Iowa Family Fun Festival Extravaganza With Photos Galore

Hi again everyone. I hope you are enjoying your summer so far. I know I sure am. We just came home from a four day, three night vacation to Council Bluffs, Iowa where we caught up with my family from Dad's side. It sure was fun to see all my cousins and catch up a bit.

What did we do? Well, let me tell you. And there's LOTS to tell.

First off, we rented a car from Enterprise (they pick you up!!) and started for Iowa around the time of my nap. Mommy and Daddy thought I would sleep. Boy were they wrong. We traveled through some sketchy weather just out of Des Moines and found out later we drove through a tornado warning. My Spidy sense was tingling, I tell ya. Anyway, 7 hours later, we arrived in CB and settled in at Grandma and Grandpa's. I said 'hi' to EVERYONE I saw and charmed my aunties and grandparents with my coy smile. I'm still a bit leery of Grandpa, but at least I didn't cry like I did at Christmas. Don't worry, there's a happy ending to the Grandpa saga.

The next day we waited for more cousins and aunties and uncles to arrive. When they did, we did what all Iowans do in June: lawn sledding!

Mama really didn't do very well with this, but Daddy and his sisters were really good.

Grandma and Grandpa have a huge, steep hill in their backyard, perfect for sledding. I really got a kick out of it.

Later on, Mommy and Daddy had genuine Omaha Steaks near the Old Market in Omaha. This, to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary a couple days early. I really didn't understand why they were ranting and raving about eating a cow. Whatever. I had more fun than them. I stayed with everyone else and ate a delicious ham dinner. Actually I mostly ate crackers, but it was delicious nonetheless.

After dinner, all of us cousins decided we needed to bond with a 'cousins only' bath. Mommy and Daddy didn't have any photos of this, but, let me tell you, it was CROWDED! All 5 of us scrubbing up in the bathtub. After a little while, I decided I had had enough and was clean for the evening. Thus, the bath ended.

Mommy and Daddy sure were gone a long time. So long I decided to expand my vocabulary. While they were missing, I blurted out the words Grandma and Mommy. Everyone was so excited as I have never said these words in front of anyone, even Mommy and Daddy. This was my special gift to my Iowa family. I still have yet to say these words in front of Mommy and Daddy. I'm holding out for something big--a pet cow, maybe? My birthday is coming...

Saturday morning we drove out to a really cool kid playground in Manawa State Park. There was a whole section meant for us little tykes. While everyone else was wasting their time running around, I obsessively practiced the stairs. Seriously, I could do this for HOURS. Mommy especially gets tired of this fast. So, she politely asked if aunties Beth and Brandy would supervise my training for a while. They gladly obliged.

A little while later, Mommy stole me away from the stairs to hop on the swings with cousins Ellen and Claire. It sure was hot and very humid, so the breeze from the swings was welcomed.

Look--everyone loved the swings, even auntie Bonnie. Uncle Steven had to capture the entire event on camera. Word is she's the reigning swingset champion of Southwest Iowa. Now that's something to write home about! Wait a minute, she is home. Nevermind.

Daddy and I had fun heading down the twisty slide. I heard the metal part was quite hot. Good thing I was sitting on Daddy's lap.









We sure were hot after about an hour, so we all gathered at the end of this random slide to rest. Luckily someone was perched with a camera to capture this rare occurrence of stillness. Starting from the upper left back row is: Pseudo-cousin and Say Cheese Alex's number one fan--Zachary, who I believe is a decade old (correct me if I'm wrong); next is cousin Brayden who will be 4 in August; and pseudo-cousin Jocelyn who, I believe, is 8 years old. In the front is yours truly, who will be TWO (not terrible, mind you) in July; Cousin Claire will be two in August; and Cousin Ellen, who is two and a half. We're missing the newest member of the family...

Ryan! He decided to sleep through the whole thing. Poor guy doesn't know what he was missing. Ryan is almost 7 months old.




One of the coolest parts of the weekend was Saturday night. From 6:15 PM to 8:15 PM, the family rented out an entire pool, just for our family! Mama and Daddy didn't get any really good photos of the pool, but it had a very shallow end with a pelican slide and other water toys for us little kids to play with. The deep end had a diving board and a huge steep waterslide.

Everyone was having fun being crazy. Brandy enjoyed being thrown in the air by Grandpa and most everyone went down the water slide (even Ellen, Brayden and Claire).

Okay, so I'm saying it was cool. That doesn't mean I enjoyed it the whole time. Initially, I was scared to death, clinging to Mommy and Daddy and whining and crying. By the way, this is the best photo of Mommy and me we could find. Stinkin' camera.

Eventually, Grandma and Grandpa came by and I decided I could cling to Grandma without crying. Mommy and Daddy quickly vanished and I hung out with Grandma the rest of the time.

I was pretty relaxed after a while, and I was even seen laughing and having fun. That is until Mommy or Daddy would come by me. Then I would clamor toward them until they promptly swam away. I guess I'm just a wee bit attached to Mommy and Daddy. Hmmph.

While we were at the pool, Great Nana held down the fort. Word is she had to ward off a potential coup of the house by playing a best of three Solitaire showdown. Great Nana has mad Solitaire skills. We were thrilled she saved the house.

Before we left for the hotel, Daddy showed off the new toy in our house. Our Wii. I've never played it, but I've heard Mario Kart is the bomb.

Oh, I forgot to tell you all the best part of the trip. I got to sleep in the big bed with Mommy and Daddy all three nights! It sure was nice to have someone to cuddle with (and kick in the gut multiple times throughout the night). My crib is so lonely without them. Sigh.

Finally, Sunday we all packed up and headed our respective ways. Not before we cousins posed with Grandma and Grandpa for a quick photo.

It's a good thing Mommy and Daddy weren't in this photo. They looked like hel---heck warmed over (wink, wink, Zachary!) At three in the morning, Mommy heard the tornado sirens screeching at the hotel. Apparently there was a tornado sighted west of Omaha and it was heading east. Mommy is a freak about severe weather, so she woke up Daddy. They watched the radar on TV for a good hour before heading back to bed when the scary stuff was over. Luckily for all of us, Council Bluffs was spared. Oh yeah. I slept through it all.

I told you about a happy ending, right?

Here it is! I decided Grandpa isn't so scary after all. I sat on his lap for a good ten minutes and didn't try to escape or cry. I sure hope Grandpa doesn't take my shyness personally. I know next time I see him I'll be excited to talk Thomas the Tank Engine with him.

Oh. And the ride home I also decided sleep was not necessary. And I also decided whining, complaining and crying were necessary.

All in all, a wonderful trip!