A Catch up Post

Aunt Brooke, Cousin Carter and Maddox shucking Iowa sweet corn!! 

'Play the birdie sounds app Uncle Tyler'

Maddox tossing rocks into Aunt Lora and Uncle Jim's lake

Maddox, cousin Kelby and Eric ridding the paddle boat 

Kennon playing ball with Grandma Doris in the cool shade

Maddox playing frisbee with Eric and Uncle Phil from Ohio

'I'm not so sure about that Uncle Phil'

Just hang in' out in my PJs 

Maddox and Aunt Susie from Ohio 

Maddox playing basketball with her cousin Jake

'Just a little higher Uncle Phil'

I showed off my moves and happy self down in Keokuk this day....happy happy boy!! 

Maddox at the 4th of July parade in downtown Bettendorf...hot hot hot!! 

My new 'weapons' of destruction from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jean  IE a golf game

So I was just going through my pictures and realized I haven't posted for a couple of weeks which means I have tons of pictures and lots of great stories to tell. First we celebrated 4th of July.  Maddox and I made it down to the annual Bettendorf 4th of July parade despite the heat!!  We were both dripping by the time we got to our spot at the actual parade site.  She had a good time and managed to knab some Tootsie rolls which have come in handy the last few days as we have run out of MM's for rewards for going on the potty.  She tends to get them stuck to the roof of her mouth so we are definitely going to have to pick up another bag of MM's this afternoon at the store.  We opted NOT to go to fireworks with Kennon or Maddox as we didn't want to interrupt their sleeping schedule. Plus I'm still fairly certain that Maddox will be quite afraid of them given the noise.  It appears her ears are pretty sensitive.  The weekend after the 4th of July we took the new minivan on its maiden voyage and headed down to Keokuk to celebrate with the Kies family.  Eric's brother Phil and his family were in town so Maddox got to hang with her Ohio cousins Jake and Nicole as well as her Keokuk cousin Kelby.  Maddox loves to go to Grandma Doris'. She even got to ride the paddle boat at Uncle Jim and Aunt Lora's lake. What a fun treat.  I didn't get any pictures of it but Jim and Lora also have a peacock that has set up shop on their property so Maddox and Kennon go to see a HUGE peacock right up close with beautiful tail feathers.  We had lots of great food and just a nice time hanging out with family. Thanks to the Kies family for hosting us.  Let's see then what happened......Oh....Eric left the following day for a conference up in Northern Minnesota so Grandma Jean came to lend me an extra set of hands.  I was so thankful to have her here Tuesday evening when Maddox developed an ear infection. She was miserable, so Grandma Jean was available to chaperon Kennon while I ran Maddox up to the convenient care place. Thank you Grandma Jean! The kids surely did have a great time with you and I HUGELY appreciated the extra set of hands.  Ok, one last event for this post.  We traveled up to Aurora this past weekend to visit with Grammy, Papa Dick, Uncle Tyler, Carter and Aunt Brooke. The Colorado clan were in town for  a wedding so we couldn't miss the opportunity to get the cousins together.  The kids cumulatively had LOTS of energy but played really well together. No major squabbles at all!!  They even shared amongst each other. We were excited to see them and can't wait for some more together time in the future. Let's see what else.  Kennon spent half the day on Friday in the toddler room. He took his nap on a cot and ate lunch at the real big boy table with all the other kids. Maddox visited the 3 year old room on Friday. It seems the Kindercare teachers are staring to get Maddox and Kennon ready to transition to their next rooms in the fall. They are growing up so fast!! Well, on to pictures. Enjoy! PS  Maddox no longer uses a pacifier at night!! Way to go Maddox!! I'm trying to upload several videos of the kids but once again the computer is being very difficult.  Check the post later if it is not working at the time. Obviously having trouble with the videos~   I have the cutest one of Maddox dancing at the 4h of July parade....I"ll keep trying.

A New Park Every Week!!

So the kids and I ventured out this AM ( before the Colorado heat hits later today) to a new park that we hadn't gone to. It was absolutely beautiful this morning,  75 degrees, dry and blue skies breeze but very nice. The park is in the same area as one that we frequent, I'm not sure why I hadn't detected it but boy it was SO PERFECT for little hands and feet.  Both Maddox and Kennon loved it.  It has that nice rubber flooring that doesn't get your feet black and is easy to crawl/walk on. Kennon even got in on some slide action and was able to climb up the steps to the slide since they were little guy size.  They had this totally cool climbing wall that Maddox did repeatedly.  I watched Kennon eye her up and down as she did that.  I'm quite certain he will be attempting to do it next time we visit. Anyhow while I was there I thought I should try to take the kids to a new park each week.( weather and schedule permitting) There are tons of parks around the Quad Cities....some really fabulous ones with water fountain sprayers and others with rocket ships! So this week is Week 1. We'll see where next week takes us.  All of these pictures are from my iPhone ( I forgot the actual camera). I got some fabulous footage of Kennon walking but it doesn't seem to be recognizing it on the MAC. Grrrrr....technical difficulties. I"ll keep trying. UPDATE I got it to work!! ( human error.....ooops) The other pictures are just random ones from my phone.  Enjoy!! 

Do you think he is doing any of my paperwork by chance??

'I like this button right here'

Maddox shopping at Hyvee just like Mom....only Mom never gets the free cookie :) 

Kennon literally fell asleep in his chair after dinner this night, he has never done that before and it wasn't even a school night.  A testament to the fact that he does NOT sleep well at night. 

One of my favorite poses from Kennon's 1 year pictures we had taken last weekend.  Tie and suit shirt just like Dad. 

'These steps are a piece of cake for me' 

Oh,  what a nice hug Maddox.

Wait Maddox...it is supposed to be a HUG not a HEADLOCK :) 

Static electricity from the slide.  Someone needs to invent a non static material. All the playground slides do this. 

 It's fun to walk on this nice rubber stuff. 

Maddox climbing on the rock wall