Umm....

So, this past Thursday, Jman and I were just finishing up playing outside and I was picking up a few things in the kitchen before we got ready for lunch. I noticed it was quiet and wondered what he was doing. I decided to go check on him and to my surprise found that he had taken a pair of my underwear and put it on himself - it was quite funny because he just kind of was walking around with it on and he thought he had done a pretty good job, as it was just kind of dangling from his legs and was kind of inside-out-upside-down - very funny!

Our Dog, "Big White"

I couldn't remember if I had written a post on this or not yet, but Jasper has his very own dog, in addition to his actual dog, Cozmo! His dog is named "Big White" after Adam's car and it used to be named, "outside poppie" - anywho, he usually asks me to fill a bowl up with water for Big White and enjoys taking it for walks around the house. We might need to teach him a little bit more about caring for a dog, as evidenced by this picture, he tends to hold Big White in the air by his leash, probably shouldn't do that to a real dog...but none the less, he is a very responsible dog owner and loves his Big White!

Jman's Best Friend, Uncle Bart

We headed over to Mallory and Jacob's house for a going away party for our cousin, Cody and his girlfriend, Dee. They moved to Minnesota the end of July to both attend school. We can't wait to make trips to visit them and wish them the best as they begin their journeys in a new state!

While at the party, Jman decided he wanted to play Dominoes with the gang. And kept gravitating toward uncle Bart's lap. He probably sat on his lap for 45 minutes just watching the game with him - it was very cute. He has a special attachment to Uncle Bart because Bart has been over at our house plenty of times fixing things, helping build things, so he thinks Bart is pretty darn cool with all of his tools and such! My cousin Allison's little girls, Payton and Pryce, even refer to him as "Bart, the tool man!" I think Jasper aspires to have as many tractors as his gramps and as many tools as Bart one day!

I-Cubs Game!

Grandma Vicki got free tickets to sit in the Skybox of the I-Cubs Game. The night couldn't have been more perfect and it was nice to take a break from the hot air and head into the air-conditioned skybox whenever we wanted.

We ate hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, Jman and Noah shared a big pickle - both of their favorites! And all in all, had a great time with the family!

Thanks, Grandma Vicki, or more better known as "tata wee-wee' in Jasper's vocabulary, although he knows how to say the word "grandma..."

Storm Damage

We woke up one Sunday morning to our neighbors tree blocking traffic on our street. We were able to get a picture before 5 or 6 men in the neighborhood pulled together and moved it with our neighbor, Ed's, truck, so cars could get through. This was only the beginning of what would be a crazy day...

We had quite a bit of damage to our backyard trees as well, but luckily our house/cars weren't damaged. Grams and Gramps came to visit us and help us pick up the debri. Gramps was on a ladder cutting down some old limbs, when one broke off, hit the ground, and came right back at him and hit his lip - causing a trip to the ER and 3 stitches. Luckily, he wasn't hurt more seriously and Jasper told everyone for a couple weeks after the incident "grandpa fell off ladder." We felt awful that happened, but glad he is doing better now!

Farmers Market with the Norems

We met up with the Norems - Hank, Melissa, and Ava a couple weeks ago on a hot July Saturday at the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market. Ava shared some of her yummy strawberry smoothie with Jasper, Hank & Adam got a popular breakfast burrito, and we ended the morning with some yummy baked goods. These picture are from Ava and Jasper dancing to some music. Oh, and I can't really explain Jman's crazy face in one of the pictures - I think he was saying a very big, 'Cheese!' We had a great time with those guys and are SO happy they live so close now! They will be welcoming the newest member of the Norem family in September - can't wait!!

Happy 5-year Anniversary!

Adam and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary on July 9, 2010. We went out to eat at a restaurant downtown, called Django - it was delicious! It was french-american cuisine. Adam had the halibut and I had a chicken dish. We then headed to the newly constructed pedestrian bridge to take a short stroll and enjoy the evening. The bridge was really neat and it was fun to see all the people, listen to the dam, watch the water, and enjoy some quiet time, just us two! Love you honey!

I also had to take a picture of the tree stuck in the middle of the river by the bridge, as a result of the flooding that has hit Des Moines and surrounding areas these past couple of months.

Working at the Car Wash!

Today Jasper and I thought his cozy coupe car was getting a little dirty, so we decided to have ourselves a car wash! We started with some warm water and soap, washed the top of the car, steering wheel, headlights, horn, tailights, and of course the license plate. It was very shiny! After we got it all "soaped" up, we brought out the hose and rinsed it off! We had such a fun time!

Crazy Boys!

Daddy likes to wrap Jasper up real tight in a towel after bathtime and we laugh every time - he looks so funny - reminds me of when he was a little baby! Daddy was always the better swaddler than I was so he's continuing that tradition with the towel, I think. Funny!

More "5th" of July Fun

The weather this 4th of July holiday was complete with rain, rain, and more rain. The Waukee parade was cancelled on Sunday, due to, of course, rain. But that didn't stop the festivies from being moved to Monday. Gramps, Grams and the Wilders came in to Grandma Vicki's house to watch the Waukee parade and have a BBQ.

Jman and Syd got plenty of candy at the parade,complete with a paper airplane and a couple pieces of candy hitting Jman right in the head! But he didn't mind, he thought it was pretty funny! And I had to get a picture of the tractor, his very favorite part of the parade! We met up with the meyers and some of their friends/family, including Baby Ethan, who turned 1 in June and is starting to take a couple steps now. Also, picture is Jasper with his peace 4th of July shirt while showing 'his version' of the peace sign.

4th of July at the Lake!

We headed up to the Parrino's lake house in Panora to celebrate 4th of July! We celebrated Dominic's 1st birthday as well as had a get together to send Matt off to Afghanistan, he leaves in early August. We will miss him and will be thinking about him, Autumn, and Dom so much - we love you guys!!!

The Parrinos house was so much fun - the kids had their own little beach area, complete with sand toys, pool, and a fun raft! Matt took us out on a boat ride around the lake. Unfortunately, Jasper didn't get to enjoy it as he fell asleep on my lap for the whole trip!

We ended the day with a BBQ and fireworks at the park. Just like our Minnesota trip, it was a great time with great family. We are so blessed to have a wonderful family! We sure missed daddy, thought- he was at home, sick with pneumonia :(

I was having too much fun that I didn't take nearly enough photos that I wanted to, but here are a few, including the steps to get from the beach area to the Parrino house - it was quite the steep hill, so we all got our workout for the day. And in another picture is Perri, Campbell, and Jman doing their "silly faces!"

Trip to Minnesota - Swimming & Last Day

I didn't get any pictures of our hotel, but we stayed in the Radisson, close to the Mall of America. It had a great waterpark with body slides, tube slides, a big 10-story slide, a zero-depth entry area for young ones including one of those buckets that continued to dump water and SURPRISE everyone, and a lazy river The adults and Sydney enjoyed the bigger rides while Jasper had a fun time on the small slides. He even got to the point where he preferred to go down the slides himself and boy, did he fly!

On our last day, we had planned to go swimming again, but there were major storms in the area and the electricity went out, meaning no swimming. Instead we went to IKEA and made one more trip to the rides at the Mall of America - back to the barnyard roller coaster and the skyshot ride - definitely the favorites!

It was such a great trip with great family!

Our First Trip to IKEA

Another adventure in Minnesota was our first trip to an IKEA store. I think the gals of the group enjoyed this a little more than the guys - maybe next trip to IKEA, we'll make a girls-only shopping trip. We got out of there with a cute play table for Jasper's playroom, lamp, and some fun silverware for Jasper. The carts were quite fun for the kids to ride around in and he did enjoy finding this soft, wolly rug!

Sharky

And we can't forget Sharky who we would run into walking around the mall!

Trip to Minnesota - More Roller Coasters

Here are some more of the rides that we all enjoyed! Toward the end of our trip we decided to ride the ferris wheel. It went ok when we moved, but we stopped so much and had a hungry, tired 2-year-old that wanted to stand up in the bucket that we were in, so we were pretty much over that after a couple rounds.

Trip to Minnesota - Our First Roller Coasters!

After the aquarium, we set foot into the Nickelodeon Amusement Park in the middle of the Mall of America. Jasper has been to Adventureland before at Issa's daycare, but this was the first time we had seen him on roller coasters. I was a little nervous but was so relieved when he absolutely went crazy for the rides! I think it helped that big cousin Sydney was so brave and rode on the rides with Jman, too...and we also took turn riding rides with the big guy...Adam was a trooper (as you'll see on one of these photos) and squeezed into one of the rides with Jasper - it was a little uncomfortable so he didn't ride that one again. Jasper's favorites were the barnyard roller coaster, the 'skyshot' that went high in the air and then bounced them back down to the ground, and the Dora bus.

Trip to Minnesota - Off to the Mall!

Our second day of the trip, we headed to the Mall of America. Our first stop was the underwater aquarium where you went through tunnels of sea creatures swimming all around you, it was a neat experience. Toward the end of the aquarium, there was a spot where the kiddos could play with freshwater creatures such as starfish, urchins, and turtles.