Iowa Trip

As promised here are some pictures of our trip to Iowa. It was a very busy couple days with trips to Dows and Newton. We first drove to my parents house and I do have to say the trip up went very well. The kids did a fantastic job riding in the car. This was our first trip with me driving completely solo and it went well. We stopped a few times for lunch and potty breaks. It was late afternoon when we arrived at my parents house. Thursday morning I had a hair appointment and then we drove up to Dows for Corn Days. Aunt Heather, Gavin and Cali all arrived on Friday just before the festivities started. Grisham and Genevieve were excited to go play at the park. There was a giant blow up maze and a water balloon launcher. Friday evening was spent playing on these two contraptions. Saturday morning we walked down town for the pancake breakfast. The parade was a couple hrs later. I think the parade was the best part of Corn Days for the kids. They walked away with an entire bag of candy. Around noon we went back up to the park to enjoy more festivities. Later that afternoon we said goodbye to grandma and grandpa Hinze and drove back down to Des Moines for Bailey and Jenna's birthday party. My brother and his wife rented out the Newton public pool for the party. The pool was amazing. So kid friendly. Auntie Sarah was brave enough to get into the water with the kids. It was just too cold for me. So I stayed in the shallow end with Carolyn. It had been a very busy couple of days and the kids were tired before the party was over. So after cake we said goodbye and drove back to my parents house. Notice a theme here. Lots and lots of driving. We were planning on driving back to Chester on Sunday so I needed a good nights rest to do so. Sunday morning we woke up refreshed and ready to go home and see Daddy. We made even better time driving home. All three kids fell asleep after our stop for lunch and did not wake up until we were less than an hr from home. It was so good to be home and I think that Scott really missed us. I am loving the fact that we can take a long weekend now and drive up to Iowa to see family. It is so nice being close to home.This was probably my last long distance trip out of town before the baby is born. I will probably go back up when my sister in law Traci has her baby late October. Scott's parents and sister will be coming down for the Popeye picnic in a couple weeks. We are looking forward to having more family in our lives.