Saturday, July 16, 2011

Trip to Iowa

Jay and I had so much fun going to Iowa to visit my parents and my sister and her family.
We flew...which wasn't easy by myself with a 1 year old...but it ended up going fine. I knew I was in for some trouble when I had to put the stroller on the security line belt and the second I set Jay down he took off waking/running. He was at least 10 steps away by the time I collapsed it and put it on the belt. Then getting all my stuff off was annoying too. The Denver airport is SOOO rushed. Everyone is in a hurry. The Sioux Falls airport is very friendly and the people in line are much more laid back. Anyway, Jay did not sleep the whole time but he did sleep for a good half hour each time- which was nice.
BTW- pictures are large because I edited them to print and I'm too lazy to make them small again.
We visited my parents first. Jay loved his "tractor"/lawn mower rides from Grandpa. I tried to take him off and he shoved my hand away because he wanted to keep riding:)

He also loved playing with all their new-to-him toys.

He enjoyed grandma's flowers and the rain...he walked around in it like he had never seen it before...which is probably partly true...we don't get much rain in CO and when it does rain we go INSIDE:)

After that Grandma drove us to my sister's new house on the Eastern side of Iowa. It was a beautiful drive, full of cornfields, and friendly people. I even counted the number of Barn Quilts I saw. THIS is just a random site I found that shows what they are.
My sister and her 3 kids + Jay kept us running around!

Jay and his cousin Isaiah (2) are two peas in a pod. They giggle at each other like crazy.
**possible video here soon.
Jay also adored Livia. He would touch her gently and try to give her a pacifier. Although if she was getting a bottle he would get whiny unless we distracted him.

While we were there we went to the park,
(my sister made that shirt for Jay- isn't it awesome!)

and we roasted hot dogs and made smores.

(this is the best way for kids to be at a campfire)

We went to the fish hatchery...(not so cool only because- Jay wanted to get in the water the whole time.)
went to a waterfall,


and we went to the county fair.
We had so much fun goofing around.
On the way back to Grandpa and Grandma's and then to Colorado, Jay was exhausted. Monkey (his stuffed animal) was with him the whole trip and I got this reaction on camera when I handed him Monkey while he was crying one time:)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great fun with Jay!
We miss you both!
But we had a good time.
G-ma N

Chelsea Ellingson said...

I have a pretty cute picture of him trying to make out with his monkey, I think. :-) I am just about done with your pictures! I will call/email when they are finished and we can figure out how to get them to you this week. Glad you had fun in Iowa!

Lori said...

we had so much fun with you guys!! i giggle every time i look at the picture of mom in the fire pit picture. hehe.