Another county fair

We recently spent the evening watching my niece and nephew show their bucket calves at their county fair. 

Nick and his calf, Fred.

Abby with her calf, Cyclone.

Abby, Nick and Lucas.

Nick took Lucas on a barn-by-barn tour.  I'm not sure who loved it more - Nick was in heaven in "his territory" and Lucas was equally in heaven seeing lots of animals!

Meanwhile, my other nieces and nephew in eastern Iowa had to cut their county fair short as the Lake Delhi Dam burst and flooded the fairgrounds. 

The circled white-roof buildings are the barns where animals were safely evacuated.
Photo from the Des Moines Register.

That rounds up our county fair tour for this year.  But alas, we will make our annual visit to the Iowa State Fair soon.

Something wonderful

This was my fortune from dining at a Chinese restaurant with colleagues in April.  I put it in my pocket to bring home and show Brent.  Then I stuck it in my jewelry box and have seen it every day since.  It wasn't long before we knew it was right...

Lucas is going to be a big brother!

Baby Perry is due January 3, 2011.  We are thrilled and feel so blessed to add to our family!  Lucas likes telling people he will be a "big broder" and that mommy has a baby in her tummy.  He also thinks he has a baby is his tummy.  I have no idea what he will think when the baby arrives and actually lives with us.  He is such a helper, though, I know he will be a great big brother. 

He got a new shirt to tell the big news to our families.

We pray for a healthy baby and pregnancy!

Swim Lessons

Lucas took toddler swim lessons last week.  There were 19 two, three and four year olds!  Lucas was one of the youngest kids in the class, so I was thankful that they encouraged parents to get in the pool.  He definitely improved some of his skills from the beginning of the week to the end. 

Lots of little ones!

All ready!

Kicking practice.

Jumping in.

Lucas and Ava G. not paying attention to the teachers.

While the "big" kids went off the diving board at the last class, Lucas and Ava got the little slide all to themselves. I think Lucas would have loved the diving board, but what he doesn't know about won't hurt him. :)

They had plenty of fun without a diving board!

The graduates.

Everyone got a fla-vor-ice after the last class.  What a treat!

My favorite part(s) of the day

Life moves a million miles an hour, the to-do lists get long, the stress adds up, yet there is so much to be thankful for. I can’t name just one favorite part of the day…

When Lucas wakes up in the morning and he wants to snuggle.  Or on a weekend when he wakes before we do and comes into our room with an armful of stuffed animals who need to crawl into bed with us.
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Laughing at Lucas laughing.  His giggle is infectious.
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When Lucas picks a book and reads to me. He's smart, but no, he isn't reading.  Although he changes his tone and it sounds like a story.
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When we sing; the latest favorites are Old McDonald (he always picks a pig first), Wheels on the Bus and of course, the ABCs.
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When I pick him up from daycare and he comes running to me for a hug , yelling “MOMMY!!!”
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My daily dose of kisses from my husband.

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At bedtime when we read books and he knows the words and says them along with.
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When Brent puts Lucas to bed and I can hear them giggling together.

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When I tuck him in and lean in for one more kiss and he reaches his little arms around my neck and says “I love you, mommy” before I even say it. melts.my.heart.

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What's your favorite part of the day?

County Fair

I can mark another successful County Fair in my career belt.  Everything went well and the weather (mostly) cooperated.  Lucas loved the fair, too.  I think he is going to be a fair junkie like his mom.  :)  To Brent, if you've seen one fair, you've seen 'em all.

Watching an animal show with Papa.

We had free ride tickets and there were only a couple things for little ones, so Lucas got to go on the jumpy slide A LOT.  This was okay with Brent and I because we aren't much for the carnival scene.

It was a tall climb to the top. 

But the slide down was totally worth it. 

Then we repeated this over and over every night of the fair. 

He also loved the grandstand shows.  First was the rodeo, the next night was bull riding, then Figure 8 races and last, the demolition derby. 

We also repeated the barn walk every night. Lucas HAD to see the animals each.and.every.night. He loved all of them and made a checklist as we exited each barn. We always started with the cows, then he'd name the next barn... sheep, llamas, goats, pigs, horses, bucket calves, chickens, rabbits.  It won't be long before Lucas has his own bucket calf and doesn't have to climb the fence for someone else's calf.

4th of July

We celebrated our independence with friends at Anderson's farm.  Lucas had fun fishing with dad, although I was much too concerned with him jumping falling off the dock.

Jonah and Lucas in one {little} lawn chair.

Waiting for the big catch.

Me and Sara.

Before the "big" fireworks, the kids got to play with sparklers.  I wasn't sure how Lucas was going to react to it, or if he was completely safe doing it, but he didn't react nearly as funny as Maggie did with this four foot sparkler. 

It was sort of like the reaction Kristy had to her four foot sparkler. 

Another fun night with friends!

July 4th pre-party

We had friends over on July 2nd for a BBQ and bonfire.  Brent smoked meat and we enjoyed everyone's company.  (I think buying him that smoker could be one of the most-used Christmas gifts I've ever given).  The kids loved the sprinkler, playset and Nelson's bouncee house (this could be the best investment ever).

Ava S., Drue, Rylee, Lane, Emma

Lucas and Ava S.

(Ava likes to know where Lucas is at all times and she likes giving him kisses.  Recently, we were informed by some of the older kids that a wedding had taken place on Salvo's trampoline.  The bride and groom?  Ava and Lucas.  We could be in trouble in about 15 {gulp} or less years).

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Because I was feeling like a neglectful mommy with the long hours I was putting in for work, Lucas got a new toy. 

It is battery powered and goes unbelievably slow just the right speed. He loves it.

County fair rodeo

Totally in awe. 

He loved the horses, cowboys, cows, trucks and trailers. 

And, of course, he wore his cowboy boots. 

Brad & Michelle's Wedding

These blurry photos capture what it was like to put a 2 1/2 year old into a tuxedo that a) he didn't want to wear and b) was WAY too big. 

The shirt sleeves had to be cuffed, but he was still swimming.  The pants were a little short because of his boots (if he'd worn the tux shoes they would have been the right length).  However, the smallest tux shoe was a toddler 8.  He wears a toddler 6.  The waist of the pants were so big they slid right off his butt in two steps.  So to fix that, they gave us suspenders.  But you guessed it - the suspenders were too long.  It all worked and he looked super handsome, but he ahd a lot of safety pins in his outfit! 

Earlier that morning, all of us gals got our hair done. 

Of course, Michelle looked the best :)

Look at my angels - all lit up by the spotlight. 

Steve, Brad, Connie.

The Perry boys. 

Here comes that other handsome Perry boy! 

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And there he goes! 

Wait, Lucas, come back! 

Phew!  There's Papa!

Hey, he knows them. 

Much better - the best seat in the house.

Beautiful bride.

Brad looks giddy.

Uh-oh.  He wasn't supposed to sneak up there during the ceremony.

Aunt Susan has fruit snacks!  You can see just how we rigged up the pieces on his tuxedo.  We even had to safety pin the tie because it was so long it hung passed the jacket. 

With this ring...

More Perry boys!  Great Pa (Ed Perry), Papa (Steve Perry), Daddy (Brent) and Mr. Lucas.

Hitched!

The wedding party.

A little fun.

A lot of cute.

Uncle Brian and Lucas.

While the wedding party went in a limo, Lucas rode in his car seat with Uncle Mike, Aunt Susan, Aunt Joan and Great Pa.  There must have been some discussion about the toe incident.

A tired Lucas and Great Pa.  By the time they arrived at the reception, Lucas had shed half his outfit.  The rest was about to be shed. 

First dance.

Nama, Lucas and Mommy. 

He lasted much longer than anyone expected, but eventually he did crash.  He was such a good boy the whole weekend and did a wonderful job as ring bearer.