Football...Mason style!

After four years, Mason has become quite the flag football player. He's quick to learn plays and really enjoys making up some of his own too! The highlight of his season was his game in the UNI dome, which they won with literally seconds to spare!

Mason played the majority of the year as quarterback. He developed a good arm and improved a lot at quick decision making skills.

When he wasn't quarterback, he was able to play lots of other positions as well and made several touchdowns!

Follow the sequence of these pictures - mouth guard in...

take mouth guard out....

GAG!

Football - Connor style!

Flag football is officially done at our house! Mason and Connor had a lot of fun and as always, improved tremendously - as an individual and as a team! While Connor's record was 0-6, that didn't reflect the excitement he showed and just as in baseball - Connor has wheels when he needs them! He was quick to pick up on plays, practiced his listening skills, and cheered on his teammates.

Hike!

The handoff...yep, it's always this obvious!

And, he's off...

TOUCHDOWN!

Brotherly love?

We had fun at the apple orchard on way back from Des Moines a couple of weeks ago and I was able to get them to pose together for me - doesn't happen very often. The boys love getting apples because they know I will make homemade applesauce! I love their awesome smiles!

Is this brotherly love or what?

First Day of School

All three boys are now in school! Owen goes to preschool two days a week and although he was a little hesitant the first couple of days, he's now doing great! The thing he probably likes the best is riding the bus to the preschool from the big school. We also pick up a friend, Hailey, and take her too which Owen thinks is pretty cool too.

Taking pictures of Owen was a little tricky - he was so giddy he could hardly contain himself!

Connor is our big 1st grader this year. He's the easy going one of the family, so there was no big decision on what to wear, or where he was supposed to go - he was just excited to be in school again! We're excited to see him turn into a great reader this year and he's off to a great start!

And finally there is Mason, our 4th grader. While I can't go so far as to say he was excited, he does enjoy school and being with all of his friends. He's really grown up and matured a lot and is being so responsible about watching Connor before and after school as well as getting his homework done right away!

I love looking at their pictures from year to year and seeing how much they grow so I had to make sure I had a "head shot" and a "full length shot"!

Iowa State Fair!

So, I'm a little behind on my family blogging. I guess that's what happens when you go back to work! Anyway, we took our annual trip to the Iowa State Fair in August. The boys always look forward to this event and I'm not sure if because they get to go with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Lois, see the largest bull and boar, milk a cow, eat lots of things on a stick, go flying down the big slide, collect free "things" in the Varied Industries Building or get as many tattoos as possible! Whatever the reason, a great time was had by all. Here are some highlights from our day at the fair!

Visiting the firefighters and trying to get Owen to Stop, Drop, and Roll. He didn't quite understand the concept of get down on your hands and knees so as you can see the firefighter is trying to push his butt down:)

Connor had a blast milking the cow (and so did Mason, Connor, and Katie). It took a little convincing, but he was pretty proud when all was said and done!

The big slide was a hit as usual. I remember doing this as a kid too, but when I went down with Owen this year it went a little faster than I remember!

Little Hands on the Farm was awfully crowded this year, so we skipped a few steps in the process, but still managed to turn in our produce and get some money for our hard work! I wonder how many Pioneer hats we have floating around our house from over the years?

Future Farmers of America?

Adventureland

So, this post is a little late, but better than never right? We have an annual tradition of heading to Adventureland one of the last weekends in September every year. This seems to be the perfect time of the year because the weather is cooler and the crowds are definitely smaller. The tradition has been going on since Connor was 6 months old and it's been fun to see the boys outgrow, or grow into, the various rides. Last year Mason was finally able to ride every ride in the park and he appears to be a thrill seeker - the faster, the better! Owen and Connor have literally grown into rides as the years have passed and as far as I can tell, Owen will be the thrill seeker Mason is and Connor will be content to watch and stick with the safe ones! To make the trip even better we usually have some friends join us and while not everybody can make it every year we still build our favorites into the agenda; hotel, swimming pool, a little shopping, and a trip to the apple orchard.

Here we are getting ready to head to the park. Our trip was a little backwards this year because of the weather. We got to enjoy the hotel and swimming BEFORE Adventureland, so the kids were very eager to hit the road!

Our annual family photo at Adventureland!

Enjoying some kettle corn with the Runyan girls!

The Frogger!

The oh, so famous boats (in quite possibly the most disgusting water)!

Owen: Let ME drive!

Connor: NO, I'm bigger!

Owen: Wahhh (aka cry until I get what I want)!

Notice the only picture of Mason is from before we even arrived. That's because it's not easy to take pictures on rides that go faster than 2 mph!