USA Days in Fairfax, IA

These days it seems like I barely get our suitcases unpacked and the clothes through the laundry when it's time to pack up and go someplace again!

Macy loves going for a "ride." In fact, we have to be careful not to say the word "ride" in her hearing unless we really are planning to take her for a ride because she gets so excited! Usually, we make her sit with me on the passenger's side (for safety's sake!) on our trips; but once in a while Jordan will let her sit with him, which makes Macy extremely happy!! She loves staring out the windows scanning the countryside for birds so she can totally flip out with excitement whenever one comes in view. That is pretty much her whole motivation for going for "rides," I think! ;)

This past weekend, we went to the Cedar Rapids area. On Thursday, Jordan played in a golf tournament with some people from the new company he's working for. They didn't do too well, but I think they all had a good time. :)

Thursday night, Fairfax was having their big USA Days celebration, and Jason's bank had a team in the softball tournament. Jordan and Grant both played for them, so Anna & I went along to watch the game. It was so hot out there!!!! :P We still had fun, though! Since Julia was playing softball, we got to help watch Kaden. Julia's mom was visiting so Kaden really had fun playing with 'Grammie'; and Eltza was there with her little boys to watch Mike play in the softball game too.

Kaden loves his stroller...whether he's pushing it, or being pushed in it, doesn't matter! Fox (Eltza's little boy who is about 6 months older than Kaden) thought it was pretty fun to push Kaden (with a little help from Julia's mom!).

Kaden and Fox were trying to cover up the kleenex with rocks...a much better activity than throwing the rocks at each other! ;)

Friday, we hung out with Jordan's family. Jordan & I had lunch with Grandma & Pa at Culvers (yum!), and Anna & I played the game of Life a few times! :) That night Andria & Daniel came over for a little visit, and all of us girls watched "Marley and Me." Such a sad movie! It was the second time I'd seen it, and I'm pretty sure I balled at least as much as I did the first time!

Saturday, we drove over to Fairfax for their big annual parade. Grant & Anna came along with us again, and this time we brought Macy too. Macy behaved wonderfully the whole weekend. It's so nice to see her starting to mature finally!! She was such a cute puppy, but I'm pretty happy to be leaving the hyper puppy stage behind us! ;) She's such a cutie, so little kids always like to pet her, so it was a big relief to see her greet them so calmly. A few people even commented on what a nice 'calm' dog we had! Hahaha! If only they knew what a little wind-up toy she used to be!!!

This is what Macy thought of the firetrucks and other emergency vehicles that went by during the parade!

Here comes the crew for Jason's bank! Julia's helping carry the sign in front, and her mom is pushing Kaden in the little car right behind her. I didn't get a picture of Kaden up close in the parade, because I was hoping to get a video and ended up with neither. Poo! :P

Here comes Jason!

The Guaranty Bank truck

Grant, Jordan, and Macy watching the parade and coaching Anna on how to pick up the candy being thrown in the street. ;)

After the parade, we had lunch and then went back to the baseball field for the rest of the softball tournament. Again, it was terribly hot! :P Jason's team wasn't able to pull off the win, but I was glad that meant that Jordan could come sit with me for the rest of the tournament! :) Thankfully, a small thunderstorm blew in and cooled us all off a little! Later, we went back to Jason & Julia's for supper before heading on home!

The next series of pictures warrants a little introduction. Kaden and Macy have always had a rocky relationship. Macy (of course, being the puppy that she is) loves Kaden. Kaden, on the other hand, loves Macy...as long as she stays at a safe distance! Usually, if Macy gets too close, Kaden gets really upset; but when she's safely out of reach, he points at her with a big grin and says "dog"! Well, Kaden went out on the deck and shut the screen door behind him (something Julia said he loves doing)...and when he turned around, Macy was out there with him!! It was really funny to watch Kaden so bravely reach out and pet Macy all by his little self!!

Hmmm.... I wonder what would happen if I just touched her...

Just a little touch with one of my fingers, and I'll keep my hand on the door for some security.

This is actually kinda fun! I think this doggie is pretty neat!

It was a great weekend! We drove home Saturday night and my Mom came down the same night for a short visit. She painted Serena's room for me on Sunday, and on Monday we got a bunch of things done in preparation for Serena's arrival (along with some good old Mother-Daughter time, of course!). I'll be posting pictures of the nursery as soon as it's finished! Hopefully not too much longer! :D