Iowa Relocation/Vacation

At the end of June, the boys and I took off from Denver on a drive to Iowa to visit Elizabeth, Dan, and family. We drove part of the way on Friday, then the rest of the way on Saturday.

Friday we stopped in Sterling, CO to eat at the Village Inn. The staff there was really great for me. They saw I was a bit overwhelmed with 3 and put me in a corner table.




After eating, we ran over to a park right by the railroad tracks. The boys could walk around a bit and I could get their diapers changed. It was nice to have this play yard to keep them contained! However, I did not inspect the area very well before I put it out. I parked it right under a berry tree of some kind. It looked like blackberries or boysenberries. They turned all of our feet purple! Oh well.


On Friday evening we stayed with a friend of mine, Mary, from college. She was great to let us invade her house. The boys loved playing in her big back yard. Plus, they liked her little dog, Boo!


Saturday was a long travel day. We left Mary's around 11 and stopped for lunch around Lincoln, NE. I should have taken the highway north there when I saw it. I thought long and hard about it, but storms and clouds were all behind me, so I figured I could make it through Omaha with no problems.


Boy, was I wrong. Omaha has a bunch of problems currently because of flooding from the Missouri river! You cannot take I-25 north out of Omaha because it is underwater. I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get north of Omaha, finally, James guided me through it on the phone. We got north and as I was driving, the water from the river was coming up on the road in some parts. Just barely staying off the road. It was crazy! And at the place where that was happening, we were about 4-5 miles from the main area of the river.

We got to my sister's town and hung out with them till bed time.

The next morning, all the kids played hard, and well, together. Check out this picture of Ethan and Aria. The tallest and the smallest of the children!


Alex and the phone



We got to spend a lot of time outside in their yard, even though it was extremely humid and very hot some days. Grant didn't understand why there was so much grass and that he had to walk through it. He eventually got the hang of it, but he was not especially happy to walk through it.


Ethan really just wanted to swing most of the time we were outside. He loved these swings.


They all like to swing!


Except, there weren't enough swings often, so we doubled up a few times.


Then Elizabeth set up their bounce house! My boys weren't too sure about it at first. But they got the hang of it!


Ethan learned to slide!



Here are two of the big kids. Aria and David. They were little clowns for a while!


James' parents came down for a couple of days from ND. We went and walked around the mall with them on Tuesday morning. The boys got to ride their first "carnival" like ride at the mall. They enjoyed it and didn't like it when it stopped moving!


Boys' first ride on a "carnival" ride at the mall



It was good to see Larry and Peggy again, and since they won't be seeing the boys until October, it was good for the boys to see them and them the boys.

The next day we returned to Elizabeth and Dan's house. Played and then went to the pool in the evening. The boys weren't all too sure about the pool. So many kids, and people, and I think they could sense my stress too. Imagine trying to keep track of 3 toddlers at a pool who don't really want to be held, don't want to be in the float toys, and want to walk in and out of the water. It was fairly stressful. I don't think I will ever not be in the lifeguard mode when I go to a pool now. I am constantly scanning, counting, looking, jumping at the smallest thing, and wanting to yell at kids who are running!! :)

We had to get out the pool for a few minutes for break and the boys had a melt down. So, we left, but they enjoyed the majority of it.


The next morning, we got up bright and early, fed the kids, then headed into Sioux Falls to the zoo. We met up with another set of triplets that is one of my aunt Donna's friends. At some point along the way Elizabeth and my children all switched spots, so this is what we ended up with. Aria, David, and Ethan in the stroller. (Oh it was SOOOO hot and humid.)


Then Alex, Grant, Levi, and Lucas were in Elizabeth's choo choo wagon. We saw the rhinos and stayed inside the area for quite a while since it was indoors and pretty cool. There was a mommy rhino and a baby rhino.


Here is the whole group. Somehow the kids were all mixed up again too. :) We just barely got this and a few other pictures. As soon as a few pictures were snapped they all tried climbing out of the stroller/wagon. They were done! They wanted to get out of the heat as much as the adults did!


After the zoo we stopped at Donna's house for lunch and naps. Donna was kind enough to keep an ear out for all 7 kids while they slept and Elizabeth and I ran errands.

Then, I got back from my errands, Elizabeth still was not back from her errands, but Donna had to leave. So, I got the job of watching over all 7. It wasn't bad. It really isn't.




Elizabeth was still running around, trying to get stuff done in Sioux Falls, so I fed all the kids dinner! Boy, that was interesting, loud, and LOTS OF FUN!!


Now, the kids were hot, sweaty, and sick of being stuck inside once we got back to Elizabeth's, so we let them play in the water on the driveway with all the ride on toys. They LOVED it!!

Here is Grant. He mostly just sat there and pushed this toy around.


Ethan really loved the water. He liked being sprayed and liked chasing and following the big kids around.


Alex played almost all evening on this toy. They are all new different toys then what they have at home so they like to experience something new.


Dan was having fun spraying everyone.


The next morning was our last morning. The boys were playing in the playroom while I was getting ready for the day and I came out of the room to find this! I don't think this is what it is made for.


Everyone played hard all day, and I started packing the luggage and the car. That evening Elizabeth and Dan took the big kids to a party for a friend at the pool. They left Lucas with us, which was fine. He gets along great with my boys, since they are all about on the same wavelength! We watched some Little Einsteins for a while before bed to keep them from having meltdowns.

So this is what it would be like to have 4, huh??


Ethan and Lucas liked to sit close to the tv some.


Grant really likes watching Little Einsteins. We are going to have to start DVRing it on our tv if I can figure out where/when it plays.


Alex was also enamored with it!


We headed to Gillette on Saturday. Luckily my brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Kara, were heading there too. So, we traveled together. Which was WONDERFUL when I went to stop and let the boys out. They helped a lot.

We finally got home after a short stop in Cheyenne on Sunday. It was a long trip/relocation, but it was a lot of fun. I think the boys really enjoyed watching and playing with their older cousins. I enjoyed spending time with my sister and my niece and nephews. Now, to get them to come and spend a week with us!