We're embracing our agriculture roots here in Iowa. Last week Edward and Daniel helped me plant two tomato plants. On Saturday we all attended the Johnson County AgFest at our county fairgrounds. We're feeling very earthy these days.

The boys had already had lots of practice with digging, as there are several untended areas of our yard that I've let them use their plastic garden/sand tools in. I actually had plans to transplant various hostas from random places around the yard into an empty space next to the porch, but that has become a favorite digging spot, so I'll probably let it go for now. Maybe next year.

The tomatoes are an experiment because we don't have an ideal planting spot as I did in our old house. The two plants are in two different spots--one that probably gets too much water (low spot in the yard) and the other that might not get enough sun. We'll see if they can thrive in either spot and let that guide future planting. Also, the soil here has a high clay content, whereas the old house had rich, black, dirt. So we'll see. I'm hoping for at least a few tasty morsels in the heat of August. Basil will eventually go in as well, but lack of time and lots of rain last week has delayed further planting.

The AgFest was kind of a mini-county-fair with emphasis on kid-friendly activities. There were animals to pet, balloon animals to wear, a merry-go-round to ride and lots to eat! The calf Edward is petting here was just born May 1. It's amazing how resilient animals are--think of how helpless a four-week-old human is!

They had baby chicks, ducks and turkeys for the kids to look at and for older kids or adults to hold. You'll note that it was John who did the livestock handling. I've also cropped a bit tighter than I might have otherwise, but Grandma Kenyon was in this picture and she doesn't do PDP (public display of photography.)

This was a very small merry-go-round, and after one jaunt with Dad, we thought Daniel could probably handle it on his own. I worried that he might try to get down from the horse, but the ride operator was aware of this potential and ready to stop if necessary. He actually did very well as you can see from this casual pose.

And of course, no Iowa farm experience is complete without an American Gothic parody. This just cracks me up.

Speaking of which, Edward scored the blooper of the day when he got tired of high-fiving the bear mascots from a local bank and went around to pull on one of the tails. He peeked around while holding the tail and asked, "Hey, how does he poop?" These are the important questions of our time.

Daniel has been enjoying exploring the backyard with all of his senses, including taste. He is especially fond of this bubble container, which I love because it is spill proof. However, it has recently become a water container since Daniel's idea of "blowing bubbles" is to take the wand from the cup, blow on it, and then when nothing happens, stick it in his mouth. Since he doesn't know the difference, we figured, water was probably a better idea. He also likes to dip the wand in his various dirt piles before putting it in his mouth so a dip in the water helps with that as well. Let it never be said that my kids live a pristine existence.