Garage Sales and the State Fair!

I've been a lazy blogger this past week. My apologies for that. The final weeks of summer are jam-packed with fun activities and I have been ignoring the keyboard lately.

So here's a quick recap of recent events:

• Hwy 141 Garage Sales -- What a fun day! Shawn, Mazy, Mom and I had a really, really great time looking for bargains, buying junk and exploring some new western Iowa rural communities. I took some photos and will get them up this week. Templeton, Iowa, was especially a nice little town and we had a lot of fun in it. We all found some great buys, but Mazy was definitely the biggest shopper of the day followed very closely by his Grandma Katy!
• Quiet weekend -- Special thanks to Shawn for doing so much work this weekend. He did a lot of laundry, shopping and hauling people around. And I appreciated it!
• Sunday morning walk -- We have a new fitness initiative at work and it's motivated me to start exercising again. I walked for a half-hour Sunday morning and then came back for Mazy and Bo and walked down to the park with them. They had the playground to themselves and we really enjoyed the beautiful weather. 
• Sunday supper in Nevada -- Last night we were in Nevada to see Shawn's Uncle Keith who was visiting from Florida. He's a neat guy and it was fun to see all the family. The boys played and played cousins Peyton and Sam and had a great time.

And the fun times continue this week and next:

• Iowa State Fair! -- For the past 10 years or so, my mom, sister, aunt and I have gone to the Iowa State Fair on the first Friday for a day of food, fun and sight-seeing. As a sign of our changing lifestyles, we are now taking the four oldest grandchildren to the fair on Thursday -- opening day. I'm really looking forward to it. The weather is just AWESOME this week. Seriously, it could not be any better for the fair. 
• Cousin Camp on Friday -- I have to work, but Mom and Heidi are organizing the annual Cousin Camp at the farm on Friday. Shawn and I will go out after work to have supper and end the day with fireworks! 
• Annual Hanson Sweet Corn Feed -- Saturday is the annual Hanson family sweet corn feed in Nevada. Shawn's family invites about 200 people to his parent's house to feast on sweet corn, ring bologna and potluck side dishes and desserts. With this cool weather, it is sure to be a fun time for all!
• Vacation days next Monday and Tuesday -- And then to celebrate the final few days of summer vacation with Mazy, I'm taking a couple vacation days so the boys and I can have some fun. We'll take Bo to the State Fair on Monday night for a few hours. Not sure what we'll do on Tuesday, I was toying with the idea of the Boone train. But I might also save that for Mazy's fall break in October. 

Whew! That's the plan. Now it's time to get back to work!