Iowa Summer Vacation

We've just returned from visiting Gramma, Papa and the rest of the family in Iowa and we had a fantastic time.  We crammed so many fun things into the few days we were there and you had so, so, so much fun playing with your cousins!  We decided to drive because airfare was so expensive and while you handled the 13-hour drive (each way) well, it stinks that it consumes 4 of our vacation days.

Pictures Clockwise from Left: Several times during the drive you wanted me to sit in the back with you and hold my hand while we watched movies; good sleeping in the car; ready for the hotel pool!; you still love to play with the hotel phone;  you loved the lap desk at the Hampton Inn.

Your cousin, Addison, had a tumbling performance at the Iowa State Fair, so we timed our trip so that we could stop and see her perform…plus it had been years since I had been to the fair and I thought you would enjoy it.  And, because we were in Des Moines, I got to see my old college roommate, Amy and her family as well as another good college friend, Julie.  It's so seldom that we get to see each other and even though it was only a short visit, it was so great to see them!

At the fair we got to see the butter cow, the 1200 lb pig named Peabody, a 25-foot replica of American Gothic, and you got to go through the Little Hands on the Farm where you got to pretend to feed pigs, pick vegetables from the garden, pick apples off the trees, feed cattle, put gas in the tractor, milk a cow, and buy something from the country store (you selected fruit snacks).  Addison did great on her performance - you loved watching all of the tumbling and kept asking when it was going to be your turn - you wanted to show off your somersault skills!  The fair was a lot of fun even though we only got to see about a quarter of it!

Fun at Little Hands on the Farm

We squeezed so much fun into the 3.5 days we were in Okoboji.  We went on several boat rides, celebrated Camden's 1st birthday, played on the Maui Mat, went to the amusement park, played at the beach, went tubing, rode around the farm on the golf cart, rode in the combine, ate Taco House…twice (yum!) and stayed up way too late.

Happy 1st Birthday, Cam!

Clockwise from left: playing "Simon Says" with Papa; riding the train; you loved the roller coaster.

Gramma set up a "big girl bed" for you to nap on.  This is how we found you after most naps.

Juli had asked me to take some family pictures for them, so we arranged a mini photo shoot.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, so we got as many pictures as we could in between thunderstorms.  Thanks to Juli for snapping the photos of us!

L: Thunderstorm rolling through; R: calm after the storm - nothing beats an Okoboji sunset!

It was so much fun and is always hard to say goodbye.  I think this time was especially hard for you (and me) - you were so sad to leave.  We are already looking forward to our next trip home for Christmas.