Summer Fun!

It feels like we waited forever for summer to finally arrive in Iowa!  Now that summer is officially here we are having a lot of fun enjoying the mild weather and longer days!  We attended the Jones County Fair on July 18th to see Lee Brice & Luke Bryan perform.  TrueNorth sent the entire staff again this year in celebration of our mid-year meeting, so we invited our good friends, the Holub's, to come along with us!  

Lee Brice

Enjoying a fun night out!

Girlfriends! 

The fair never disappoints!  We always hear good music, have fantastic people watching, and there is cold beer!  Now, there always seems to be some type of crazy shenanigan that happens that solidifies the fair will always be something we talk about for years to come...but that is what memories are made of, right?!

Luke Bryan burning up the stage!

"Baby, Do I?!"

Smooch!

That same weekend Lila and I went up North to attend my cousin Alison's bridal shower.  My Grandma requested that the shower be held in her hometown of Lamont, and more specifically, at the coffee\shop that she volunteers at, Common Grounds.

On the road!

Posers!

Ali's shower was lovely and it is always nice to be surrounded by our closest family and friends...and it is a treat to have it just be the girls, it doesn't happen that often!  After the shower Grandma and I took Lila to the Dairy Sweet.  I was born in Lamont and lived there the first four years of my life, not to mention my Grandparents have always lived there, so I have some of my fondest childhood memories at the Dairy Sweet with a crunch cone in hand!

Sharing a tradition!

The first weekend in August found us making the trip up to Guttenberg to spend the weekend with the Hahn's on the river!  To kick off the fun we met on Friday afternoon for lunch at the Riverview Cafe!

Happy to be together!

Riding in style!

We made our way to the cabin to unload the cars and get settled in.  It wasn't long before the girls were begging Mike for a boat ride.  We got the big boat out and went for a cruise up to McGregor and back.  The girls thought it was awesome to be able to go down below in the boat and goof around!

View for the weekend!

Enjoying a "cold one!"

On Saturday my Dad came up to hang out with us.  We ended up getting both boats out and took them to the backwater where it is nice and calm.  The river had spots in the water where it was really low, so we tied up and anchored next to some other boats and enjoyed hanging out in the middle of the river where the adults could touch!

River girl!

Getting in!

Chilling on the tube!

Practicing her swim techniques!

1...2...3...

JUMP!

Sun-kissed!

After a fun afternoon on the water we drove the big boat up to McGregor, Grandpa wanted to take the girls to Paper Moon and to get an ice cream cone - there wasn't any argument from the little girls!

Grandpa's girl!

On the way back the girls asked if they could drive the "ship!"  My heart bursts to see pictures like this because it doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I was driving the "ship" with my Grandpa Smith.  I love that Lila gets to carry on that tradition with my Dad!

Driving the ship!

Hypnotized by the water!

Happy!

Best Buddies!

Nothing quite says summer like time spent on the river!  I am so happy that the girls will have memories of spending time with their Mommy's & Daddy's up at the river.  As I stated above, being in Guttenberg & on the Mississippi River is very special to me, I don't know life without it.  I am happy to extend that to our daughter and our friends!

Other things that have kept us busy this summer...

Riding lessons

Feeding Baby Moo @ lessons!

Frozen Dance Camp at Dancer's Edge

Pool time at Grandpa & Laura's!

The new house has an absolutely beautiful backyard that we fell in love with when we were looking at homes last year.  We moved in, in December, so we were anxious to be able to get outside and enjoy the awesome patio and yard.  We have so enjoyed spending time out there!  Lila even uses it as a stage from time to time!

Enjoying the view!

Dinner on the patio

Summer smiles!

Dance, dance, dance!

Pretty girl!

The road that brought us to the house on Vernon Drive has been a long one, but it truly felt a little more like home when we finally brought Lila's swing set over from the other house!  Ever since the swing set has been here it has been used a ton!  Lot's of laughs and fun from a little girl who was missing her swings and slide!

A little girl is very happy!

We met some good friends at the Kernels game on Friday, August 15th.  It was a pretty special night at the Kernels...Daddy & Daughter night!  We made reservations for the guys and the little girls to attend a princess party at the park!  They walked a red carpet, they were greeted with a flower, met all sorts of princesses, and had cupcakes and punch!  The girls loved meeting the princesses and we all enjoyed hanging out on a nice summer night to watch some baseball!

Pocahontas

Mulan

Cinderella

and Snow White!

Go Kernels!

Lila & Jozie!

It is hard to believe that we are getting close to back to school time.  With it being so wet in June it feels like our summer just started!  We are trying to make the most of the time that we have before fall is upon us and our schedules get busy with two students in the house!

Live - Love - Dance: Recital 2014

This year June 6th was a big day for Lila!  Not only did she graduate preschool, but it was also her dance recital, too (it is also her Grammy & Uncle Jason's birthday)!  She was in the Tinies 1-2 class at Dancer's Edge that ran the length of the school year.  They ended the year with a ballet performance to the tune "The Way to Bake" from Snow White.

This was our first rodeo, so even the dress rehearsal was new to us.  I wasn't really on it and didn't do a trial run on her hair or make-up, so I was a bit nervous as I was whipping her hair up and putting make-up on her only to rush out the door, but she didn't look too bad!  And she loved it, so I suppose that is all that really matters!

Looking so grown-up!

Lila's good friend Henley is in her class with her and both of the girls were so excited to see how this was all going to work out and get up on the big stage to perform their dance.  We arrived at Prairie's Concert Hall and got the girls all ready and shipped them off to the teachers backstage!

CHEESE!

What a good Daddy!

All ready!

Patiently waiting!

It was so cute to finally see the girls come across the stage when it was their turn to perform.  This was Lila's very first time ever being on a stage like this...I wasn't sure how she would react.  Good news, she didn't sweat it at all during rehearsal.  I was hopeful that she would do as well when the seats were full during the recital!

Places everyone!

Practice makes perfect!

Little darlings!

They've got it down!

Take 2!

After rehearsal dinner!  They were still performing, this time singing!

A few days later it was time for the big recital!  We followed the same beauty routine at the house and got her hair and make-up all done and then off we went to Prairie to watch her perform in front of an audience full of people!

Ready to go!

Dance Darlings!

Here we go!

So, as I stated before...I was unbelievably impressed with Lila that she was able to get up on that big stage and perform without flinching, I think I was more nervous for the final recital performance than she was.  She strolled right out on the dark stage and they sat and sat, I literally was shaking I was so nervous and convinced that the dark would freak all of these little kids out.  But, the lights came up ,the music came on, and they danced!  They danced SO well!  It was awesome!

And this ladies in gentlemen...

is how to...

bake a cake!

She only had one dance, but each of the dancers performed in the finale with their teachers, too!  It was fun to see everyone out there together getting their groove on and celebrating all of their hard work for the year!

Good job everyone!

After recital was over our little dancer was able to come out and see all of the people that were there to cheer her on!  We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many friends & family that are so excited to support our little girl (especially Jason who gave up birthday plans to sit through a dance recital)!

Bravo!

Cousins who paved the way for dancing!

Adding Hannah to the group!

Grampa & his girl!

Grandma & Grandpa Eddins!

We have reached yet another milestone...another first!  Whether she continues dancing through her entire life or at some point decides she is interested in other things, we have officially sailed through our first recital. She blew us away with her courage and reminded us yet again that fear is often time learned.  As long as Mom and Dad didn't make a huge deal out if it, she was a cool cucumber!  We look forward to many more opportunities to watch her on the stage!