Ankeny Summerfest

7/10 - Ankeny Summer- fest!! Good times. Spencer has fond memories of this parade and how they threw candy to us last year. He was totally prepared this year and was the first one to run out and pick up candy the instant it hit the ground.

7/10 - Firetrucks! The kids always love this part. The tractors, firetrucks, and police cars go by and the kids tell me all about each one.

7/10 - Amelia quickly came to under- stand the point of this whole parade. Here she is depos- iting her find into the bag.

7/10 - I love her excitement here. She was so jazzed about finding candy in the street. She kept showing me each time she'd pick one up and say "an-dee!"

7/10 - Sneaking little Meal-yah! She's eating a tootsie roll only she doesn't know how to take off a wrapper so she ate a lot of paper that day as she snuck various pieces of candy.

7/10 - My poor little Amelia forced to picking food off the street! Haha! She loved it and Aaron was there keeping a close eye on her to make sure she didn't get too far.

7/10 - It got pretty hot we were so excited when they threw ice pops! Too bad we didn't have any scissors. It really helped us cool off quickly.

7/10 - Proud Miya with her find. She did just like she has every year. The people throw candy, she goes and finds the best one, and only picks up that one. Then she go off and eat it while waiting for another one to her liking to appear. Smart little girl. Quality over quantity.

7/10 - Miya taking a break. She was bummed we didn't bring any chairs and wasn't up to sitting on the blanket. This curb was a good spot and just the right hight for a substitute chair.

7/10 - Alex slept though most of the parade but woke up hungry near the end. Amelia thinks it's her new job to feed him and she gave up candy hunting to lend a hand. It was funny though because each time they'd throw more candy she'd sigh like, "I can't believe I have to do this where there is candy to be had." Eventually she gave up and let me finish the job.

7/10 - After the kids went to bed I dumped out all our stuff and began to sort. It was quite the haul including coupons for free and discounted stuff, a Frisbee and blow up ball, and, of course, lots and lots of candy.

7/10 - This is my kind of food pyramid! Only the good stuff!