so she wasn't 100% herself, but she was doing okay. 

These photos are from the Clark Tower. 

Found another Pride Rock at the John Wayne birthplace. 

Found some cannons at one of the parks in town. Addison kept trying to pick up the cannon balls.

Addison took the time to stop and smell the flowers. 

It happened to be the same time as the Madison County Fair, so we decided to go. Addison had been a little cranky since she was getting over being sick, but getting to sit on the tractors snapped her out of it. She loved sitting on all the lawn mowers and climbing up on the tractors. 

Doesn't everyone put rags on their head?

This kid and her rags.... she's so funny. Yes we read a number of books with rags on her head. She would carefully get up so they wouldn't fall while she picked out a new book. 

She was wanting her baby to sit at the picnic table with her but the doll wouldn't sit up. So I dug out her bumbo chair for the doll. But Addison thought it was a good chair for her - ha! 

Her new shades we got at a parade. She loved them! 

Being a good mom and taking care of her baby. She is "clipping" her toe nails. haha! It's so fun to watch her "take care of" her baby. She takes her for walks, gives her a bottle, rock her, put her to bed, etc. It's pretty entertaining! 

Sweet Corn!

Addison needed to reach the salt & pepper on the stove so she got creative. There is a little slot by the clock on her stove, where the salt and pepper sit. She stands on the hands of the cupboard and stretches to reach them. Hopefully she won't be one of those short people who have to climb on the counter to reach the top cupboard when she grows up - ha! 

It was mid-July and we found a sweet corn stand in Ankeny that sold delicious sweet corn. Addison actually

Apparently I take her photo a lot, we were playing in the basement and she ran to the wall and said "cheese!!" And waited for me to take her photo. Ha! 

This is one of our favorite videos. Addison has Paw Patrol toothpaste and boy do we get excited about it. Her and Ryan did this for a couple nights before I actually took a video of it. This was a couple months ago and we can still get this excited for Paw Patrol toothpaste. haha!

Pride Rock

Annual photo with the pride rock in Bondurant. To my knowledge, there is one pride rock in a county, and we have Polk county's. 

We have been working on our baseball skills. How do you think it's going?? Well if the pictures show her skills, I'm going to say her dad taught her. Ha! For the longest time, she would only hold the big end of the bat and she poked the ball like she was playing pool. I realized I needed to relax when it really bothered me that she held the bat and wouldn't swing. She's two. She has plenty of time to learn. Plus she was having a blast doing it her own way. I've always been pretty relaxed and let her do things her own way. But when it came to baseball, apparently that was my "thing" that got me worked up. HAHA! These pictures are two months ago, I will say she's definitely made some progress since then.

I particularly like the "no pictures". She went through a short phase that every time she saw my phone out she told me "no pictures". haha!