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 :(

Too much rain

We got about 5 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. Ben thinks he will have to replant at least 80 acres of crops. Please....no more rain!! Our ground is already very saturated.

Our backyard

Our ditch which rarely gets water in it and our field across the road

Our field behind the shed

We had a stroller walk scheduled for playgroup today. We were suppose to meet by the playground at Brookside Park....

A pavilion at Brookside This is the entrance to Brookside. 6th street was closed so I had to park up the road and walk down to the flooded area. I had no idea that the park would be completely flooded when we got there. This is Aiden putting his hands in the water. I went to the stroller walk without Ryan because he was with Ben picking up the calves from the sale barn in Denison. After the park, I thought I would go to Sam's Club. NOPE, Duff Ave is covered in water along with most of the southeast side of Ames. Of course, I had to pull over and take pictures.Not going to Target either...

Why not have fun in the flooded yard. Kind of fun having a swimming pool in the backyard. He swam for about 5 minutes before figuring out there were worms everywhere! Ok, well let's pick up worms for fishing. Ben went and got a bucket. We could have gotten several dozen fishing worms but they just picked up two dozen or so. Jake wanted in on the fun. Classic situation of boys will be boys.

A weekend full of parties

As I posted in the last blog, Ryan was pretty sick last Thursday. On Friday his temp was normal and he seemed to be feeling better. Still not the typical Ryan but good enough to go to Washington on Saturday.

So Saturday morning we got all pack up and left for the weekend. Our first stop was Warren's birthday party in Ames. As part of the party we went to Lowe's so Ryan could attend their Build and Grow workshop. He built a planter box and planted a sunflower. Then we went to the party and had a yummy lunch with cake as dessert. It was a little chilly but we survived.

Building his planter box with help from dad

Warren blowing out his candles

Next stop was a graduation party in Washington. My cousin graduated and will be attending Wartburg College in the fall. I should add that my other cousin, Jereyl, who graduated from Grinnell will be attending Iowa State (YAY!!). I forgot to mention that in my other post. Ryan had a blast playing with all the little boys at the graduation party. They were all sweating up a storm at the end of the night. I didn't take my camera so no photos at this party.

On Sunday, we went to my grandma's house for my cousin, Peri's, 11th birthday party. My aunt/uncle and 3 cousins live in southern MO so it was really great to see them. We only see them a couple times a year.

Peri and her cake that she made all by herself
Ryan and my cousin, Katie The three youngest kids on my mom's side of the family

Payton, Clay, Peri, Jax and Ryan

Last party of the weekend was my niece's 2nd birthday at Dad/Mardi's pond. Izzy is one the most adorable little girls that I know, such a sweet personality. We had Elmo cake, did a little fishing, the boys had a squirt gun fight, examined a snake and then Ryan got sick again. We spent the rest of the night inside relaxing.

The boys having a water fight

squirting the dead snake

Oh Izzy, she had to touch the snake

Ryan is getting sick. In this picture he is literally minutes from throwing up. NO FUN!

On Monday morning, Ben and Dad went to Illnois to pick up a set of tractor fenders. Mardi stayed home with Ryan while I went to breakfast with my grandparents then stopped at the cementary to visit my mom's gravesite. It always makes me sad to go there because all the memories flood my mind but it is important for me to pay my respect to my precious mom and when I leave I am always glad I went.

Ryan is helping Papa put up a fence around the sweet potatoes Saying good-bye to grandma Mardi. Grandma is not looking very cool with a big ole red hat on but she is safe from the sun!

We got home at 9pm on Monday. What a weekend! We had a nice weekend but we were happy to be home. Now, hopefully we can get Ryan feeling better again.