On Labor Day we were in Sheldon and they had a big parade that we got to go to. 
I think I see a fire truck!!!!
The girls were ready with their candy bags.
Great-Grandma Smit and Grandpa-Smitty.
Simon was sleeping, but here are the rest of us cousins. And, Uncle Micah and Aunt Carolyn are having a BOY in January so Simon and I will be even on numbers with the girl cousins :0)
We were going to take a boat ride so they strapped on this ridiculous vest to supposedly make me safe. 
This is what I thought of it.
Finally they took that dreadful straight jacket off and I fell asleep for the rest of the boat ride. 
Sophie was unphased by her straight jacket and enjoyed the ride while sipping a cold one.
While I took a nap Mommy and Daddy went jet skiing. I might've been interested if it didn't involve the straight jacket.
September in Iowa means a whole different temperature than it does in Mississippi - I got a lot of use out of my jacket and pants - it was cold! But I got to go to the park several times and discover something new - stones! I never tried to put them in my mouth. I just sat and let them sift through my fingers over and over. 
All the galavanting is tiring. Daddy and Smitty needed a rest.
They weren't the only ones. 
I couldn't keep my eyes OPEN! But realistically, who COULD stay awake in a swing this comfortable?
I got to go on a tractor ride while Daddy drove it - what boy doesn't love riding on a red tractor!
Uncle Daniel with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Wagenaar
And what vacation is complete without a tastey treat? We stopped at the Prairie Queen for some ridiculously cheap bars, cookies, and pastries (80 cents for a 3 inch square bar!)
I got to see my first up-close-and-personal duck at mommy's Uncle John's farm. I kept a safe distance. 
This is the first time Mommy and her 3 brothers have all been together in almost 3 years. Mommy says Uncle Daniel looks so much like her daddy looked.
Uncle Micah likes to do 'artsy' shots. Here's Uncle Joel and Aunt Rachel in the corn field. Great-Grandma was petrified that one of the kids would wander into the corn field and get lost. She was always asking the adults if they knew where the kids were and admonishing them that if they wandered into the corn field they would be LOST.
I didn't have to worry about the corn field, though, becuase I was more interested in SWINGING, my new favorite activity.
I'm glad I'm a boy. Looking at my cousin Sophie here, being a girl looks like a lot of work.
They have the GREENEST grass in Iowa without all the weeds we have in my yard at home (Mommy says this is offensive to bring up the weeds in our yard - it's a bit of a sore spot with her.) 
I felt so at home in Orange City with windmills and wooden shoes everywhere. Mommy's 100% Dutch which makes me 50% Dutch. Daddy says Mommy's Dutchness is just a sham since she never lived in Holland, but it's fun to play like it matters :).
Rockclimbing - I must stay in shape since I don't have the chin-up bar like I do at home.
This is a big slide for a small boy - don't worry, I didn't really get to go down it. And if the truth be told I started crying mere seconds after this shot was taken.
Here I am on my first airplane ride to visit my great-grandparents in Iowa! I thought peaking over the plane seats was sooo fun. (too bad for the people that used them next, they got a hair-full of slobber :)). 
Here I am, ready for take-off. Mommy was really nervous about flying with me since Daddy wasn't with us, but I did SOOOO good! I didn't even cry or anything!
And Mommy gave me my sippy cup to play with which was double fun. I just got this sippy cup and it's my new prized possession. We miss you Daddy-O!
Today Mommy took me to the park where Daddy proposed to her almost 5 years ago. Look at me standing up :) - I pull up on everything I can get my hands on and can cruise around furniture now too. 
And here I am in a big boy swing. I wanted to go higher but I couldn't convince Momma.
The wood chips were a new sensation for me - I wasn't so sure about them but it was fun to explore.
And here's my friend Freeman swinging in a big boy swing too. He wasn't so sure about it but was a good sport.
And here we are together, just shooting the breeze and enjoying the day. (I'm enjoying it a little more than Freeman whose mommy forgot a hat and sunscreen for him :) - but Freeman was a good sport about that too)
Tony Horton, eat your heart out! I am FASCINATED by Mommy and Daddy's chin-up bar. 
Sometimes I sit on the floor and look wistfully at it wishing they'd hold me up there so I could get my work-out in.
It takes some concentration as you can see above, but I hold on SO TIGHT that once or twice Daddy has let me just hang there by myself (ready to catch me at any moment, don't worry) until Mommy scolds him because she's worried about me pulling my shoulder out of socket.
The best is when I get high enough to suck on the bar. Heavenly.
Recently Mommy and Daddy got to a new video on P90X where they had to do one-handed push-ups. I'm just showing them here that one-handed workouts are no biggie, and you can even smile while doing them.
I'm learning new things every day, and last week I learned finally how to get my whole body under the coffee table. The problem, as you can see, is that I'm not aware that my rear is hanging off the side, and this inevitably leads to a backwards fall unless I am rescued in time. It's a small price to pay for the accomplishment, though.
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