August and September in a nutshell

On August 19, Owen and I got on an airplane to take a 15 hour trip to IOWA. That's right, we went to Iowa and what a treat it was! Ryan was about to start an intensive 2 week orientation for his masters program, so we decided to spend 2 weeks at home with the grandparents.
Here are picks of some of the summer fun we had at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Owen and Willie became best buds.
My parents borrowed this Jeep from some friends for Owen to play with. Let's just say that I'm glad he can't get his license for another 14 years.
He also got to drive with Grandpa down to the pool everyday.
Tractor rides with Grandpa
Riding his princess bike around the driveway. My dad found this bike at a garage sale and Owen didn't mind the princesses a bit.
Hanging out in the kitchen with Grandma. Grandma hooked him up with all kinds of yummy treats from America. I think his snack basket had a bigger selection everyday.
Playing Legos and Construx with Grandpa.
Taking a "worldpool" bath in Grandma's giant bathtub. Owen loved using the jets to shoot the He-Man guys through the water. Here he is pretending to be Daddy with a goatee.
The huge playroom in the basement was this little boy's playland. He really loved it because we never made him clean it up (since it was in the basement where no one could see it).
Grandpa showed Owen his shell collection and taught him how to hold it up to your ear to hear the ocean.
Owen is one of the few who has ever held Grandpa's brain coral. He was very impressed.
Don't worry, we didn't forget what an amazing husband and daddy we have that let us run off for two weeks of fun without him. We skyped with Daddy everyday and kept him up to date on all of our adventures.
While we were there, we had lots of visitors. The first and most important being my new niece, Britta, who was just 3 months old. Isn't she a doll?
Owen was super excited to hang out with Uncle Benner. Especially cause he remembered all of the names of his old He-Man guys.
Of course Grandma couldn't be happier to have her 2 grandkids in the same room with her.
Owen and Uncle Benner spent lots of time playing baseball and soccer. But Owen's favorite activity was swimming.
Let's talk about swimming for a minute. Owen's first day at the pool he was pretty determined to not set foot in the water.
But with Uncle Benner's encouragment
And lots and lots of swimming with Grandpa
By day 5, we was like a fish swimming around all by himself (with the help of his Popeye Muscles, of course).
Grandpa gave Owen a medal for being such a brave swimmer, crazy driver, fast soccer player, and excellent bike rider. As you can see, Owen thought he was pretty much the bomb. It really was such a joy to watch him enjoy some of the summer activities that are harder to do in a big city.
Owen LOVES his cousin Britta. It is so fun to have a cousin and the next time he sees her, she'll really be able to play with him.
Our favorite nighttime activity was cooking hotdogs, roasting marshmallows and playing with sparklers. Owen enjoyed helping Grandpa build the fire and I enjoyed eating smores.
Great-Grandpa got lots of hugs once we discoverd that he made a great base when playing tag.
The other super special treat of our time in America was when Anne and Papaw showed up to play for a few days. Life couldn't get much better for Owen.
Dancing on the table before breakfast
Showing off his new swimming skills to Anne and Papaw
"Papaw makes me fly like Buzz Lightyear!"
Storytime with Anne
Playing hours of "you can't get me you better watch out" in the yard
On our last night with Anne and Papaw, we had a Mickey Mouse Party complete with hats and Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Sundaes. Even Great-Grandpa got in on the fun.
M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!!!! are you singing it?
We have the best families in the world. They are so suportive and generous and we couldn't have had more fun with them. Thanks for the great time!