Iowa Farm Boy

Caden and I arrived in Iowa last Saturday. I was nervous flying by myself with him but we took some advice from friends and stocked up on new toys, snacks, and lollipops. The second we sat down, he kicked the seat in front of as hard as he could (yep, he was the annoying kid on the plane) but I did my best to keep him corralled. He was a very good boy but it's still a lot of work keeping a toddler entertained for TWO "church services" in a row.

Wow, it's GREAT to be home. Caden had no problem going to my parents and has adjusted to the new environment seamlessly. It helps that my parents stocked up on toys, a new slide, and swings. I miss having SPACE. Caden runs to his little hearts content. It's quite apparent that he's a farm boy at heart. He found Uncle Jeff's old pedal tractor immediately and requires rides on the Honda daily. Grandpa finally had the opportunity to give him a ride in his tractor. Now every time he starts it up, Caden comes running, arms outstretched, wanting a ride.

Go fast, Mom


BIG ride


Right at home


My Dad wanted to take him to the fair so we hit up the Shelby County Fair in Harlan last night. Caden ran from one tractor to another and wanted to hitch things together. (I'm not sure what his fascination is with that? He constantly insists that we hitch wagons and trailers to his little trucks.) We didn't do any rides but he splashed in the duck pond. Then we watched a long parade with a ridiculous amount of candy. Every time I turned around, Grandma was unwrapping a piece for him. He didn't understand the concept at first and threw the candy back at the floats. He liked the noisy fire trucks best.

Oooo a hitch


Proud Grandma and Grandpa with their farm boy

We need a leash for this kid

Caden, how many suckers have you had? 2? 3?!

Brian has a very busy week at work preparing for his program's annual review, so he admitted that it was a good time for us to be out of town. He is flying to Fort Huachuca this morning and will be there for a couple weeks. He has planned two triathlons, including one on base tomorrow and a road trip to Flagstaff next weekend. I'm not terribly disappointed about missing races in the Arizona heat.

We hope you had a nice Fourth of July. Ours was low-key as Brian had to work duty at the celebration and it rained. We BBQed with our friends the Altizers. Caden wasn't enchanted with the sparklers and mostly wanted to play in the mud instead. Maybe next year.

We're off to Cedar Rapids tomorrow and will spend the week with the Hasley's and the Geraghty's. I mentioned the floods in my last blog. Pat's business is rebuilding amazingly fast. Regarding the flooded apartments, they've decided to hold off on doing anything for now, so we'll see what the future holds.

Hope to see you before we leave August 6!