9 month checkup, Iowa State Fair & Honey Creek

I got a little behind on blogging. We will play catch-up and see if I can get the details of life over the last month posted. Klayton is now 10 months but his 9 month appt in August went very well. He was 19 lbs 14 oz and 27 3/8 inches long. Still falling between the 40-50 percentile so we are so thankful to have a healthy boy!

Loves to be greeted by his sisters in the morning and after naps!

Sometimes I lose track of time in the backyard and Klayton falls asleep to tell me it is nap time.

Klayton will try about any food but he is sure to spit it out if he doesn't care for it. New favorites:

Grain: whole grain pancakes

Protein: yogurt, ham

Fruit: applesauce
Veggie: california blend

At the park near our home.

The girls love to climb and are pretty good at it!

And even though we have swings at home, we still can't leave the park without using the swings. Brynn even helps me push!

Hailey's face when I ask her to smile for the camera.

Klayton will still smile nicely for me!

And if I get Brynn going high she can't help but smile!

Having a snack picnic :)

Hailey and Klayton, and of course, Hailey's baby.

Brynn is quite the builder. Here is her block train.

Hailey and Brynn are really into Play-doh. The choice creation? Baked goods and snakes.

We headed to the Iowa State Fair on Wednesday which was "Older Iowans Day". Our massive stoller fit in well with all of the scooters. There is a place called "Little Hands on the Farm". Hailey and Brynn had a great time!

Picking vegetables.

Grandpa Van Mersbergen helping the girls pick good apples.

Gathering eggs.

Filling the tractor with gas.

Pedaling the tractor around the loop.

Milking the cow.

Selling the veggies at the market.

Getting money for the sales.

Buying a RED Sunny D with their wages. Now, this certainly would not have been my choice - very rarely do they ever get RED drink because inevitably it will spill on their clothes. However, they were so very excited about their "purchase" that I kept my mouth shut. We were outside anyway, right?? They did a pretty good job and luckily I was able to get all the stains out of their clothes. Success!!!

A ride on Grandpa's shoulders.

At the top of the giant slide.

At the bottom of the giant slide.

A better picture of the slide since I didn't catch everyone mid-ride. When Hailey got to the bottom she immediately said, "Again!!". Brynn wasn't so sure how she felt about it.

Hailey's turn on Grandpa's shoulders..


After the fair, the girls took a 4 hour nap. Exhausted was an understatement!

Just two days later, on Friday, we all packed up and headed to Honey Creek resort for the weekend. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera every day but I got just a few snapshots. We had a great time and the kids loved the water. It was a great weekend away.

Klayton - napping on the beach. This is a bit deceiving. Before this point, Grandma Talma walked him around in the stroller for probably at least an hour and a half. As soon as the stoller stood still he was awake. Thanks Grandma, for making sure Klayton got his naps in!

Daddy burying Brynn's feet in the sand.

And shoveling the sand into buckets...

Brynn on the water slide in the indoor water park.

Hailey enjoying the water.

I had some pictures of Klayton in the water too, but I just accidentally deleted them while I was typing the caption. So, for the sake of time and getting this posted, this is all for now.

Summer Fun

Before we get to the fun, of course all three kids had to get sick this summer. The winner - Roseola....here is a picture of the dreadful looking (although not really bothersome) rash after the high fevers. I don't have a picture of the girls but it started with Brynn who gave it to Hailey who gave it to Klayton. I am not looking forward to winter... Now, on to the fun!


We took the kids to Blank Park Zoo. They enjoyed it a lot more this year than last year. It probably helped that it was sunny instead of rainy this year!

The pink flamingos are the girls' new favorite animals.

Looking at the colorful birds with daddy.

Check out the big turtle in the background.

Klayton did a pretty good job and he enjoyed the big animals (lions, tigers, and giraffes) and was entertained by snacks in the stroller.

The giraffes. The girls were very excited that there were three giraffes so they labeled them the daddy, the mommy, and the baby.

The Aquatic center was one of their favorite spots this summer. The last hour is "free hour" so we hit the water quite a few nights. Especially when we had our streak of 90s it would still be 89 degrees from 7-8 in the evening and the kids all had a great time in the water. This is Brynn on her favorite slide.

And Hailey...

And Klayton....splashing can keep him entertained for the entire hour. That is no exaggeration!

"Observing". Hailey loved to go down the big slides with Daddy and Brynn preferred to hang back on the little slide and just people watch from a comfy spot in the water.

We also have a great splash park. If you go at 10 AM it is free so I ventured with all the kids by myself one morning to check it out. The girls had a good time but were disappointed when they got their swimsuits on and didn't get to go to the "big pool" :).

We hit the splash park during Klayton's morning naptime. He got a nice nap in the stroller while the girls played.

We checked out the National Balloon Classic this year. The girls loved the "big balloons".

We got there in time to watch a few of them lift off the ground and then a lot more balloons started coming in for the evening "night glow".

This hot air balloon was huge.

I am not sure which the girls liked more - the balloons or the kettle corn that Daddy bought them for a snack. Yummy!

Brynn would not look at the camera - she was worried that Hailey was going to pick up the next piece of popcorn :).

Klayton enjoys our evening activities but refuses to sleep when every one else is having fun - so, he joins in!

Oh - and the lemonade. Toss up between balloons, popcorn, and lemonade. The lemonade might just take the prize for the best thing of the night!

Reading books while we waited for the big night glow extravaganza.

Hailey's favorite balloon was this panda bear.

The long-awaited night glow. Now, this was beautiful...for the 10 seconds it lasted. I had some expectations about what this night glow would be and I did not anticipate it would only last for 3 "ready, set, glow" 10 second events. Oh well - the kids had a fun time and overall it was worth it to see all the balloons, eat popcorn, and drink lemonade!

In other news, Klayton is fascinated by the fridge and books it to the door every time someone opens it. And with Hailey and Brynn in the house, it is opened often. He also tries to get all the girls' letters which they don't always like. So, we now have levels - low where Klayton can reach and "high" so Hailey and Brynn can reach and "really high" where only mama can reach :).

Hailey has taken up reading to her babies. She didn't take a nap one day - guess she wasn't tired or something. The unfortunate thing about sharing a room is that she sings when she is not tired (have I mentioned how much she loves to sing) and I am afraid she will wake Brynn up. So, she comes out and gets to experience what being an only child is like. That is a very rare occurance at our house. I was folding laundry so she decided to read to me and her babies. It was so very sweet. She will be a great mama someday!

The next two pictures are very random. I realize this. But, these are the little people from the girls' dollhouse. Now, Jason will not have anything to worry about in old age. Notice how the daddy is in the rocking chair with a blanket so gently placed on his lap by his adoring daughters. Now check out where mama is...I am outside on the porch fallen over the railing with no one to help me. What is this??? I guess I will have to work harder on Klayton so that I too will get to enjoy a rocking chair with a blanket!

One other funny thing. Brynn always asks if she can have "two more minutes, mama. Two more minutes to play." They have caught on to my "give me two minutes girls" phrase. Uh oh! I am going to think of a new one!