Fun in Iowa

Last week on Wednesday, we hopped in the car and headed southward to enjoy a long weekend in Iowa.  Grandpa Randy was going to be starting the construction on their new deck and Brian, never one to pass up the opportunity to work outside in hot weather, was ready to help.  As it turned out the weather was fairly agreeable and lots of progress was made on the deck.  

While the boys were busy working on the deck, the girls and I had our own adventures.  We went to Reiman Gardents, colored, went to a park with a college friend and met her little girl, spent time with Cousin Will and Aunt Amy, hung out with Aunt Katie, Uncle James and crew, Grandpa Dave and Grandma Lynn, and enjoyed some other great spots in Iowa such as Hickory Park and Great Plains.  

Below are some pictures from our adventure.  They are mostly from our trip to Reiman Gardens.  This was our first time there and we even got to check out the butterfly exhibit.  It was really hot, but it will still fun to see.  

Way to rock those sunglasses Claire!

These two play together so well!

"Let's go!" says Will!

Anna rockin' the sunglasses now!

Our little climber!

Anna decided it would be fun to roll down this hill.  Will thought it was fun to watch!

Checking out the lily pads with Grandma.

Run!

Here was the first steps into the butterflies.  It was HOT and HUMID in there.  Wow.  It was really awesome to see but almost too hot to enjoy the beautiful butterflies.

My distracted girls and me.  

After the fun of Reiman Gardens we cooled off with some coloring.  

And water.

Gosh she's cute!

The men worked on the deck.  

The girls looked cute while the men worked on the deck.  

Taking a break.

My big girl!

Smalls enjoying a chair just her size.  

"Bye cousin Will!"  HUGS!

Hugs almost always turn into pile ups.  

Funny Great-Grandma!

We had many other adventures, but these were the only ones captured on camera.  Anna and Claire had their first Hickory Park birthday experience when they sang to Grandma Lynn.  Everyone enjoyed some delicious ice cream.  We went on a shopping adventure in search of items for some craft projects we had planned.

Grandma Lynn helped me create this for the girls' bathroom project:

It was a fun project and looks really cute in their bathroom.  Now we just have to paint and put up the decor and they will be set.  

It was a nice long weekend in Iowa; of course it still seemed too short.  

This week we have already had a back to school day which was fun for the girl.  Today we will go to the library and see the Bug Guy and all of his bugs.  Lots of fun in store!