National Balloon Festival

We took the kids to the balloon field one night while we were visiting. They had fun watching the balloons from Grandma and Grandpa Corning's house all week, so it was neat for them to see them up close. The eagle and panda bear were really humongous, and Lily's favorite balloon all week was the American flag balloon. After we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house that evening, we got to see the night glow from their house.

Group Pictures

We took the kids to Portrait Innovations to get a picture of the five of them all together, just like we did last July. Well, it wasn't exactly easy to get everyone looking in the same direction and smiling this year! But when we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Reagan and Rayden built a bench out of pipeworks, and the kids all sat on it to have their picture taken. These are not the very best pictures, but it was sure easier to get them all to stay in one place with this bench than it was at the picture studio!

Lily Driving the Four Wheeler

After Rayden gave Lily a ride, she got a chance to learn how to drive the four wheeler herself! Uncle Chad taught her how to drive it, and she took him for a ride. She went slowly at first but gained confidence and soon had Uncle Chad yelling for her to slow down!

Lily on the Four Wheeler

Uncle Chad took both of the kids for four wheeler rides, and then a couple nights later, Rayden took Lily for a ride.

Dylan Discovering the Four Wheeler

At Grandma and Grandpa Corning's house, all the kids were playing in the baby swimming pool while the blue four wheeler sat nearby.  After awhile, Dylan noticed it and went over to check it out.

Storytime

Lily fell asleep while Grandpa was reading the story.

Cousins

This was our attempt at a group picture of the six cousins who were at the lake... Khyean, Brayden, Ashlie, Dylan, Lily, Taylor. The picture didn't turn out too badly; bummer that Dylan wasn't looking for the first one, though. We saw Sydnie and Rylie earlier in the week when we went swimming with them in Humboldt.

Pontoon Ride

Dylan fell asleep right away on the pontoon.

Tubing at Lake View

Lily LOVED tubing behind the pontoon boat! We weren't going very fast, so it was just a nice easy ride. She had so much fun, and she wasn't one bit scared to get in the tube and be pulled behind the boat.

Jungle Gym

Lily climbed to the top of the jungle gym at Goins Memorial Park.

Little Harley

Both kids enjoyed the little Harley, but Lily especially had fun with it. Dylan couldn't really control it very well yet, but Lily could steer it and learned how to go forward and reverse. While Dylan and Grandpa mowed the yard, Lily followed them around the yard on the motorcyle.

Lawnmower

Dylan loves lawnmowers and weedeaters (he calls them trimmers) even more than he loves motorcycles. He got to mow the yard at least once a week while we were in Iowa.

Motorcycle

Dylan loves motorcyles. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him SMILING on the motorcyle!

Iowa

Lily, Dylan, and I spent three weeks in Iowa this summer, from late July to mid-August. We stayed for one week at each grandma and grandpa's house. Here's a cute picture of Dylan riding in Aunt Dina's van. Everyone else wanted to rest, but Dylan was wide awake and talking for the whole ride.