Yikes, where have I been!? Unfortunately, no where... I don't know what happened but I've neglected the blog. Sorry here's a brief catch up on our summer fun and fall beginnings ...

Maddy has finally warmed up to splash pads and Elliott is a big fan. I couldn't keep him away. BTW at the end of the video he was reaching up for me to come "save" him, he was getting sprayed really bad.




Parks and sandboxes are awesome! Elliott was a little nervous at first, now he swings, bounces, slides, climbs the stairs and anything he can get his hands on.


I went to the Ames Straw Poll and could only laugh at the craziness that the candidates shelled out cash for... Concerts, air conditioned tents, BBQ, inflatables, what a waste of money, ugh. I was glad Romney didn't waste money by putting on a big show there... he also didn't receive very many votes, I wonder why.

My children LOVE water, including the bathtub.



Maddy has started preschool and while drop offs are a little rough still, she's a fan. She even volunteered to be the first class leader! I am also a fan of having 2 days a week of 2 and 1/2 hours of free time!

Elliott has been a busy boy. He is lightning quick and gets into things in a blink of an eye. Toilets, dishwashers, trampolines, and don't leave a door open or he'll try to escape!






We went to a Hawkeye game with Taylor and Abbey, thanks to Karen's friend Nancy. They were amazing seats... unfortunately it was during a huge down pour. We literally had a 20 minute break during half time, enough to get our hopes up. When the rain started again and the game was delayed, we were out of there! So we waddled home soaked to our undies.

I turned 30. It wasn't too traumatizing... I really enjoyed my cake!

Ethan turned 31 and enjoyed some birthday cupcakes, Maddy however didn't enjoy us singing Happy Birthday.


So now you're caught up!