Good Times

Father's Day:

A great day of lunch out, and pool time at Aunt Amy's. A quote from Harper when Aunt Amy approached her the other day, wanting to hold Harper. Harper said: "No, I love my daddy." Translation - leave me alone Aunt Amy, I'm just fine on my daddy's lap! And later to G'ma as Noah and Harper are walking into her house, Harper stops in the kitchen and says to G'ma: "This is my daddy." Guess she felt the introduction was in order!

Silly Girl:

Someone is showing her silly personality! Why else would she wear a hat and mittens during summer!

Outdoor Fun:

Harper helping Max fly a kite.

Riding the big wheel - or "my bike" as she likes to call it.

Playing "drive up" with Max. Harper was ordering a variety of foods, and Max would close the window and pretend to get her order ready and then open the window with the pretend food. She loved this as well.

Washing mommy's car. Another new favorite. Since she does not like the automatic car wash anymore (I think it's too loud for her) I decided to try washing the car at home. She loved it - from spraying the car, to using the sponge to wash it off - was great entertainment for 30 minutes!

Sadie:

Harper loves our dog Sadie.  She will talk to her like she's talking to a baby in a high-pitch voice. She calls her Sadie-Sada. This is what she does everyone morning while eating breakfast....she talks to Sadie through the front door. It's really quite cute. Sadie in turn sits out there whining/talking to Harper.

Summer Fun!

We had a major break-through recently. Harper ate spaghetti! Noah and I were eating spaghetti, which got her interested and curious. So we asked her if she wanted some, and she said yes and proceeded to eat it! I tried feeding her some since, and she refused (that's the Harper I know!).

We purchased a membership to Reiman Gardens at ISU in Ames. We went once last year, and when a Groupon came up for a discounted membership this year we decided to buy it. So glad we did because Harper loved it!  She loved the butterfly house and all the outdoor areas to explore. Everytime she saw a butterfly she would squeal in delight! It was quite cute.

She especially loved trying out the drinking fountatin...

One morning, G'pa was selling cattle so that was entertainment for the kids. They love watching the cattle get rounded up and loaded on the semi.  Harper witnessed this once before a few months ago. Well, the same truck driver came and she remembered his name. She kept saying "Brenden drives the big semi." Noah and I were shocked she remembered that detail from several months ago. Then when I took her to daycare that morning I was trying to get her to tell her teacher what we watched that morning...and Harper was being a little shy. So I said to the teacher that we watch the cows load onto the truck. And Harper says, no mommy, onto the semi. Whoops - she was right, I was wrong!

Over the weekend we traveled to Minnesota for cousin Katie's graduation party. A lot of family were back for the celebration. Harper kept saying we were going to Minnesota to see family - she loved it. And on our way home, we stopped at the rest stop just along the Iowa border. When we got out, she recognized we were back in Iowa and told us so. Amazing! Below Harper and Daddy are enjoying the lush grass in Mary and Jay's yard. We do not have grass like this on the farm - so they took their shoes off to thoroughly enjoy the experience!

Enjoying a "cake pop".

Sleeping arrangements at the hotel - not ideal...as she kicked Noah most of the night!

Harper loves ice cream and going to the "ice cream store". This is after a cup of chocolate ice cream.

 Our new family member: Sadie! We adopted her from some friends who were moving and couldn't have a dog where they were moving to. Sadie is 5, but full of energy. She loves to play catch and be around us.  She's actually been great about staying at the house, sleeping on our front step and not running away. Only a couple times where she's followed Noah up the road.