Since Brett has this summer off, and it might be his last, we took a family trip to Iowa to see Tracy, Phil, Ryan and David. We were able to spend a whole 2 weeks with them, but it still felt like no time at all. I want to go back already.
While we were there we had many... lets just say experiences. It was what I would have to say storm season in Iowa and as most of you have heard, the state pretty much flooded. There were places that were hit pretty badly, but fortunately Tracy and Phil's wasn't really affected by the storms.
At night we had some
awesome lightning storms with the
occasional thunder rumbling in the background. Luckily for us, the storms usually hit while we were in bed and went away during the day so we could play outside.
This is supposed to be a corn field!
We got the garden turned over for Tracy so she could start to plant her fruits and veggies. (Just to let you know, Iowa dirt is not like
Washington dirt. While in WA you have sand/dirt that is really easy to turn even if it is wet, in Iowa you can forget about turning dirt if it has rained within the last 24 hours.) It took Brett, Tracy and myself a good 4 days to turn over their garden. I don't know how big it is, but it was a lot of work. I am really glad that we could help with that. Oh and Tracy....don't move your garden again next year. LEAVE IT!!!
Since it is a widely known fact that toads like moist weather with puddles to play in, and boys like toads, you can imagine the fun Ryan had with the toads around their house. He carried this poor toad around for a good hour and a half jumping over things and rolling around on the ground saying "Isn't this fun toad?" after everything he did. Oh if only that poor toad could talk.
Ok, since I have more things to post while Chloe is sleeping, I will summarize the rest of our trip.
We celebrated Phil's birthday with a trip to the local pool, dinner at Hickory Park and had a surprise cake and ice cream celebration at a friends house. We took a trip to the
Amana Colonies and barely made it out before a major storm hit and would have flooded us in. We did some shopping trips, showing Brett that there really is civilization out in Iowa. Ate breakfast with the locals at the Monday community breakfast in a neighboring town.
And the most important thing we did while we were in Iowa....we spent time with our family. Game night pretty much every night and I would like to brag that us girls kicked butt at pinochle. We watched movies, ate wonderful meals, and watched the kids play together.
It was such a wonderful time and I can't wait to go back.