Its fair time again! We decided that tonight was going to be our only chance to get to this year's state fair so we packed up after work and headed out. We enjoyed to usual fair food (corn dogs and tiger ears!) and visited the many fun booths. Riley LOVED the petting zoo...
but he DIDN'T love the carosel...
benson took this cool pic
We went to Island Park on Friday night and spent Saturday just playing around in the dirt
Riley LOVES riding around in the ranger but both times we took him out he fell asleep :) The weekend forecast was calling for cold and rain so we came home on Saturday night.
Monday was spent indoors cleaning since it pretty much rained all day, but that evening we went to my parents for baby Samantha's blessing. Here is Grandma Jo and all her grandkids.
Riley always seems to find someone to play with
Cutie pie Samantha in her blessing dress
Family PicOkay, I know I'm getting worse about keeping up on my blog but this summer has been REALLY busy! Finally things are looking like they might be slowing down at work and I can concentrate on my long list of "after summer" to do's. I'm posting some new pics but there doesn't seem to be anything important in my life besides Riley right now cause he's all I ever photograph. :)
At the Smith Family Reunion in Albion this July, we didn't have any bathtubs so Ryan and Tess kindly let us borrow their "beer" (but only used for soda) tub. Riley thought it was pretty fun to bathe outside and it made for a classic photo.
Just happy as usual "helping" mom at work by clearing off all the shelves of merchandise and finding fun places to hide it.
I got a new camera and Riley was intently reading the direction booklet. I don't think he realizes I gave him the one in Spanish.
Well...as in everything else, Riley seems to be in a hurry to get places. It took him about two weeks to get his balance down (as you can see in the video...which was taken almost a month ago) and now he is tearing through the house like a track star. I turn around for 2 seconds and he's gone! Its so much fun but MAN what a nonstop workout! :)
Riley loves playing outside on the new lawn. He explores everything he can get his hands into. 
Happy Birthday Riley!!!
Opening presents was so much fun.
And Riley loved his birthday cake!
4th of July we BBQ'd at Grandma's
Riley played in his new wagon
On Saturday we went to Badger Creek for a staff reunion.
We hiked around, played by the creek, and visited old friends and classmates. Despite the heat and the mosquitoes, it was a fun day!Since we bought our house a few years ago, there has been an endless list of projects that we've worked on to make it our own...but one that has been bugging me for too long is our front yard. When we bought the house the entire yard was covered in concrete. Benson jackhammered it out over two years ago and this is what our house has looked like since...
Yuck. Can you say curb "un"appeal!! So I've whined and prodded and finally got my way. We put in some landscaping, Benson is building a wood porch up to the front door, and today we laid down fresh sod. I think the before and after pics say it all. I'm SO happy with the way things are looking and I can finally stop apologizing to the neighbors for the eye-sore that its been for the past 2 years!
Okay...I know that I've already done a post with Riley's funny camera faces...but these pictures just had to be seen! 
