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! 

Splash Pad

"Addison if you stand here, smile and say cheese, we will go to the park" And that's the smile I got. ha! I am not above bribery to get photos this stinkin' cute. 

We found this awesome little park in Ankeny with a little splash pad. It's just four little sprayers in the ground, not usually crowded, and best of all, it's free. There is a little pole where you just tap it and it starts the water. Addison was timid at first and only put in one finger, but soon she was running through it squealing.

We went to this park a few different times, one of those times Grandma & Grandpa met us there. Addison absolutely loves watching this video on the phone of her and Grandma running through the water. I had to take a video to show my siblings that our mom was actually running through water - ha! The things they will do for grandkids.......

Zoo Part III

As we were walking out we found a fountain. Addison thought it was fun getting splashed, but I think Ryan might have had more fun. 

Ryan, Addison & Evonne outside the zoo. I didn't realize until we were gone that we didn't get any family pictures. I need to be better that. 

We stopped by the baseball stadium in the parking lot on the way to the car. I was trying to teach her how to lead off. She somehow still had lots of energy to run the bases. 

 

It was a small field that I don't believe they actually play anything on. I think it's just for site-seeing. She ran the bases a few times. 

She zonked out in the car with her Paw Patrol guys about 30 minutes into the drive home. She had so much energy we weren't sure she would even fall asleep!