Okay, so are you ready for picture overload? I had to take a lot of pictures of Claire and Ethan for this blog because I don't get to see them very often and post pictures of them! I had a fabulous trip to Iowa in September, so now I can document the trip on this blog. First of all, when I left Arizona, the temperature was HOT - triple digits and by September, we're all very ready to be done with the hot weather. Iowa was BEAUTIFUL and most of the time the temperature was in the 70's. I wanted to be outside as much as possible to soak it in before going back to more hot weather.
I brought Claire and Ethan new puzzles and here they are putting them together. I actually had a little surprise for them each day I was there. It was fun for me and for them!
Here is Claire modeling her Halloween costume.
Ethan goes sooooo fast on this little bike - it's very amazing! When it got dark, Holly rigged Claire and Ethan's bikes with a flashlight on the handlebars and we went for a night ride (we walked and the kids rode). We couldn't keep up with them, but the kids were great at stopping at each corner to wait for us to catch up.
Claire is super fast on her scooter too.
Here's Holly. After Claire came home from school, we enjoyed sitting out on the front lawn. I meant to get a picture of Claire getting off the school bus - her bus stop is just past the mailbox in the background of this picture, so Claire doesn't have very far to go.
Claire is reading her book to Ethan and me.
Ethan decided it was time to mow the grass.
The first night I arrived, there were 2 events. The first one was Ethan's soccer game. He is on the sideline in this picture trying to decide if he wants to play. I begged and bribed him, but it was a no-go. However, he did play for a few minutes the next week - too bad I missed it!
The other event was Claire's fall festival at school. They had games, food and it gave me a chance to see Claire's desk and classroom.
The next night was free carousel ride night at the mall. So Holly and I each took a turn getting dizzy on the carousel. They have an ice skating rink in their mall and it just so happened that the Hawkeyes were playing a hockey game that night, so we got some dinner and watched the game.
Holly, Ethan and I were able to go eat school lunch with Claire. It was fun to see her at school - she is very obedient! They have a no talking rule in the halls, so she had to remind me a couple of times to be quiet.
We got to watch her play at lunch recess for a little while.
And then it was time to line up to go back to class. As soon as she heard the bell, she immediately ran over and got in line. She didn't want to be late.
After Claire got home from school, we went to Wilson's Apple Orchard. Claire, Ethan & I are enjoying some delicious apples. You can pick them and eat them for free. They also have delicious apple turnovers that they sell there. Ummmm. Delicious!
Holly, Claire and Ethan are ready with their basket to pick some apples.
They also sell pumpkins at the orchard. We couldn't resist the pumpkin picture!
There is a very quaint German town named Amana that is pretty close to Holly & Jeff's house. We spent a couple of hours walking through the shops and enjoying the atmosphere. It was a beautiful day. We missed Claire, but we were glad our little buddy, Ethan, was with us.
Speaking of Ethan, isn't this a cute picture of him with his bottle of root beer?
Later that afternoon, when Claire got home from school, Holly had a meeting, so I dropped her off at the meeting and the kids and I went to a park where I got some cute pictures of them.
........then we went to Claire's dance lessons and I was able to watch her dance through a very small crack in the curtains while we waited for her.
The next day while Claire was at school, we took Ethan to a gymnastics place that they open up to the public at lunch time.
Ethan had fun jumping in the foam pit, jumping on the trampoline, etc.
And then that night was Claire's soccer game. She did a great job at her game and is quite an agressive little player. I was proud of her.
The next morning it was time for me to go home. As you can see, it was a wonderful week. I just realized I didn't get one picture of Jeff. Sorry, Jeff! He was gone to a conference for the first couple of days I was there, and then he was home in the evenings, but my camera wasn't out much in the evenings. I had such a fun time and enjoyed Holly's good cooking, playing with Claire and Ethan, playing games with Holly & Jeff in the evening and everything else about being there. I decided September is definitely the month to visit Iowa!
I LOVE YOU, ETHAN!
I brought Claire and Ethan new puzzles and here they are putting them together. I actually had a little surprise for them each day I was there. It was fun for me and for them!
Here is Claire modeling her Halloween costume.
Ethan goes sooooo fast on this little bike - it's very amazing! When it got dark, Holly rigged Claire and Ethan's bikes with a flashlight on the handlebars and we went for a night ride (we walked and the kids rode). We couldn't keep up with them, but the kids were great at stopping at each corner to wait for us to catch up.
Claire is super fast on her scooter too.
Here's Holly. After Claire came home from school, we enjoyed sitting out on the front lawn. I meant to get a picture of Claire getting off the school bus - her bus stop is just past the mailbox in the background of this picture, so Claire doesn't have very far to go.
Claire is reading her book to Ethan and me.
Ethan decided it was time to mow the grass.
The first night I arrived, there were 2 events. The first one was Ethan's soccer game. He is on the sideline in this picture trying to decide if he wants to play. I begged and bribed him, but it was a no-go. However, he did play for a few minutes the next week - too bad I missed it!
The other event was Claire's fall festival at school. They had games, food and it gave me a chance to see Claire's desk and classroom.
The next night was free carousel ride night at the mall. So Holly and I each took a turn getting dizzy on the carousel. They have an ice skating rink in their mall and it just so happened that the Hawkeyes were playing a hockey game that night, so we got some dinner and watched the game.
We got to watch her play at lunch recess for a little while.
And then it was time to line up to go back to class. As soon as she heard the bell, she immediately ran over and got in line. She didn't want to be late.
After Claire got home from school, we went to Wilson's Apple Orchard. Claire, Ethan & I are enjoying some delicious apples. You can pick them and eat them for free. They also have delicious apple turnovers that they sell there. Ummmm. Delicious!
Holly, Claire and Ethan are ready with their basket to pick some apples.
They also sell pumpkins at the orchard. We couldn't resist the pumpkin picture!
There is a very quaint German town named Amana that is pretty close to Holly & Jeff's house. We spent a couple of hours walking through the shops and enjoying the atmosphere. It was a beautiful day. We missed Claire, but we were glad our little buddy, Ethan, was with us.
Speaking of Ethan, isn't this a cute picture of him with his bottle of root beer?
Later that afternoon, when Claire got home from school, Holly had a meeting, so I dropped her off at the meeting and the kids and I went to a park where I got some cute pictures of them.
........then we went to Claire's dance lessons and I was able to watch her dance through a very small crack in the curtains while we waited for her.
And then that night was Claire's soccer game. She did a great job at her game and is quite an agressive little player. I was proud of her.
