Our trip to Iowa

We made it safe and sound all the way to Iowa and home again. And it was a really great trip. Andrew had a preschool field trip a week ago Friday morning to the Garden's to see the butterflies. AJ and myself packed up and met him there, so we could hit the road immediately.

The drive down went SO smooth. I am so thankful. The boys did amazing. And while they didn't nap nearly as long as I hoped, they didn't whine or complain and no one got sick. They even played nicely with their cereal box racetracks and homemade sock puppets when I couldn't get the movie player working. Praise God, though, it did finally work the last couple hours of the trip.

Grandma and Grandpa were so pleased to see us and the boys were thrilled to see them. Saturday was a busy day. We got up and went the the Art Museum to see the original "American Gothic" by Grant Wood. It was interesting to see and the boys did alright considering the line and the fact that we were in an art museum and not a playground. We eventually found a few blocks & books for them to play with along with a few painting with trains in them. That helped.

After a lunch at a McDonald's playland, they were taken to the store so each boy could pick out a birthday toy. Andrew chose a plastic bow & suction cup arrow set and AJ a tractor-trailer toy. Once home, it was time for quick naps before G&G took us to their gym. There was a whole section for kids including kid-size workout machines, ping pong tables, video games hooked to stationary bikes, dance-dance-revolution, etc... We played for quite a while before we went swimming. We ended the evening roasting marshmallows in the fireplace and reading stories.

Every night we were there the boys got to pick two Bible stories that Grandma or Grandpa would read to them... but they would have to finish reading time with "The Little Red Caboose". (Or "Caboost" according to AJ.)

On Sunday we went to church in the morning before heading up north to visit Great Grandma & Grandpa. We ate pizza, celebrated birthdays with cake and visited for a while before heading home for some down time the rest of the evening.

Monday, both G&G had to work, so we took our time in the morning. We played outside and even hit a playground before heading to visit Grandma at work to eat lunch with her. On the way home, I took to boy to the Des Moines Botanical Center. We were able to get in free with our Garden's Reciprocal Membership. It was small, but a nice place to visit and walk around.

Again it was quick naps and then we were taken to Spaghetti works for dinner (where I left my coat.) Grandpa had Tom & Jerry DVD's, so the boys got to laugh at those before storytime when we got home.

Grandma took Tuesday off work. She spoiled us by buying the boys some undershirts, summer sandals & diapers (due to my poor planning). We then, again (due to some heavy begging from Andrew) hit the gym. We played for a quite a while before swimming again. I've got little fish for boys.

It was home for super quick naps and we were off to pick up the coat I left at dinner the night before and visit the Science Center of Iowa. It was really cool!! I loved it. We shot homemade rockets, and tried to drop eggs without breaking them, raced Lego cars, watched stars, and even made an arch. Unfortunately, little did I know that my cell phone fell out of my pocket while I was there.

We hit Perkins for dinner then the mall. They were having a kid day... with train rides, bounce houses, face painting, etc... The boys loved the train ride since they got to sit in the caboose (although it was green instead of red). During their storytime that night, I packed up all our gear.

Wednesday morning, we finished packing up and hit the road. We had to swing by downtown to pick up my cell phone from the Science Center and then stop at WalMart to replace broken headphones for the DVD player, but we finally hit the road to come home.

The drive home wasn't quite as smooth as we had minor hiccups in Davenport and heavier traffic in Chicago. But truly, I can not complain. We were safe and the boys did a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Seriously, I am so proud of their behavior during the drive.

I know the kids were up late and then up again early with little naps (and it showed on occasion), but they loved being there (and often snuck in G&G's bed at night). It was a really nice visit and great to see them and great Grandma & Grandpa. Thanks for the great time!!