pictures tell a story

My energy level for blogging lately has been low. Everytime I think of what I'll write, I lose energy to sit down and do it. Hang in there with me today. We'll see how this goes!

My friend Jess invited Addelyn and I to go along with her and her boys for a day trip to the Iowa State Fair. It was the first time I have spent a day there since high school (going there at night to see The Nadas probably doesn't count!) We had a great day. It was ninety degree weather so we TRULY experienced the fair in it's fullness. My fair food of the day was a Gyro. Not bad but I'm kicking myself for skipping the funnel cake. GRRR....In the above and below picture, we were at Little Hands on the Farm, where kids get to do all the things they would do on a farm- plant and pick veggies, ride a tractor, milk a cow, sell their produce, etc. It was such a fun kid's activity. Addelyn is not quite at the stage to understand (as she chewed on her fake carrot) but still it was lots of fun and very hands on.

With the HOT weather, what a better place at the state fair to be than by the fountains?! Addelyn LOVED playing here and running around, splashing in puddles and screaming!

Sweet corn. YUM. My sister Jill was hanging out the other night and we realized we eat our corn exactly the same (with only two rows left when we get to the end.) Must be a weird Kramer girl thing!

Bye Bye ba ba. We said goodbye to the bottle during the day months and months ago but still Addelyn drank her bottle at night before bed. Finally a few weeks ago, we decided it was time to put the bottle away for good! We made a game of it and set bottles around the house. She had a bag and ran around and picked them all up. Then she "helped" Daddy put them in the trash and said goodbye to the ba ba. (Don't worry, we snuck them back inside to save for baby #2). The transition of goodbye to the bottle went well. We have a new routine where she gets a cup of milk while we look at books and pictures (she loves photo albums) and then we brush our teeth and head to her room to say our prayers and go to sleep. I think it was harder on me to say goodbye to the bottle! It marked a milestone for me- that Addelyn is no longer my little baby.

My Dad and Lora have baby kittens on their farm. Addelyn absolutely LOVES the kitties and last time she played there she figured out she could pick them up and carry them around. The kitties were such good sports! They would let her carry them and purr the whole time. Once she even carried one by its hind legs and it just hung there, as happy-go-lucky as could be.

This summer, our relatives from Alaska came to visit. Addelyn had fun hanging out with her cousin Kendall and we even took time for a visit to the pool together. Autumn (who is 6 months older than Addelyn) is her other cousin and it was fun watching them interact. Of course, it isn't easy to get a picture with everyone looking!