Lots of treats!

This past week was Halloween, a party at church and boys's weekend. I got to do lots of stuff and got lots of treats.

My first treat was getting to dig into a pumpkin and pull all the guts out. FUN!

I think Mom and I carved a pretty good pumpkin, if I do say so myself.

Tuesday night was Beggar's Night in Des Moines so the pumpkin was put on the front step. Mom called and made sure a fireman was on hand as she lit the candle.

Oh wait ... I'M THE FIREMAN!

I LOVE my costume uniform! It was perfect to trick-or-treat in. First we did a few houses on the block, then went to Maguire's house. My joke? "What does a fireman have in his soup? Firecrackers!" (I don't want to brag, but my joke got big laughs all night.)

We hit a couple more houses then ended the night at Grandma Maggy's. It was good to visit her and catch up a bit.

Wednesday night was a party at Westminster. The senior high group had games and lots of candy.

 There was even a turtle who was working the shell game. (Get it? Turtle? Shell game?)

Thursday morning Mom left for Washington DC with Uncle Eric. Dad and I were left alone ... by ourselves ... with nobody to tell us what we could or couldn't do. PARTY! Mom was awesome and left me a present to open each morning. (She didn't leave Dad anything.)

Friday morning I woke up early and Dad took the opportunity to go try out the new Dunkin Donuts in West Des Moines. Nothing like donuts for breakfast!

I had a "thumbs-up" day at school that day, probably because of the donuts. After Dad picked me up we went to the park then stopped at the library and grabbed a couple of movies.

Yeah! They had Bob the Builder Roads and Bridges!

But, before we could watch it we had to change Firefighter Fish's water. It really stunk and I think my poor fish was happy we did it.

Saturday Dad and I went to see Grandma Margaret and Papa Jack. It was a quick visit but a good one. I did some farming on their floor, jumped on their bed and told them a bit about school. That afternoon I had my first school friend birthday party. We went to the bouncy house place and it was fun! Here I am going down the slide.

Here is the group. We all had a good time.

There was cake afterwards! Sugar!

Today Dad and I went to a breakfast at church then helped clean up afterwards. I moved chairs and tables and was a super big help. 

Oh, and just to prove that Mom really did get on a plane and go on a trip (and didn't just get a hotel room to herself in West Des Moines and relax for four days) she sent this photo of she and Uncle Eric in front of the White house. I didn't think it was a real house because it didn't have any political yard signs, but Dad said that someone lives there and will probably stay there for the next four years.  Mom thinks he's moving out after Tuesday.

                                                 

Later, gang!

Pierce

Catching up to do.

I owe my readers a better update than they got last week. So, you're going to get a couple of weeks worth of material this time around. I've been working really hard at school on my letters and am proud every night to come home and show Mom and Dad what I can do.

Last weekend Mom and Dad had things to do at the mall so I got to play on the elevator in exchange for being good in the stores.

As some of you saw last week we had a lot of leaves fall. This happened after this picture was taken. Last weekend it was sunny and nice and we just had a few leaves so I was able to handle them with my tractor. Mom helped get my blade attached. (See Uncle Eric? I have a new blade, too.)

This tractor has just enough "Pierce Power" to do the job.

Then it happened. A rain and some wind and EVERY leaf in the county ended up on the ground. Drat.

Thursday I didn't have school so Mom and I headed to Incredible Pizza. We had the place to ourselves!

One of my new favorite games? Whack-A-Mole!

When we got home that day Mom helped me do crafts. I got to paint myself green!

Look at my foot!

That night I was saving the world in my fireman uniform and was able to help this poor fish with his (her?) dinner. Firefighter Fish meet Firefighter Pierce.

Yesterday our neighbors got a new driveway. There was a uniloader, a dump truck and a cement truck ... I watched for hours and was able to use my own equipment to pour a driveway by the stairs.

Tonight was the Halloween party at Wakonda. I hung out with Grant White and saw some other kids from my school. I picked out a pumpkin.

Stopped long enough for a family picture, thanks to Grant's Mom.

Once we were inside I decorated my pumpkin.

And loaded up for a hayrack ride around the course. It was a fun time (even if this photo doesn't look like it)!

That's it for now, gang. Much love to all ... 

Pierce

LEAVES

Uh...hmmm...Things were fine then it rained and look what happened. I think it's going to be a long day.

Pierce

God's Portion Day

This was it! The big weekend. God's Portion Day in Denmark. It's been on my calendar for a year because not only was this a trip to the farm, but I had a parade to ride in!

Mom sweetened the deal by throwing in a train ride. Yeah, Mom!

Thursday morning Dad took Mom and I to the Amtrack station in Osceola.

The train ride was fun, and didn't seem to take too long.

The best part? Grandma Kathy was there to pick us up in Mount Pleasant when we arrived!

A nice lunch, some catching up then off to the farm we went. Papa needed some help moving dirt around the house so I offered my assistance.

Friday was a fun day. We washed tractors and got ready for the parade. I jumped right in and did my fair share. This is the tractor that Papa and I are going to drive.

Uncle Eric chose the Farmall.

Grandma Kathy asked us to wash up her G to drive.

Uncle Eric and I even got the 4020 ready for Dad!

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

After washing the tractors I, for some reason, was really wet. A change of clothes was in order because the work wasn't done. Grandma and I cleaned up leaves ...

... and Papa cleaned the gutters.

After that everyone (except me) went to sleep pretty fast.

What a disappointment! Saturday was cold, windy and rainy. Heck, there was even thunder and lightning! Papa decided that we shouldn't take the tractors out so we were just spectators at the parade. Because of the weather there was a TON of candy available for guys like me.

What a haul!

After the traditional noodle lunch at church we headed over to the auction. I sat on Papa's lap for a long time taking it all in. Heck, he even bought me a new toy!

After awhile it seemed like Grandma Kathy's lap was the place to be. (Why is it that Grandparents have the best laps?)

At the auction Papa bought some gravel for the farm so we needed to move one of the tractors to make room. He drove. I supervised.

I'd never been this close to a dump truck in action and it was pretty cool!

I also did chores while I was out. I can turn the key, turn on the lights and check the fuel on this tractor. (Much to the chagrin of the adults.)

Weird. After such a busy day I fell asleep driving to dinner, about 6:30 p.m. You know what? I slept getting out of the car seat, in Papa's lap at the restaurant, getting back into the car seat, on the drive home, getting into jammies and all through the night. I slept 12 hours in a row! (Farming makes you tired.)

Today we had to come back to Des Moines, but I got one last ride in and got to say thanks to Papa and Grandma Kathy for a great weekend.

Have a super week!

Pierce 

The week was a blur ...

This past week flew by. Lots went on and, for some reason, Mom and Dad seemed to have the shakes with the camera. There were some good shots and lots of blurry ones so bear with me. Last Sunday I went to a new park that had a cool playset. Dad didn't get the photos uploaded so I'll ask him to include them in this week's blog. This park had several cool slides!

And a sound game where you could here the person at the other end of the tube as clear as day!

The best part of this park? The round ladder that I could use for bin climbing practice. Up, up, up the outside of the bin ...

... and down, down, down the inside of the bin.

After school this week Mom and I worked on making the perfect paper airplane. Thanks to YouTube, we found a great design.

Yeah!

Thursday was the ultimate. Mom found out about National Fire Prevention Week activities in Des Moines and one of them was a promotion with our favorite pizza place. Real honest to goodness firemen were delivering pizzas and testing smoke detectors. They came to our house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, I got to go out into the truck! They even turned their lights on for me! (Of course, at this time Grandma Maggy was driving by not knowing what was going on and freaking out!) Thanks for setting this up, Mom ... you're the best!

Saturday (yesterday) Dad and I went to Chariton to see Papa Jack and Grandma Margaret. It was her birthday this weekend so we took a plant and had a good visit.

They both liked my farm set-up and were impressed with the number of acres I covered.

Last night, after Chariton, Mom and I met Grant and his Mom at the circus! It was a lot of fun and we stayed the whole time. Elephants, tigers, acrobats ... it was really great!

Today? Well, today was a chilli dinner at Boulevard. It was great to see so many old friends and catch up. Everyone was doing great. It was good to be back.

(Dad had hoped for a couple pictures of me playing with my friends but we looked like giant, colorful blobs we were moving so fast. No photos for you, Dad!)

Have a great week, gang!

Pierce