July Family Outings!

On the rare nice Saturdays in July, aka the ones where it wasn't 100+ degrees, we did some family activities with the girls! Our first outing was our annual trip to the Des Moines Farmer's Market. 

Bella enjoyed taking a ride on Daddy while waiting in line for a balloon animal.

Gracie enjoyed watching her crazy sister. :)

We were standing near a band playing music, so naturally Bella took it upon herself to show off some fantastic dance moves.

And here she is with the kitty that we waited about half an hour for! :) Good thing it was free!
Our next family day was a trip to Adventureland! Bella was very excited for this outing and talked about all the rides she was going to go on for days in advance- even though I doubt she remembers much her last trip to Adventureland. :)

First stop- the carousel!

Gracie took her first carousel ride as well- and her first and last ride of the day. :) She wasn't quite sure what to think of it, and had a death grip on my shirt the entire time.

This year, Bella was big enough to go on the Frog Hopper- and she absolutely loved it! The first time, she was a little hesitant so Mommy rode with her.

She then immediately wanted to go again, so Daddy took a turn! This was quite amusing to watch as Bella screamed continually the entire time. :) Such a girl! 

Gracie got pushed around in an attempt to help her fall asleep. :) Which eventually worked, but it took awhile! Mommy had to stay out of her eyesight; otherwise every time she saw me she would start crying and want me to hold her. 

Bella enjoyed plowing around in a big truck- she actually wanted the little pink motorcycles right behind her, but those were already taken. 

Though you cannot see, Bella and Mommy are riding on that purple balloon.  Daddy apparently didn't want to use zoom on the camera! 

The ladybugs were another favorite of Bella! Can't wait until next year when there are two little girls riding in there together. :)

She also enjoyed the boat ride- mainly because the worker gave everybody a high five as they floated by.

Bella loved that. :)

Giving the tall giraffe a nice little hug.

Going on the chuckwagon with Daddy!

And there is Gracie! Contrary to how these pictures seem, she was most definitely NOT in her stroller the majority of the day. Apparently Grace also has the gene of not liking to be confined in car seats or strollers, just as her big sister did.

Daddy and Bella going up a water slide ride!

This ride did not go so well- Daddy said Bella was quite terrified on it as it spinned her around pretty fast. However, she was able to look back on it positively because she told me that she liked it!

And of course, before we left, Bella had to take a couple more rides on the Frog Hopper. Even brave enough to go by herself these next times!

The day we went was actually pretty cool, so Adventureland was quite packed- even on the kiddie rides! So we had to do quite a bit of waiting, which was obviously tough for a 3 year old. :) But Bella handled it pretty well!

Spinning on the tea cups with Mommy!

And before we went home, we took one last ride on the carousel- this time sitting on the sleigh, which Grace enjoyed much more. :)