Iowa finish

Here are some of the last pictures from our trip.  We didn't take a lot, and I realized we didn't get one of all the adults together.  Oh well.

Brian gave Isaac a bike ride.  Isaac loved it, although said he got a little scared on the turns.  He said it was better when he closed his eyes.

Saturday we went to a street fair and the boys got a ton of loot, including a balloon animal.  This is Joshua with his three bears.

Isaac made several machines out of a new type of block.

We found a place on the river to play Sunday night.  The kids had a great time.

Brian read a few books/devotions to the kids.

We also went to the aquatic center Monday before we left.  Isaac went down a large water slide...I was rather surprised at this since he usually doesn't go down any water slides.  I tried to catch him, but they let two people go at once and the other child was in the middle.  I got to him quickly though.  The look on his face as he was going down was sheer terror, and he was shaking when I got him.  I just told him how brave he was...I really thought he'd go back down the steps.  Anyway, we went to the lazy river next and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy that.

Thursday: could have gone better.

We got on each others' nerves today.  I don't think we've had this many tears/yelling in quite a while.

While there were a variety of things that we didn't agree about today, one of the problems was that we had a zillion spills in the last 24 hours.  I only lost my cool during one, which tipped over a glass of tasty water onto the Ipad.  This is tasty water from some crazy process that Isaac and Joshua were doing and was very potent and was rather hard to clean up.  I dumped a bunch down the drain in a frenzy and that caused crying.  Semi-justified crying I suppose, but I was so sick of cleaning up spills.  Needless to say, there is a new rule...it either needs a lid or needs to be in the fridge.  This wouldn't have helped most of the spills today, but maybe my counter won't be so cluttered with water cups.

We also had the following conversation.
A: who drew on the wall?  (I didn't lose my cool with this one as I knew the marker in the bathroom would be easily removed.)
Isaac: oh, that was me.
A: why didn't you clean it up?
I: because it was pretty.
A: no more drawing on walls.

In good news we went on a boat ride and had some donuts.  Ben will be home later tonight.  And tomorrow is a new day.

Wednesday: life

Flurry has been rather cuddly.  She misses Ben and I'm the second best.

I added a second handle to the screen door.  I was sick of Joshua not being able to reach the handle.  I saw Isaac using it too...it's probably easier to reach.

It was a great day for laundry.  I actually got the first load out in the early morning, and everything had dried by the time we got back from our errands.  I also got a removable one for the deck, so that I can put some laundry in the sun in the afternoon.  It is also short enough for Isaac to be able to help.

We

Tuesday: home

We're home!  I hope to get pictures from the final few days up shortly.

We left Monday night and the trip home went very well.  I did a few stops on exit ramps to arrange this or that, but it was easy to quickly get back on the highway.  Chicago was so easy to get through, along with Indiana.  There was some construction in Indiana that looked like it could be a nightmare, but I breezed right through it.

My goal had been to get through Chicago and the three lane highway.  I was still doing well, so we went all the way home.  (Isaac really wanted a hotel.  At all the gas stops he pointed them out to me.)  I was rather buzzed though; I had been a bit nervous about driving so long with two little boys.  I did a few email things and went to bed because it was super late, but it still took me a while to get to sleep.

Today I had planned to sleep in, staying on central time and having breakfast/TV ready for the boys.  But Joshua needed just a bit too much help and then I was awake thinking of everything that I needed to do today.  So I got up and got started.  It was a busy day, but good.

Friday: gardens

This morning we went to the local gardens. They had a scavenger hunt in sculptures made out of trash washed up on ocean beaches, and the kids enjoyed it.

Isaac was really excited to see this fish.

at the last sculpture there was a pool and the kids got to throw in a penny. Isaac wished that he could be a grown up so he could have as many treats as he wanted to eat and watch as many [movies] as he wanted. Then we went to the butterfly garden. Joshua was scared at first, but the lack of scary butterflies calmed him down quickly. Isaac loved it. There is a brown butterfly on the branch in the picture and when it opened it's wings it had a beautify blue. Isaac tried very hard to get a picture for me but I don't think he succeeded.

we went to an art walk downtown after dinner. We found free ice cream and enjoyed seeing assorted craftspeople. There was one music group that Joshua danced to quite a bit.

Thursday: pronouns

I had the wrong funny story for Joshua earlier. It was funny, but you may have had to be there. Here is the conversation that has happened at least three times this vacation... E: she is saying something. Amy: no, Joshua is a boy, so you need to use 'he'. Joshua: woof woof Amanda: we know. You're actually a puppy.

Thursday: pepper and picnic tables

Amy: this table is so sturdy Mr. Brian could dance on it. Kids: whoa. Everyone finishes lunch. Brian comes home. Joshua, instantly: can you get on the table and sing? We had baked potatoes for dinner. Isaac discovered he likes pepper, or at grinding it. He put a spot of pepper on every bite, front and back, before eating it. He also said he put some pepper on a grape. It was good.