State Fair

I went with Gran and daddy to the State Fair last week!  Here's the pictures from the trip.

I helped gas up the car before we left Iowa City for Des Moines!

This is "Tiny" the fair's "big pig".  He is over 1100 lbs!

I rode many rides, including these bumper boats

Thanks, Daddy for taking me to the fair!

Seeing the baby pigs and getting my face painted (its a peace sign made to look like a flower) were my favorite parts.  We saw pigs that were only 6 hours old and a calf that was born right when we arrived at the Fair!

This was my favorite ride- the "lollipop swings".  Look for me with the blond hair and brown shirt!

Great Picture from Gran's Pirate Camp!

Me and my cousins hanging out at Gran's house in Bellefonte

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

On Friday, July 29th, summer school let out for our summer vacation.  Daddy could only take off work for a part of it, but we had plenty of fun anyway!  And I spent the last week of it with my cousins in Pennsylvania!  Here's some photos:

On the first day of vacation, RAGBRAI rolled into Coralville.  On the last overnight stop of the 7 day cross-state bike ride, the park was filled with food tents, games, and this lovable cow from Cick-Fil-A!

I found the bouncy house and the inflatable slide and I rode it again and again.  And again. And again.  (for about an hour!)

It got pretty hot the next week, keeping us from working in the garden.  I am not sure why the weather people labeled a heat index of 115 as "Fair" weather!  This is a screenshot from daddy's iPhone.

On Wednesday, August 3rd, daddy and I drove to Indianapolis, IN.  We stopped for bathroom break and directions in Galesburg, IL.  They were very nice and gave me a cool coloring book.  They also had a REALLY big chair outside!

Daddy went to Indiana to attend the Gen Con gaming convention.  It looks really fun and he promised I could join him next time.  YAY!  Outside the convention hall, I posed in front a statue of Drizzt Do'Urden with Gran.  Drizzt, as everyone knows, is the famous twin sword wielding Drow- ranger created by author RA Salvatore.  Trivia question: what are the names of his swords?  His panther animal companion?*

After a long day of travel and a thrilling day walking around Indianapolis, I fell asleep pretty quick!

The next day, I said goodbye to daddy and got in the car with Gran and Ada for the drive to State College, PA!  Although long, it was an uneventful drive that I spent playing with Gran or watching a movie on my DVD player!

Blue tongue is a serious disease of cattle.  I dont have that!  But I did enjoy the change of tone from eating blue frosting!

Gran's garden is gorgeous!  And it is full of produce!  Take a quick look at all the tomatoes I have, because I will eat them up within a few minutes!

Trivia: His swords are called Icingdeath and Twinkle.  The panther is Guenhwyvar!

Reagan's Party: A Wet Field of Dreams

My best friend Reagan had her party at the baseball park in Cedar Rapids yesterday.  There was a thunderstorm and downpour when it was supposed to start, so we got moved inside into one of the suites overlooking the field.  We went on a scavenger hunt amomg the team's memorbilia, spun a wheel to win prizes, met the mascot (Mr Shucks!), and tried out the batting cages.  Overall, it was fun!  I can't wait for my next birthday so I can return the favor.

 Mr Shucks!

I can hit the bar really far!

The Highwayman

I have a new favorite book: The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.  Daddy found a nice watercolor illustrated version at the library.  At bedtime, he read it while we listened to Loreena McKemmit's sung version.  I was captivated by the imagery, the drauma, and McKemmit's haunting imagery.  The Highwayman is like a pirate and Bess the Lanlord's daughter is like a princess, so the story fits my genre well. 

Here's the whole poem: The Highwayman and here's McKemmit's song:

I was so impressed by the book and the song I asked to keep the book in bed to read again.  I fell asleep clutching it like a teddy bear!  The next night, the same thing.  And again the night after that!

On Sunday, daddy and I were playing Legos downstairs in my playroom when I had a cool idea: we could make scenes from the poem in Lego!  Here's some pictures:

 "They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride."

 "She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!

She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!"

 

"He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,

A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky. "

And here's some random cute Denali photos:

Gymnastics Videos

In June I attended a week-long "Pirate and Princeess" gymnastics camp.  Although the princess stuff was for girls and the pirate stuff was for boys, everyone knows that I am a Pirate Princess and I happily enjoyed all aspects of the camp!

Here is a video from the camp with the teacher explaining the course.  Daddy is tried to get a video of me doing the course loaded but the file was too big!

Summer Friends

Hello!  It has been a great month back in Iowa City.  The weather is warm, its finally stopped raining, and we are going out every day to play with friends and family.  Here's me on Grammie's couch with daddy and Camryn!

Like my outfit?  Like most days I pick it myself.  Mommy and daddy tell me I have a very good fashion sense. 

To replace the old foam chair I had in my room, mommy got me this giant bean bag!  It was so comfy I slept in it the whole night and daddy found me in the morning like this!  I like to lie in it at night and gaze out the window at the fairies in the forest (fireflies)

Before ballet last week, I met up with Alex at the farmer's market.  We ran around like screaming meanies the whole time.  What fun!

Ballet classes re-started for the summer and I am taking it with Catie I and a new friend, Allison.  Daddy works at the hospital with Allison's mom.  Now I am in the big girl class- parents are "asked" to wait outside!

Boppy sent me the is "painting" she created on her iPad from an Alisal photo.  Technology makes Boppy a pretty good artist!