Hudsen's new pet

Hudsen is fascinated with snakes. Not the big scary type but the little snakes that some people call worms :) Recently he found one and decided he needed to build the "snake" a snake house. For now Amen Blueberries (yes that is what Hudsen named his "snake") lives on the deck and is not allowed to come inside no matter how many times Hudsen asked if he can sleep in his room. The answer is always NO! :)

ISU tailgating

Saturday was the first tailgating of the season for our family. The kids both had fun! Below are a few pictures from the day.


The future Cyclones! Hudsen and Payton have so much fun together. They truly are best friends.

These 2 cuties have fun together too. Eleanor and Grace had a few chips and "played" bags at the tailgate.

Grandma Kim and the kids had fun playing together

Grandpa Dave and Eleanor just relaxing at the tailgate.

Dad and Eleanor had some relaxing time together too :)

We went to visit Jeff and Lina at their tent and on the way back we took these pics with the stadium in the background.

We had all had a great time at the tailgate with family and friends. So grateful that we get to have these great family memories!

Hide n seek

This is one of the favorite pass times for Eleanor, Hudsen, Charley and Mom on a cloudy afternoon.

Eleanor's favorite place to hide is in the fort of blankets.

Hudsen's favorite place to hide is in the ottoman.

Mom and Charley's favorite place to hide is by the dishwasher. (this is the least creative of all the places :)

A trip to the dentist

Who doesn't love going to the dentist? Growing up going to the dentist was a good memory for me. It wasn't being at the dentist that I looked forward to but that my Grandpa Tindall would be the one that drove me to the dentist and I would get a treat afterwards. The visit was never that fun as I always seemed to need to have a tooth pulled or a cavity filled. I never knew anyone who actually enjoyed going to the dentist until yesterday.

I wish I could have bottled up the excitement Hudsen had yesterday to see the dentist. There was pure joy on his face when he walked back to the room with the dental assistant. Then when Dr. Nick walked in the room, Hudsen screamed "Dr. Nick I'm so excited to see you" and ran to him to give him a hug. Dr. Nick said that Hudsen had made his day. Eleanor did great watching her brother at the appointment. She clapped for Hudsen for most of the time. The appointment was a huge success.

After the appointment we went to the park with Aunt Morgan and Isabella. All the kids had fun and it was nice for the moms to talk too. Then Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lina came over for dinner. A very busy and fun Tuesday!

Iowa's Oldest Labor Day Celebration

For Labor day this year, the Hummel's decided it was time to go back to Graettinger for Iowa's oldest labor day celebration! This would be the first time for Eleanor to go back for the celebration and the first time that Hudsen could actually join in on some of the fun. We packed our bags and headed out Saturday morning. The trip was great. Eleanor slept for some of the time and looked out the window when she wasn't sleeping. Hudsen colored for almost the whole trip. We did have to stop in Emmetsburg to use the bathroom (about 10 minutes away from my parent's house but when a 3 year old needs to go, he needs to go!).

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lina were already at Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary's. We decided to head in to Graettinger and watch a little bit of the bags tournament with Hudsen while Eleanor took a nap. It was great weather!

That night the kids stayed with Gma and Gpa while the adults went into Graettinger for the street dance. It was fun to catch up with everyone and do a little dancing.

On Sunday we all went to church as a family. The kids did great during church. Eleanor had to get up and walk around a little bit with Dad but they were able to find some old pictures of Mom that were up at the church that kept them busy :) We then went to the Fireman's breakfast. While Eleanor took her nap that day, Hudsen, Jeff, Lina, Gma Pat, and Mom went into town to the carnival and to see the animals.

Hudsen won a big bat at the games and had a great time going down the slide with Uncle Jeff.

There was also plenty of time for adventures on the farm. Uncle Jeff and Hudsen went in search of a beaver dam on the creek. They also found a turtle shell. Hudsen was pretty excited about the turtle shell.

Eleanor had her own adventure while on the farm. She spent some time exploring in the front yard and near the corn. She liked having all the free area to run around and the new dirt to put in her mouth :) Her and Charley had a good time just running around.

On Monday morning, Dad, Jeff and Gma Pat were preparing to run the 5k. Gpa Gary and Hudsen sat at one of the corners to point the runners in the right direction. Hudsen loved doing this and Dad thought it was pretty cool to see Hudsen as he was running the race. Dad finished in 21:32 and Jeff finished in 25:38 with Gma Pat right beside him at 25:39. They all did great and got medals. Dad finished 2nd overall and 1st in his age division for males. Jeff finished 3rd in his age division and Gma Pat finished 1st in her age division. We were all very proud of all of them!

The labor day celebration was great! Hudsen and Eleanor are both ready to go back again next year while Mom and Dad could still use a few days of rest before thinking about next year :)