First Day of Preschool

Here's some pictures of Amelia's first day of preschool.  She is loving it, although only seems to talk when asked a direct question.

Pump It Up

We've been to Pump It Up a few times over the past year, primarily due to a few Groupons.  Amelia's been a bit hesitant to go on some of the bigger things so I was very proud of her for completing the obstacle course all by herself.

Minnesota

 We had a great trip to Minnesota at the end of August.

We started with a visit to Uncle Mark's new house where we celebrated Amelia's birthday and ended the night making smores around a fire.  Amelia's getting to know Raf (Mark's dog) and is getting much more confident around dogs.

Grandpa Jim treated us to a Twins game again this year.  We had fun touring the stadium and taking pictures with all sorts of things before the game. 

Amelia was a little more into the game this year than last but she conked out for a few innings.  She hasn't napped on us for at least a year or two!

After we took our family picture, Amelia had a go with her camera.

On the way home, Amelia picked up a map. . . Not too long before she's telling us where to go.

Iowa State Fair

Yet again, it's been a while since we updated the blog. It's been a busy summer. Back in August Amelia and I had our third trip to the Iowa State Fair. This year we went with Grandma Marilyn, Auntie Suzie, Tom & Abby and various members of Uncle Jason's family. Tom and Amelia had a great time exploring all there was to do and at the end of the day (after we split up) Amelia made a bracelet with her name on it. She was concentrating very hard.

Amelia's Birthday

Amelia turned three last weekend. On Saturday we had a Curious George themed party complete with yellow hat and banana cookies, monkey and cupcake cake pops (thanks Grandma Becky for the book), and a #3 cake. We had a scavenger hunt in the yard for the kids to wear their George masks and fill their goody bags. On Sunday (her actual birthday) we opened gifts with Mummy, Daddy & Grandma then went on a bike ride in Jester Park.

Tom & Abby Visit

Suzie, Tom, and Abby came to visit the week of Amelia's party. The kids had fun playing in the back yard and we went to Union Park to play in the wading pool and go on the carousel. We had a good time in spite of the sprinkles. This was our best attempt at a picture of the three cousins.

Indianola Balloon Festival

After getting a bit of a balloon bug in Ohio, we decided to head to the Indianola Balloon Festival for their first night glow. About 40 balloons flew in, trying to knock over a portapotty or land a beanbag on a big X then landed on the field in front of us. They then opened up the field so we could wander around the balloons during the night glow. It was a cool experience. The picture of Kate & Amelia is from the Des Moines Register. Amelia's first published picture :D.