The last of the Iowa pictures... for this year.

Well, here is the last batch of pictures from our trip to Iowa. It took a while to get them all posted, but it was fun looking back over them and picking the pictures to share with you. I hope you have enjoyed our trip as much as we did.

Eating grapes with Grampa & Elizabeth.

Grampa is so silly! He cracks me up!

I love him so much!

And Gramma... well, she fell for these sweet, puppy-dog eyes more than once.

All I had to do was look at her like this, and she'd melt... just like ice cream!

Gramma, could I have some of YOUR ice cream?

Yep, that would be what I was looking for! Thanks Gramma!

I love You!

Having a nice chat with Grampa while on my trusty steed.

This little horse and I spent a lot of time together and had great fun.

Well, except for the time I got bucked off and couldn't get up.

Mommy apologizes for the blurry photo, but she was laughing at my plight.

But, as they say, get back on your horse.

I did run into a bit of a challenge when trying to take my lunch box to work.

Ya see, there's no trunk on the horse, so nowhere to carry things.

I did the best I could.

I decided it would just be easier to carry it.

Oh, yes, Oh, yes! I got to help Gramma make cinnamon rolls.

It's quite a process, you know.

After you mix up the gooey stuff, you dump it in the flour, then poke it and swish it...

Then it gets REALLY sticky!

Then not so sticky. This is the fun part. I got to PLAY with the dough!

Smoosh it. Pat it. Roll it. Throw it.

What fun!

And of course, I had to try some.

When Gramma asked if I wanted to lick the beaters, she didn't specify which end.

So... I licked both ends.

Soon the cinnamon rolls had risen and baked. We had all eaten some while they were hot out of the oven. Then everyone went in the living room to visit and relax.

Well... ALMOST everyone.

Ooops! Caught with a cinnamon roll in my mouth.

I DID help make them, ya know.

So, after being caught with yet another cinnamon roll, I did what all my cousins have done before me. I climbed up on Grampa's lap and enjoyed that cinnamon roll.

A comfortable spot for eating comfort food!

The breakfast nook. Ah, what a nice place!

The last night we were in Iowa we went to one of Mommy's favorite restaurants.

Gramma let me try the barbecue sauce. Yum!

The next morning we got on the plane to head for home.

Those seatbelts provided entertainment.

One end of the seatbelt served as a great razor.

All I had to do was make a buzzing sound and rub it around.

I had the closest shave of anyone on that plane!

I wanted to look my best for when I finally got to see my Daddy.

We got to the airport and headed straight for the baggage claim area. As we came off that last elevator before getting to baggage claim, Daddy was standing there to meet us. I let out a big cry! Mommy thought, 'Oh no! He's forgotten his Daddy'. But, that cry was NOT the same cry as my 'I don't know you' cry. Those were tears of JOY! I hugged my Daddy's neck so tight. I backed up once to get a good look, just to make sure it really was my dad! Then I hugged him some more. I wasn't going to let him go! I was HOME! (I noticed that both Mommy and Daddy had tears in their eyes too!)

On the drive home the leaves were so beautiful.

I know, photos out the car window aren't the best, but the colors were so awesome I wanted to share a few of the pictures with you.

All the excitement finally got to me!

But even as I slept in my carseat, I was content.

I had my Mommy AND my Daddy.

What more could a boy ask for?

When we got to our HOME, I was so excited to see all my toys!

Oh! My truck! My yellow school bus! My blocks!

My BED!

Good night everybody!

More Iowa adventures

Sorry I didn't get these pictures uploaded sooner. I tell you, a two-year-old's life is just too busy to take time to sit down at the computer and blog. Maybe when I'm older, but for now, I need to play, play, then play some more. But, I do like sharing my story with you, so here are more pictures of our trip to Iowa.

Ken & Betty sure have some fun toys to play with. They brought out all kinds of toys.

They even let me chase their cat.

I think WE should get a big lawn mower like this one.

Ken showed me all the farm machinery that was in the shed.

Unfortunately, the farmer who stores his tractor and combine in the shed had come while we went in to town and took both the tractor AND the combine out of the shed. Humf! I really wanted to see those up close!

Even though I didn't get to see the big tractor and combine, we DID make some big bubbles!

Besides, Ken & Betty gave me a toy tractor and combine to bring home with me. That was so awesome. I even learned how to say "AAAHM-mine" (translation=COMbine)!

Table tops sure make good slides!

The church that Mommy & Daddy used to go to in Iowa is building addition onto the existing structure. We stopped to see the new construction and had to wear these hard hats.

We stayed the night with Aunt Judy and Uncle Tom. They have some really cool toys too. Too bad Mommy didn't get the camera out that night. But, the next morning Judy made muffins for us. MmmmmmmmMMMMmm, were they good! And the apple butter was good too... I ate it straight up... right out of the bowl.

Uncle Tom has some pretty big slippers, but they were warm and fun to walk in.

Poor little moose. It was cold, so I gave it a kiss.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when it's this cold outside, it's OK to tie your blanket around your shoulders. Whatever it takes to keep warm. Or maybe it's one of the first steps to becoming a superhero, ya think?

Big field, tall grass, warm blanket... I could wander around out here all day.

But... it was time to go back to Gramma & Grampa's house to start making apple juice.

First you have to wash the apples and get rid of all the yucky parts.

Lots of apples to wash.

I let Grampa & Judy do the cutting. Mommy doesn't like me to use knives yet.

I picked the apples out of the water.

And I threw some back in.

Sorting apples is sure a lot of work.

Grampa warned us to back up... he was about to add more apples and it was going to make a splash. Well, I wanted to see that splash, so I stuck close to the washtub. And, just like Grampa said, there was a BIG splash!

After a while, other aunts, uncles and cousins came out to the garage to help make the juice.

Aunt Jan and Luke helped for a while, but then things started to get a LITtle bit CRAzy!

Suddenly it was raining on my head... and I was inside the garage!

All that work washing the apples made me hungry, so Grampa cut a nice slice of apple for me to chew on while I worked. Yummy!

Munchin' on my apple slice before things got REALLY crazy!

Everybody had a little taste of the apple juice, fresh squeezed, right out of the press.

But there were more apples to wash. Back to work folks!

Just WATCH us work....

I was SOAKED!

So, Mommy took off my long sleeved shirt and then I got back to work.

Ya only need one apple to make a big splash!

But, hey, there are more apples there in that bucket beside the washtub.

So, Elizabeth and I got busy and started washing them again.

Elizabeth wasn't too sure how many we should re-wash, but I told her it was OK, we could keep doing it.

But then, OH NO! Somebody dumped out all the water! Yikes!

So I decided to just hang out with Gramma and drink some of that yummy, yummy apple juice.

I guess my Uncle Jim once said, "If it's not Grampa's apple juice, just take it back." I think he had a good point!

After working so hard on the apples we headed over to the school playground for some recreation. Gramma even slid down the slide with us! Yeah, Gramma!

The next day was the Walk to Defeat ALS. It was SOOOOOO COLD, and hey, what's that white stuff falling out of the sky? I don't think I like it, especially in early October.

I got too cold, so Mommy took me back to Grampa's van, where he gave me a driving lesson.

Then, we were off to the races.

What races? Keep reading.

I guzzled a bit of pop to quench my thirst.

OK, so I didn't REALLY guzzle any pop... but it was fun pretending.

And, YES! The races!! The highchair races!

Competitors, face off!

Hey Dylan, I think you've grown a bit since you wore that coat!

Can I see that picture? I want to know what you are going to put on the blog.

Hey, Iz, let's push this highchair together, OK?

(No, people, I did NOT wet my pants! Water got spilled into my highchair while I was sitting in it. How embarrassing that you would even THINK such a thing!)

OK, ready, set, GO!

We have to push at the same time.

Hey, Grampa, look what we did! We pushed this highchair all the way from there to here!

Hey, what's all the commotion?

Wow, Dyl! You are AMAZING!

Six spoons, you could talk, smile... WOW!

But, then someone made you laugh. Aahh.

I LOVE Elizabeth!

OK, enough hugs.

On the go!

Then we loaded up and went to ride the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad.

The steam engine was made in China... like me!

Fill 'er up with water so she'll have lots of steam power.

Grampa, tell me more about trains. This is amazing.

Wow, Wow, wow! I think I must have said "Wow" at least 25 times while we were on that train ride.

Most of the people in the train car were relatives.

Wow!

Going over a very high bridge where they let off steam.

When the sun shined on it, it formed a rainbow. In fact, there was a double rainbow.

Lovely Fall colors.

A view out the window.

Hey, look at that, Grampa!

Spending time with Gramma on the train, too.

Still saying "Wow"!

Hey, that's loud when they let off that extra steam!

OK, everybody, listen to Gramma!

Not bad! Good organizing, Gramma!

Hey, Dyl, are you spying on the brakeman?

Good bye, people! Glad you checked out my blog today.

Oh, there are more pictures and more adventures, but I think that this is enough for one day, don't you? Time to head back to Gramma & Grampa's house to get warmed up and have some yummy soup for supper.