We were totally itching to get back to Iowa to see my family for awhile now. Especially since my parents have bought (and moved into) a new home. It's been over a year since we had been back and we figured it was time to bite the (money) bullet and take the whole family for a week.
Here's our trip in review...
1) Thank you Allegiant Airlines for flying direct to Cedar Rapids, IA. You've made my flying life significantly easier.... especially with two little ones.
2) Nora was all smiles upon entering the plane and flying on an airplane. She LOVED it.
3) I just had to swing by my parents old home (the one I grew up in) and take a quick picture. For memories sake (tear).
4) And this is their new place. Their new place is a perfect home to host family and friends in and to grow old in. There will be so many memories made in this home - we loved it!
1), 2), 3) & 4) Despite it being a very mild winter, we were super stoked to have one of the few snowfalls happen while we were there! And Nora was even more excited than we were! I can't get this girl to wear a coat in AZ (too restrictive I guess?) but as soon as she heard that in order to play outside in the snow she'd need to wear snow pants, boots, coat, hat and gloves, she was all about it.
Alan spent hours outside with Nora - building snowmen, sledding, throwing snowballs - all of the fun things you can do in snow (and not in the desert).
I unfortunately played outside for a total of 10 minutes before landing the sled (which Nora and I were both on) on the corner of a step. To my embarrassment (and everyone else's humor) this little "accident" landed me in the ER with a broken tailbone.
Let's just say I was thankful for the pain meds and inflatable donut for the remainder of a trip.
If you'd like the extended version of the story you'll have to call me. It was actually pretty hilarious. Let's just say the extended version includes three pairs of ripped pants, blood, frozen peas, my dad taking me to the ER and the ER Dr. telling me "Looks like you broke your a**!" Good times.
**Note for all of you mommy readers - don't break your tailbone. Just don't do it. It's amazing how dependent you are on it when it comes to caring for children :(
1) & 2) Alan and I spent one of the days we were in Iowa traveling to Ames - where we met 10 years ago (aww...). This was the first time we had been on Iowa State's campus since graduating so it was a wonderful treat to drive and walk the campus and see all of the changes that have since happened. We loved the four years we spent at ISU.
In all honesty it kinda made us want to go back to college. We had such incredible memories in Ames.
3) & 4) We were also able to meet up with some friends for the afternoon and evening. Brian and Allie are two of our dearest college friends. We had a little double date with them in downtown Des Moines. So. Much. Fun.
Love you
Allie!
And these are my wonderful parents with the girls! We couldn't appreciate and love these two more than we do! What a blessing it was to spend a full week in their home.
We also spent s significant amount of time seeing other family members that live in the area(ish) - both sets of my grandparents drove to Mt. Vernon for a few days, my aunt Peggy was in town for a day, and my uncle Mike and cousin Matt flew in to see the girls for a day as well.
1) & 2) Here we are at happy hour with my brother, Erik, and his wife, Amy. Buy one get one free drinks? Yes please!
Every minute we spend with these two makes us want to live closer.
3) & 4) And then it was time to go home (boo).
It was an awesome trip! Definitely one of those trips that makes you miss "home."
Thanks mom and dad for your incredible hospitality and generosity. We love you!
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Ever since stumbling across a pair of PJs at Costco (yes... Costco), I've never turned back.
