Unplanned remodel 2010

No, this is not a landfill. It's my living room. Actually, it's most of my basement transplanted to my living room. Why have the contents of my basement been removed and rearranged upstairs in the most unorganized of ways??? Here's why...

We had what some may call a "water problem," which then turned into a "mold problem," which then required us (well, professionals) to gut the basement, fix it, then rebuild it.

We now have an impenetrable moat around the perimeter of the basement, so this problem never happens again. Until then, we're living in tight quarters.

I promise we really went to the lake...

Just to prove that we did actually go to the lake....

Maybe we'll come on a weekend with better boating weather next time!

Kiki's Karate

While we were in TN Kiki had a big performance. Her tai kwon do instructor (yeah, it's not really karate, but the title was catchy) asked her to demonstrate her skills at the Henry County Health Fair. Unfortunately my attention span, or lack thereof, got the best of me, and I didn't get to see all of it.

Here she is warming up. As you can see, all of the Henry County officials wore their Sunday best for the big occasion.

For her finale, Caroline broke a wooden board with her foot!! Yes, you read that right. Mommy didn't believe it until she saw it either.

Just a split second after this picture was taken, the board was toast. Way to go Kiki!!

Visit with the Tennessee Kenworthy's

Mommy, Daddy and I took a weekend trip down to the city of love - Paris, TN - to see my favorite cousin east of the Mississippi, Kiki.

She showed me a good time, as always. We started things off with a little Jeepin', Barbie style.

We had to stop mid-way through the ride, though, so Caroline could take care of some mechanical issues.

When in Rome (or Paris)...

Now THIS is what I'm talking about. It's a good think neither Kiki nor I could reach the gas pedal!

Boys will be boys!

I opened my front door this morning, only to be greeted by this lovely surprise. Apparently, my neighbor Fran's having some sewer troubles that require a lot of heavy equipment to fix. Being the little boy I am, I was delighted to witness a real live backhoe (I informed Mommy that that is what this large machine is called) going to work right in front of my house.

So this is what went on for the next 45 minutes...

Lilah's First Birthday Party

After the State Fair, we packed up and headed to the Haute to celebrate my friend Lilah's first birthday.

She had all sorts of fun stuff for us to do, including fishing.

However, I, taking after my Daddy, chose to observe and play with cars instead. I'm just not down with all of that slime.

We also got to paint a horse (yes, a real horse*).

*Dear PETA, we used non-toxic Crayola paint, and no animals were harmed in this activity. So please don't start protesting on my front lawn.

Mine is the little red handprint on the left.

Seeeeeeeeee!

Happy birthday Lilah!

State Fair 2010

Since the weather in Indiana has been miserably hot, Mom, Dad, and I were unsure of whether we'd find a good day to go to the State Fair this year. However, luck was on our side, and we decided to take advantage of the cool(er) weather on the last weekend of the fair.

We started and ended the day with animals. Mom loves this part because she gets to see how much I've changed from year to year. The first year (http://keepingupwiththekenworthys.blogspot.com/2008/08/first-visit-to-state-fair.html) I pretty much just hung out and took it all in, which is about as much as can be expected from a 4-month-old. Then last year (http://keepingupwiththekenworthys.blogspot.com/2009/08/mommy-daddy-and-i-went-to-indiana-state.html) I was walking around on my own and knew most of the animal sounds and a few names. This year I knew all of the animals and was very into everything.

Some of the the animals I saw included sheep (or "seep" if you're two).

And cows. We also saw lots of BIG draft horses, some stinky, fat pigs, and dogs in a dog show; however, mom thought it was best not to bore my readers with pages upon pages of pictures of them.

After looking at the animals, we did the maze for kiddos like me. You had to pretend to be a farmer for a day, and I was exceptionally good. This year's experience was drastically different from the chaos of last year, where I was not wanting to participate.

First, I had to collect eggs and other items for my basket.

Then I had to feed the cows and pigs.

Next up was a tractor ride (take note that my legs still were too short to reach the pedals, but I guess that's to be expected looking at my half-pint mother).

My last chore was to milk the cows. I liked this part.

At the end I delivered all of the farm goods that I had "harvested" to the market.

I got some "money" for all of my hard work and used it to buy a bag of pretzels, which I was very proud of.

Of course, no trip to the State Fair is complete without a stop at the midway. This was the first year that I was able to ride any rides. Unfortunately, my relationship with them started off on the wrong foot.

I chose to ride this seemingly harmless baloon ride, which ended up going a little higher and a lot faster than I would have preferred (can you see the fear in my eyes?). Daddy had to ask the operator to stop it before my time was up.

Thankfully, I found something that was a little more my speed.


Mommy even got brave enough to ride the convoy with me. I was so proud of her.

Until next year fair!