I love a parade ...

... and playing my guitar shirt!

This past week was a good one. Not only did things go well at school I got to spend some really great time with Grandma Maggy! She picked me up one afternoon and we went to a new park to play.

Then I got to help her get her mail.

Step one: put the key in the mailbox and open

Step two: remove mail

Step three: prioritize what came

Thanks, USPS ... it's always fun!

Saturday was Beaverdale Fall Fest and the second best parade of the year. As always we met up with our friends the Dillons, sat back and let the candy come to us. (I had a great haul.)

I studied everyone in the parade carefully so I'd know what do when I'm in the God's Portion Day parade in a couple of weeks.

Grandma Maggy didn't watch with us for long ... she saw our church group walk by and jumped on in!

Saturday after the parade Mom and I Skyped with Grandma Kathy and Papa. We had lots to talk about. (Save some combining for my visit next week, Papa!)

I felt like I wanted to wear my rubber fireman boots to church today and it was kind of funny to listen to Dad as he tried to talk me out of it. (I won.)

What?! Homework? Shoot! Everyone forgot that I had homework until we got home from a picnic tonight so we moved quickly to get it done. (Hopefully I'll get a good grade.)

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.

Pierce

Go Cwones ...

Hello. Nice to have you here again.

This was a short week with only four days at school. (That's a bad thing as I get bored at home and miss my friends.)

Since my last update I've picked up a new hobby ... cleaning the dishes! Mom and Dad say the ones I do still need to go into the dishwasher but that doesn't stop me. Splash. Pour. Spray. Scrub. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

This past weekend was the "big game". Just to show that I'm not a fair-weather fan here is my school football party outfit from 2010 ...

... and what I wore this year!

We had fun party at school, got to make hats, had a parade and even got candy from the "grandparents" at the Jewish Life Center.

Saturday was a busy day with errands and lots of cooking in preparation for our block party. I helped Mom make brownies ...

... and took it upon myself to make sure the batter was good enough to share with the neighbors.

We live on a great street and I got to play with a lot of friends ... both new and old. Here is my friend Judy, who also goes to Westminster. She was good with the hoola hoops.

I also got to jam with Will, who is 16 and the coolest guy! He has a couple of guitars and is a really good musician. He let me borrow his small one and we played several songs. I told Mom and Dad that I MUST get one for my birthday. Not a plastic one either ... I want something nice that I can really play well.

We sat by Grandma Margaret at church today then she stopped over to show me some pictures of a sunrise 9-11 memorial service she went to today. There were fire trucks and police cars there.

After Dad and I took a power nap this afternoon the family piled into the car and headed for the state capitol. There was a flag memorial Mom wanted to see after hearing about it from Grandma. She told me about what the flags meant and why they were important. I'm not sure I fully understand but there were lots of quiet, sad people looking at them while we were there.

Blessings to all ... and happy grandparents day to Grandma Maggy, Grandma Kathy and Papa!

Pierce

Labor Day Weekend

Hello, all. Well, after the tease that was yesterday's post I thought I'd better do a better job today.

It was a busy week but we somehow managed to survive. I started off the week with a haircut a Pope's. It's always good to relax, have a drink and catch up on gossip with Becky.

Wow, Mom's new iPhone is really easy to use. She got it this past weekend but I just "discovered" it when I was rummaging around looking for one of the iPads so I could watch garbage trucks on YouTube. Mom and Dad were both shocked that I unlocked it, scrolled over to find an app that was interesting and launched it. (Mom said something about hiding it. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd probably find it anyway.)

All week I've been excited for the Iowa Cubs game on Saturday. There was a lot of rain as we drove to the stadium but it stopped just in time ... huh?! No baseball game?! DRAT! Well, let's go home and we'll try again tomorrow. (I wasn't as nice about it as this blog post makes it sound. Let's just say Mom and Dad got an ear full on the way home.)

Sunday dawned bright and a new day was at hand. Sure Mom, I'll help get lunch ready. Let me dish up (or in this case dish out) the lettuce.

Sunday afternoon after I took a killer nap with Dad the family loaded up and headed downtown to watch the Hy-Vee Triathlon. We got there just in time to catch the start of the men's elite race. These guys are in really good shape! Behind me you can see where they were just about ready to start the swim.

(Here I am modeling my "concerned for the swimmers' safety" look.)

Not the best picture I've ever taken but I was glad to run into Steve. He knew a lot about triathlons and was a good person to watch with.

For my followers far and wide behind me is a picture of the state capitol. (Remember, the state capital is the city. The state capitol is the building.) We started out on the bridge to watch the swim and ended up all the way at the capitol to watch the bike/run transition. It was a long way.

Ah, the long walk home begins. I wonder where I left my sippy cup.

Mom's probably going to get mad that I put this photo in but I think it's pretty cool. (She was thinking about a holiday card cover but I think we'll come up with something better before the design phase this year.)

Sunday we used our tickets from the rained out game and I finally got my popcorn. There isn't anything better than ballpark popcorn! (It also was nice to wear my baseball hat to an actual baseball game even though I had to take it off for the l-o-n-g-e-s-t version of the national anthem EVER. Seriously, I know the singer probably had family there and his Mom was proud and all but let's go up-tempo next time!)

Ah, this is the life. Go Cubs!

Yesterday we headed to Chariton for a long overdue visit. I slept most of the way there and was ready to see the farm!

Ah, Grandma Margaret. She is always so much fun. We worked a bit on my ABCs and also shared a cookie. I can see why Dad thinks she's so cool!

Dad's Aunt Pat was visiting, too. It was very nice to see her and hear about her upcoming trips.

Dad wishes they would have had a cool forage harvester like mine when he was on the farm. Papa Jack liked seeing it and wondered how many acres of carpet I could cover in a day. (I told him it depended on how many wagons I had, whether we were dumping in a trench silo or blowing into an upright silo and the yield/moisture of the corn.)

Y'all have seen it before. The shot we get every visit to Chariton and the farm ... Papa Jack's 4020. I love this old gal!

It appears as though all the cool kids now have zero turn radius mowers. I must have one.

Ugh. After riding on Papa Jack's new mower I can tell ya that this walking thing is for the birds.

After mowing Mom, Dad and I grilled burgers and had a nice dinner. (For some reason Mom declined to be in the "look at our burgers" picture.)

Finally, I wanted to share a picture Uncle Chris sent from San Francisco. Apparently, in anticipation of my arrival next May the citizens of this great American city have named a street in my honor. I look forward to the parade upon my arrival. (I've been practing my parade wave for the God's Portion Day parade in Denmark next month so I'll be ready.)

Onward!

(Next week I'll see what I can do about Mom avoiding the camera and we'll get some shots of her in the blog.)

P-man

You have to admit, it's pretty damn cute ...

(Mom's words. Dad and I were just doing what we do.)

I have a lot more to post after a three day weekend but want to go to bed.

Use your patience, everyone. I'll get lots of pictures from the past few days loaded soon.

Canadian Bacon and Pepperoni

Hello, everyone ...

Here is a recap of the week that was.

Dad gave blood Tuesday and was feeling pretty good about himself. I was curious about the "blue blacewet" on his arm and actually got a good couple of pokes in before he kindly told me leave his arm alone.

Do you like Mom's new coat? I do.

Saturday morning errands culminated in a run to Donut Hut. (Yeah!) I got a chocolate donut with sprinkles and, because it was a nice day, ate outside.

Saturday afternoon I went to Grandma Maggy's. She had lots of pictures from her trip to show me. I took a nap, we went on a picnic, found a new park, played and I spent the night. I hope she had as much fun as I did!

Mom bought me a new pair of jeans. They were sized 24 months but are too big for this 32 month old boy. Maybe they'll shrink in the wash (or I'll start growing out instead of up).

Today it was off to the mall for a few things. Mom got a new phone. Dad returned a shirt. Yada, yada, yada. (I didn't get a darn thing.)

The highlight of the day for me was making dinner. Mom, Dad and I each got to make our own pizzas! I chose canadian bacon, pepperoni and pineapple.

To close I want to share a funny line that I heard yesterday while catching up on hurricane coverage. Someone (don't remember who) called hurricane Irene the grandmother of all hurricanes. Lots of advance warning/planning but pretty gentle when it came right down to it. Huh. Yep, sounds like a grandma to me.

Peace. Out.

Catch

Look what I finally figured out!

Yeah, me!

P-man

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