Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Vacation Part 2

Dawn - you grew up in Iowa? In Des Moines or nearby??? Where did you go to school? I am so psyched by that!!!!

The car situation. Everyone was in a seat (separated by an arms length of space) with a bag of activities and snacks hanging from the headrest in front of them. The van has built in cup holders and electrical outlets everywhere. It worked really well.
 My sweet hubby, doing his best imitation of Kaytee on Facebook. Hahahahahahah!!!
 Me trying to out-do his Facebook pose but not quite getting there....I forgot the duck lips. I do like the crazy eyes, though.....
 We arrived and the boys got swept into a long group hug by my parents. You can see only part of Ahren's orange shirt behind levi.
 We spent an afternoon at my brother's house where a huge nerf gun battle erupted. My brother claimed the biggest gun, since he IS the biggest kid!
 My nephew Quentin helping load guns. 
 My great-nephew Jacob, who at 2 years old did a terrific job of keeping up with all the big kids.
 The view across the river at downtown Des Moines. The bridge is the Principle foot bridge and the tallest, pointy topped building in the background is the Principle building (as in the insurance company).
 We walked the bridge and marveled at the massive amounts of water spilling over the dam below.
 Grandpa Jarman (Chris's Dad), Chris and the boys. One boy spent the entire time working very hard at not having any fun. Can you guess which one? Too bad, the rest of us just ignored him and his mood.
 Grandpa talking to Ahren about the water. Ahren said it looked like mashed potatoes and gravy. (His favorite food....)
 The Iowa State Capital Building. You may have seen this during election years, lit up like a Christmas tree on the first night of the caucuses. It is a stunningly beautiful building.
 We played football.....
 and then my brother took all the 5 boys (nephew Gabe, great-nephew Jacob and my three) for a little redneck hay ride around his yard. Again, I think my brother had the most fun. LOL! Somehow, even though I took a hundred pictures, I didn't get one single shot of Gabe where you can see  his face, except for this one. He is next to Seth)
 One last shot of Mr. Crabby Pants. At least I got a funny face instead of the snarling, pouty faces in most of the pictures.

3 comments:

Reba said...

Love that pouty face. :) Looks like a fun time. I have to admit...I had no idea Iowa was so beautiful!

Dawn said...

Hey girl,
Yes I did! I grew up in Pella, about an hour from Des Moines. Now I live in the NW corner of Iowa. :) SO loving all these pictures!!!

Wendy said...

Dawn,
We always went to the Tulip Festival, ate Dutch letters and walked the square. My Dad is from near Fort Dodge, a little town called Gilmore City. What wonderful memories of lush green rolling hills, Indian summers and big old Victorian houses with wrap around porches. Next time I get to Iowa we should try and meet up. I have already been thinking about another trip later this fall. Just a quick one to check in on my folks.
Wendy