Pedal Pulling at the Fair

Last night we hit the first fair in the area to have the kids do the pedal pull. They love doing these and they do very well at them.

They both ended up getting 1st place in their age groups! They got little toy tractors (12-wheelers as they call them), so they were happy! They get to go to the State Pedal Pull in Marshalltown in September now since they won.
They also got 10 free ride tickets so we hit the rides...
I think this ride was around when I was their age! just a few years ago :)

Swimming Lessons

Last night was the first night of swimming lessons. I wasn't to sure how it was going to go since whenever we've been in the pool, the kids wouldn't get their faces wet for me. 2 minutes in the pool with their instructors and they both dunked their heads!! I guess mom just isn't trustworthy enough!
They were both smiling the whole time - loving it!

Another Great Camping Weekend!

This past weekend we had another great time camping with some friends that have a permanent spot at Hickory Hills Campground. They have a nice pool and the kids had a blast. We got a little to much sun maybe but at least we are not ghostly white anymore!

After testing out one of these we had to go buy one!
The lodge sold these fun water guns. They kept the kids busy for hours! Definitely worth the 2 bucks!
This picture reminds me of Rambo for some reason :)

Once again, we had good food, good drinks, and good company!

First T-Ball Game

After a busy camping weekend, we came home, changed clothes and went to T-Ball where they had their first game. Teams were picked, t-shirts handed out, and Game on! I love watching t-ball! the kids are so cute learning how to play the game. Here are a couple of shots...


I'm finally caught up posting from last weekend! now I need to prepare for another weekend of camping. This weekend we are heading to Hickory Hills for another fun weekend of camping with friends!

Great Camping Weekend!

We had a great time this last weekend camping with some friends at Kamp Dels! The kids had a blast doing everything they love to do.

They got to play in the water park...

Play at the playgrounds...

Ride bike constantly...
Visit the petting zoo several times...
Swim...
and play mini golf!
The adults also had a great time playing bean bags among other things! We definitely will be going back here again someday. The weather was perfect, beer was cold, and food was good. Good Times! :)

More Flooding

Well my plea for no more rain didn't work. It has been awhile since I've posted and a lot has happened! On Wednesday night we got a lot more rain. They got a lot more in Austin, flooding the Cedar River. Remember this picture of the steep hill we went on 4-wheeling?

Here it is during the flood. It got a lot higher than this, but I wasn't there to take a picture! The water was even with the ground. Take one step into the water, and you'd be in for a big surprise!

We then went to my brothers to watch the water come up. They want to live on a lake but I don't think this way! They had moved the cattle again, and emptied out the basement in preparation. Here are a few pictures from earlier in the day.

Here are some more from just before we left. The water totally covered the driveway and was right up to the house.

They lucked out and didn't get much in the basement but it was close!

Rain Rain Stay Away!

We had quite a weekend with storms and rain constantly. We were away from home at a friends graduation party on Saturday when the major storms hit. There were tornado warnings for most of the day. Thankfully we didn't have any damage, just a lot of rain. When we got home, the first thing we did was check the basement for water. None! For once we had good timing, and just had re-routed our tile on Friday! otherwise I think we would of had a mess. Our sump pump is still running constantly, but at least it could keep up.

This is what we came home to:
After checking out our basement, we drove around to where we had heard tornadoes had touched down. The sky was incredible, changing by the minute. This photo is looking east, with the sun going down in the west, overlooking a flooded field.

Saturday morning the kids had a blast playing in the water between shots of rain.
Our driveway, notice the poor new trees!
Here is the new tile line that saved the day!
I have always wanted to live on a lake though, so I got to do that for a day or two!
Sunday night we went to my brothers to be there to help in case the river kept rising. The river is usually way behind these trees, but it had risen up past their garden. Thank goodness they didn't need to clean out their basement!
This is taken Sunday night on the road to my moms place. There is a cabin on the left side of the photo that was under water. I feel bad for those people.
So we had an exciting weekend, but it could of been a lot worse!

It's tough to be the youngest

We had the first night of T-Ball for my 6-yr old. He loves it! The 4-yr old, however has to sit and watch with mom and dad, wishing he could join in the fun. Next year, buddy!


I will post layouts from the scrapbooking weekend after I take pictures of them! We had a great time as usual! I managed to get 27 pages done, which is great for me. There were about 10 of us, scrapping, chatting, laughing, eating, and a little bit of sleep. Doesn't get any better than that!