It is hayin' time

We are able to get the once flooded out hay fields this week. That means the guys are sweating it out. They have double the amount of hay acres this year so it is much more work. So much more work that they hired two high school boys to help out. I know Ben was very happy about that.

Ryan shed a few tears over not being big enough to help. A total heartbreaker for a 3 year old. I hope he still feels the same way about haying in 10 years when it isn't an option anymore.
Walking along the round bales
Checking the corn

Ben did the hay raking this time because he had to put his putt-putt to work (John Deere 730)

Our ideal weekend!

Camping and boating is my favorite way spend a weekend. We don't do it nearly enough.

Last weekend we went camping at Honey Creek State Park on Lake Rathbun with some of my friends. Yes, the lake level was pretty high but still safe to be on with very little debris. We went intertubing behind the boat. We haven't gone tubing since Ryan was born. All the adults had fun but the kids were not as thrilled. Ryan didn't like it. The water was pretty rough so we had a bumpy ride, his head was really jerking around. We hope to take him on a day when the water is calm and we are getting a different inflatable that is more suitable for younger kids in hopes to create a more positive experience for him. The adults had some pretty sore muscle on Sunday after tubing. I used some muscles that I obviously don't use very often. I am feeling better today though.

Ryan and Mom

Ben giving it a whirl

Ben got to do what he loves to do.. cooking over a fire pit. We had pork chops and baked beans on Friday night. Then on Saturday night he made homemade pizza in the dutch oven. It didn't turn out as well as expected but I think it still tasted good.

Ryan loved the beach, riding his bike on a paved surface (don't have that on the farm), sleeping in a tent, playing with the other kids, boating and just being outside for two days straight. We had almost perfect weather, a little windy but the temps were great and NO RAIN! We are already planning more camping trips for the summer.

Aiden and Ryan in the water at the beach

I think the beach was his favorite parttired boy This is how Ryan and Aiden spent the weekend - chasing each other Aiden, Natalie and Ryan Treyton(2.5), Ryan, Cainan(22 months), Natalie(5), Aiden(3.5) and Aubrey(1) The only bad part of the weekend was that I ruined my cell phone. I put it in my swim shorts because I was hoping for a call from Anna. Forgetting that is was in my pocket, I went tubing! The phone is a goner and I lost all the phone numbers : ( Ben's comment was, "you never have your cell phone on you so the one time that you do, you jump in the water??" Just my luck!

The wrap up on our Colorado trip

I got to witness Colt's first smile! What a precious moment.


Ryan doesn't like very many vegetable but he LOVES broccoli. While in CO we just gave him the bowl and spoon. Have at it, little man!

Ryan is trying to get Colt to smile again
We went to a little town named Green Mountain Falls for lunch. It had a great little park and pond. I took the opportunity to take a couple pictures of Ryan. He was in the posing mood.

Ryan, Lynn and Colt were bird watching
We had a wonderful time in Colorado. I was sad to leave. Colt is going to change so much by the time we see him again which makes me sad. Ryan made the comment, why can't we live close to Aunt Lynn so we can just walk to her house instead of driving or flying. I agree! I don't think we will be moving to Colorado and I am sure Lynn won't be relocating to Iowa anytime soon.

The beautiful Colorado!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Colorado? I loved Colorado even before Ben's sister and brother-in-law (Lynn and Michael) moved here in 2006. I have no problem coming to visit them. I was trying to remember how many times I have been to Colorado, I think this is my 6th time to Colorado. This trip is extra special...Ryan and I came to meet COLT!

Colt is 5 weeks old now. Tipping the scales at a whopping 10lbs 7oz (he is almost what Ryan was at birth) and on the verge of smiling. We are hoping he will give us a big grin before we leave.

Ryan absolutely loves his little cousin. He is being a big helper. We do have to remind him to be gentle every once in a while but that is to be expected.

Aunt Lynn asked Ryan to watch Colt while she ran upstairs for something. Ryan decided that Colt needed a little drink.

We have had a long couple of days. I was up at 3am and I woke Ry up at 4am on Thursday morning to catch a 6:30am flight out of DM. Our flight from DM to Denver was really bumpy. We flew through rain storms the whole way. I used to get motion sickness all the time in the car when I was young but haven't really had a problem in adulthood. During the flight, I was feelin the motion sickness and so was Ryan. The first stop I made once we landed in Denver was to buy Dramamine. We both took some for the flight from Denver to Colorado Springs even though it was a very quick flight. I already have it pack in my carry-on bag for the flights home.

Ryan is farming while watching the planes get load during our 2.5 hour layover

We got here around noon on Thursday so we just hung out at Lynn and Michael's house for the afternoon/evening. They had turned down the hot tub before we came in preparation for Ryan. Michael and Ryan went hot tubing before bed. Their house is beautiful. It sits in a wooded area at the base of a mountain. So peaceful and very cozy. I will post a couple photos of the view from their house but they don't do it any justice.

Friday we visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is a little zoo up on a mountain, it didn't have a lot of animals (a couple of each normal zoo animal) but it was a very kid-friendly zoo. Ryan got to feed the giraffes some crackers, pet a lizard, and in the bird house they gave all the kids a popsicle stick with some bird feed on it so the birds would come sit on the stick and eat right out of your hand. Ryan favorite part of the zoo was riding the skyride. It went up the mountain pretty high but it was an awesome view.

View from the Skyride

View from the landing of the Skyride Poor Colt. He had been in the stroller pretty much the entire zoo trip which was about 4 hours. He was ready to get out, stretch and eat!

Had to have ice cream before we left the zoo

Today we went up to Cripple Creek. It is an old 1800's gold mining town. Now it is mostly a casino town but I enjoyed walking around the little town. The reason for visiting the town was to take Ryan on the train ride up through the old gold mining area. While we were on the train ride the conductor would narrate the store behind different landmarks. We were at the last stop of the train ride when Ry said to me, "Mom see that old mine up there?" I said, "yes". He goes on to tell me that it was used to mine gold a long time ago but it is run down now. I was quite surprised that my 3 year old was actually paying attention to the what the conductor was telling us about the history of the area.

Ryan, Lynn, Michael and Colt on the train

Looking out the window of the train

Echo Valley stop on the train ride

We have had a great time so far. Colt is such a good baby so we barely even notice that he is tagging along with us. He hasn't slowed us down one bit.

The only negative thing about being here is that Ben isn't here with us. We miss him. June is normally a busy farming month for Ben but with all the rain he probably could have came with us. If we would have only known that when we booked the plane tickets :(