Our Trip to Iowa

We have been back from almost a week, but have had a busy one so this blog is a bit late. William, Nana, and Mommy had such a fabulous time in Iowa visiting Nanny. This was William's second trip to Iowa. The first was when he was about 6 months old. We are still in shock as to how well he did in the car. Nana was brilliant in getting him a portable DVD player, and Mommy had the car stocked with lots of activities for the little one. The best thing was a cookie sheet and magnets. He played with that for hours. We had alphabet magnets, animal magnets, and even firefighter magnets. He really loved that!!! He also played with his various cars and trucks on the drive. He got upset one time on the way up, and we were already in Des Moines! What a trooper! It took us 11 hours to get there from Nana's house. His drive to and from our house to Nana's was not as pleasant, but by the time we were back in Texas the poor kiddo just wanted to be home. Who could blame him?! He is such a creature of habit that we are surprised he did as well as he did for so long. :-) William and Mommy logged about 2000 miles total, but it was well worth it.

Here are some pictures from the road.


Naptime


Busy with his AquaDoodle


We always have such a nice time at Nanny's. We always eat well and have so much fun visiting with each other.

Will happy to see his Nanny


We tried to go on an outing every morning for William. We didn't want him to get bored. So the first morning we were in town we spent some time at a park. The trees are so much bigger there, and William was just amazed. It is also VERY green compared to Texas. We sure wish that rain would head this way. Summer time in the Midwest is the best! Especially this year when the weather was abnormally cool. We really were spoiled with the mid 70 degree weather.

Some pictures from the park


Nana, Mommy, and William went to the Iowa Science Museum one morning. It was awesome. A 2-story science museum with a ton of stuff for kids of all ages. William really liked it! Mommy also loved it, but we will chalk that up to her being a complete science nerd.

Will and Nana in front of the center


Playing with Gears


So cute!


The Awesome Ball Wall


The following day we headed to the Living History Farms. This is a 500 acre farm the recreates farming from about the late 1700s to the early 1900s. It was really fun, but we didn't quite realize how much trail walking it would include. William loved seeing all of the animals.

Part of the late 1800s town


Machine Shop and Will churning butter


Sheep!


Cows!


Walking the Trails


During our visit we were also able to see some family friends, the Updegraffs. We love being able to spend some time with them. Actually, it was lovely to spend some nice quality time with Nanny and Nana. We sure wished Nanny lived closer. William really enjoyed spending time with them, and Mommy loved the fact that we have these memories to cherish.

Four Generations


We missed Daddy terribly while away, but we are so glad we were able to get to spend some time with Nanny and Nana! Thank you Daddy!!!

This weekend we are painting Will's bedroom and trying to get the house organized. Mommy goes back to work in T minus 10 days. Be on the look out for some pictures of Will's new big boy room! Mommy packed all the baby stuff away a couple weeks ago (insert tears). We can't believe how big he is getting! In just a little over 2 weeks he will start school for the first time. Time sure is flying by.

Hoping everyone has a safe and fun weekend!

Hugs,
The Tates