Bowling

Addison's daycare took her bowling, she was pretty excited. She had never been before and we had wanted to take her. But you know, COVID.

 We aren't sure how hard she could throw the ball to get it down the lane. Ha! She ate a cold lunch while at the bowling alley and they served her lemonade. She had discovered she loves lemonade :) 

Addison was practicing her cartwheels and somersaults, Mason decided to join in. She thought it was so funny. It was pretty entertaining. 

Celebrating Conner's 14th Birthday at Hickory Park.

 I snuck some pink glitter sunglasses on Mason when Ryan wasn't looking. He didn't keep them on very long, he loves taking them off and putting them back on. Constantly. 

Officially on the Market

In the middle of June, we took the plunge and listed our house for sale. It was nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time. 

Attempted to take a family photo with the phone propped up on the stroller. Ha! The house was on the market a few weeks and we had some really last minute showings which resulted in some frantic cleaning. It's hard to keep the house clean with two kids and lots of activities! 

Had to commemorate a big step, first time Mason sat in the cart like a big kid. Addison thought it was pretty exciting. He tricked me. He was very well-behaved this trip. Which lead me to believe I could take him out of his car seat again. What a sucker I am........ haha 

We made the trip to Hurts Donuts as a little pre-Father's Day treat after T-ball. Mason unfortunately knows what donuts are thanks to his old daycare, so he demanded we share. 

We then completed the day with a few furniture/appliance stores and Addison was quite happy. She loves running around those stores. She opened and shut every washer/dryer door at Nebraska Furniture Mart. Ha! 
 

Water Play

I can't remember where Ryan and Addison were this night, I think swimming lessons. But Mason and I were "working" upstairs. He's normally pretty good, until he's not. Ha! Normally in the bathroom, he pulls the towels from rack, pulls things out of the shower, and plays in the drawer. I was probably doing laundry or vacuuming, and apparently he ran through the other activities fast. So he made his way to the toilet........ UGH. Yup I walked around the corner and found him leaning in the toilet. GROSS. 

Of course I swooped him up right away, dried him off and he was MAD. So, like the good mom I am, I put him back next to the toilet so I could take a picture and remember the moment. Ha! I mean, he already had his arm in the toilet, what's it matter if he did it again? Lol. So I took my photo and then vigorously washed his hands/arms. 

One more thing on the list of "Addison never did that" :) 

So we set him up with water he COULD play with! He left that hat on for a record three minutes. 

He was playing peek-a-boo. 

Pool time! It's October now and getting cold, but Addison is begging for the shark pool. I just put her in the bath tub instead (she normally takes showers). A week or so ago, I heard some massive splashing.....she was stretched out in the tub practicing her swimming moves. Ha! 

Hard to see, but Mason found an old remote in the toys and he was pointing it at the TV and pushing buttons. I think he thought he turned on Monsters University. 

 This drives Ryan nuts.... but I needed the kids entertained so I let them play in the Tupperware cupboard :) They thought his "hat" was pretty funny. 

Take your kid to work day

In June, Addison went to work with me. I had to go into the office for a reset (we had no staff) and a few other things that had to be done. We were using vacation days at daycare before we lost them, so she went with me so we could go to tumbling that night in Ankeny. 

She had a great time. She had her backpack with activities/toys and her lunch box. She is so easy, it's not an issue for her to tag along. Everyone loved seeing her! 

We did a 6 week tumbling class in Ankeny, she was pretty excited. I think she was old for the class and didn't learn a whole lot, but she had fun. She now wants me to sign her up for tumbling and gymnastics. 

This guys loves bouncin' on the donkey! He figured it out without being taught. He didn't have much balance at this age and fell over a lot. Ha! 

It had been so long since we got to go to a parade!! Addison was so excited. Mason loved the koozie, ha! We saw cars, firetrucks, dogs, tractors, etc. Got sprayed by super soakers. Addison thought it was great! 

 This picture captures so many instances at our house. Finding Mason doing something he isn't supposed to, with a smile on his face. That's the snack sack and he got himself into the pantry. He managed to open something, I think it was Club mini crackers. You can also see the bags of chips in his reach, those had to move. Ha! Earlier this week, he was running around with a small jar of honey that neither Ryan or I know where he got it from. Ha! 

Hiking and packing

We went to Hickory Park with Ryan's family. It was 95 degrees out and Addison told me she was cold and needed a jacket. She's got a little Grandma Rita in her! 

We went hiking out at Ledges park. Mason and I had to stay behind for part of it, but another area was a little more stroller friendly. 

Group picture! 

We put toys at the back of the chair to motivate him to climb up  - ha! Addison definitely was not able to climb like this kid! 

Right after the weekend for Katie's wedding and Brad coming back, we went to work cleaning and packing up the house! We had put an offer in on a house in Huxley and needed to get ours ready to list. The water table was a perfect entertainment for the kids while we packed up the trailer. 

We packed that trailer FULL. It was quite impressive. We wanted to pack the trailer before they took photos of the house so it didn't look so crowded, lol. Then mom and dad took it back to the farm until we moved. 

 

Look at me climb!

It's crazy that this photo was taken when Mason was actively seeking out the stairs. At our old house, the stairs were down a hallway and around the corner from the kitchen. Addison never sought them out because she didn't want to leave the area we were in. Mason was NOT that way. He would frequently sneak away to the steps. Then he would think it's funny when you caught him. Ha! This boy is a climber for sure. 

He was 13 months in the this photo. He started off being really good about going down on his belly. Addison was very good at telling him "turn around" in a sweet high-pitch voice as he neared the stairs. She would start freaking out if he was within 6 feet of the stairs. She is always so worried about him!! She would to the stairs and sit on the top step to "block him". 

Just taking some laundry basket rides. Gave me a workout, those two are heavy! 

The beginning of June, Ryan's cousin Katie got married. Ryan's brother's family came back from CA. The day they got back, I was sick. Of course. I mean, like really sick, I had to ask the director of finance to work my event at work. It's bad when I have to ask for help and go home! Then everyone was at our house. It was a rough couple days for me! Then Mason got sick. Ugh. That was a long weekend but Addison stayed healthy and had a great time. She went to Dale & Evonne's farm one day and picked strawberries and climbed hay bales. 

Mason had a fever but we still got a photo with Aunt Cathy :) 

Christmas card photo for Evonne - it's a great one! 

Love this photo, she loves to pick up Mason. Now she carries him around. He's gotten used to it now, I think he actually likes it. Ha! 

This was by far the hottest wedding I've been to, it was miserable! But it was a beautiful location and a good time was had by all. The kids and I had to cut out early, poor Mason had a high fever and was miserable. :( 

 

Just taking care of my horse

Addison loves her horse. She brushes it's hair, fiddles with all the tools, puts it in the trailer and then takes it back out. And most of all, she loves to bandage the horses legs. Ha! 

He had pulled himself up and was pretty pleased with himself, he reached up and grabbed some water bottles off the counter. He is into everything!

Went to get him from his nap, he was standing up and very excited to see me! This was back in June :) 

These two have a great time in the bounce house! We should get it out one more time this fall, Mason has changed so much in the last 6 weeks. He would probably be able to climb the "ladder" now. 

Just having a snack. Mason stole Addison's chair so we had to grab another one. As you can see Addison holding everything tightly, he was trying to steal the rest of her things as well! 

Addison had to stay home from school on the day the class was going on a picnic. She looked forward to every Wednesday to pack her lunch and go on a walk then a picnic. So that night, we packed a lunch box and went for a walk. 

Then came back to our house and had a picnic. Ha! She thought it was so fun and I thought it was a ton of work as I kept having to run in the house for something. Mason of course was like a caged animal let loose and dumped his plate, smashed Addison's sandwich, had humus all over (who gave him humus? dumb.) And he kept crawling away. Then he would come back to smash or steal more of Addison's food. No wonder his nickname is Wreck it Ralph. :) 
 

T-Ball

My cute little t-ball player! We RUSHED to photos, I mean, I'm running with Addison to get in line for the photos. But we made it! I think it's pretty cute :) 

Can't find Addison? Look for the shortest one :) Ha! 

Mason watching his big sister play t-ball. He would clap sometimes. Mainly, he just got into his diaper bag and tried to crawl away. There was zero shade at the ballpark so I tried to put him in the shadow of the chair :) 

They all took turns playing first base. The players would field the ball and then throw it to first. 

This was from another day but Conner was fishing at the pond by the Ames house. Tracey and Mason walked down to see him. It's a pretty big one he caught! Mason wasn't sure what to think. The next week, we fed Mason goldfish in his high chair. He kept throwing them on the floor. We joked that he watched Conner throw fish back so he thought that's what he was supposed to do :) 

 

More Baptism

Photo with Grandpa Dale & Grandma Evonne

And Grandma Rita & Grandpa Ron 

Addison told us last night that we need to have another kid so she could name it Grandma Rita because we didn't name Mason Grandma Rita like she wanted :) Haha! I can't believe she remembered that. She told us that we don't have a Grandma Rita at our house and we need one. Ha! Crazy kid. I need to do a better job of recording all the funny things she says :) 

And all the grandkids! 

Mason = 1 year

Makena = 15 

Addison = 5

Nolan = 2

Brayden = 9

Conner = 13

Parker = 13

Good group of kids!! It was so sunny they were struggling to keep their eyes open :) 

I try to get a photo of the 6 of us when I can. All these photos and I didn't get a good one of just me, Ryan, Addison and Mason. Oh well! 

Sneaking a finger into that cake..... 

Probably my favorite picture - we got an adorable smile out of Mason (which was hard that day) and then you see that little Nolan arm reaching out to get some cake..... or "Happy Day" as he calls it. That kids loves cake, or the idea of it!

Addison loves cake too, she was pretty excited. 

By all means possible...... 

See, I don't think he actually eats that much.... but he loves the idea of it! We had to hide the cake from him until we got back from church because once he knows it's there, he's relentless. But he's so cute :)