Visits and homecomings

Howdy, y'all. It's me again ...

My week was a good one. Papa and Mom's Uncle Tim stopped by on Monday as they were coming through town. I always enjoy my time with Tim ... he's a fun guy and knows a lot about farming.
Tuesday was my turn to help get dinner ready so I worked with Mom to get the green beans in the pan.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty uneventful although I did have the last swimming session at school for the year and my weekly yoga class.

Friday Papa and Grandma Kathy came to Des Moines. I played hooky from school and we were able to spend the day together. Mom took the day off, too.

We started out with a picnic at Gray's Lake.

Then we headed off to the Science Center of Iowa. There was a lot to do even if my favorite exhibit, the crane, was out of commission. Here I am with Papa doing the tennis ball race game.

Rockets were next. This was much cooler after we learned we could re-use rockets from other people rather than make our own each time - but remember to re-use the ones that flew the farthest!

The highlight of the day was the pneumatic ball wall. Awesome! I'm so lucky ... I've never seen Grandma Kathy laugh so hard .... weird, it was at me.

Our next stop was the weather center. Here is a photo of Grandma Kathy and me playing our band instruments on the stage.

Looks like a high pressure system making its way across south eastern Iowa this evening ...

That was fun! (Who needs a nap?)

Saturday was another trip to the Iowa State Fair. Papa and Grandma took me. Mom and Dad followed behind an hour or so later. I got to climb on all of the tractors that I wanted to. Papa even got into tractors with different colors than he's used to.

Group shot! (Papa was working the camera. Mom and Dad were hoping for a holiday card shot but it wasn't to be.)

Buy this one, Papa! It's BIG!

After seeing the tractors and having lunch Dad took me on a walk to let everyone finish their meal. (Apparently I'm a distraction.) We went to the horse barn and I met this very nice Percheron. What a pretty horsey.

One of the best things about the fair is running into people you know. Everyone got to catch up with the Andersen's. Steve and Sue are big fair goers and had a full day ahead. It was nice to see them!

Later that night Mom went to see yet another Reba McEntire show with friends Kristen, Danielle and Melissa. (Dad and I stayed home and were okay with that.)

Today Grandma Maggy stopped by. I hadn't seen her in a long, long time. She got back from Hungary and the Czech Republic on Friday. While she was there she put together a picture book for me. Did you know they have garbage trucks in Europe, too?!

She brought lots of cool presents for everyone. Welcome back, Grandma!

Have a great week, all ...

Pierce