Our Iowa Adventure

The Exodus

We began our journey from Bay Point, CA to Orange City, IA Friday afternoon. Although, I distinctly remember saying that I did NOT want to drive straight through the 30-some odd hours it would take to get to OC, that is EXACTLY what happened. We left Friday, drove straight through the night, both Matt and I taking turns sleeping some of that night and driving part of it. We arrived Saturday evening in Orange City exhausted but very glad to see Grandma Nanci and her house full of beds for us to crawl into! There were many, MANY stops along the way most of which are much to boring to mention here but we did make a stop in Big Springs, NE, home of "the Dinosaur", a fake dinosaur that our daughters enjoyed looking at/touching and of course, taking a moment to ride their tricycles next to. Most of the trip was uneventful. We did have one vomit moment with Aubrie but we won't go into detail of that here. We arrived at Grandma's house, bathed the girls and put everybody to bed.

Orange City Fun

Sunday was a day of relaxation and chatting with the fam. We slept in late, after our LONG trek across the US and then just hung out at the house and visited with family on Sunday. Monday we made a small trip to Maurice to visit with Great-Grandma Gertie. We enjoyed talking with her and eating a wonderful dinner (or for those of us on the West Coast, lunch.) And then in the afternoon G. Nanci and I went and did a little shopping. I was looking for a bathing suit and was sadly unsuccessful. G. Nanci wanted to purchase her plants for the big work day on Tuesday and we left Green World, the plant nursery, with a van full of beautiful plants for the new flower/plant beds.

Tuesday was the big work day. Grandma Nanci wanted to build some flower/plant beds on the edges of her property as a small divider between her lot and the ones next to her. The lovely woman at Green World had designed some really nice beds. And to help save Grandma Nanci a little money and to express their appreciate for their mother (and mother-in-law) the boys offered to help and build them for her. Matt, Kyle, Andy and Robbie worked hard all day, even Emily and I got our hands a little dirty, and when all was said and done, the beds were in and looked beautiful (if I do say so myself!) That evening, Matt's aunt and uncle, Ruth and Gary, stopped by and ate dinner with us all. The cousins played and the adults talked and the evening was lovely.

Wednesday morning was spent relaxing again at G. Nanci's house. Then that afternoon we went to the aquatic center in Sioux Center for some water fun. The kids had a blast playing in the water and swimming. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so there aren't any pictures of the fun we had! After swimming for an hour or so, we went over to Uncle Kyle and Auntie Lynne's new house. Their new house is beautiful! We ate pizza and chatted until it was time to go to Braden's baseball game. It was the last game of the season and was really great to get to see him play! He's quite the little hitter!! (Again, the camera was back at G. Nanci's so no pictures! Sorry!!!)

Thursday was more relaxation and visiting. Then Friday morning we were able to see Matt's aunt Char and Great-Grandma Gertie. They came over and we visited a bit, but then we began the drive to Council Bluffs for the main event!

A Wedding and a Reunion

Friday evening we arrived in Council Bluffs and had dinner (or supper for you mid-westerners) with Great Grandpa and Grandma Looft. Then we went to our hotel room to try to get the girls to unwind and maybe get some sleep before the big wedding day. Our hotel was somewhat castle like on its exterior which was great fun for Nettie. Unfortunately, they JUST made it unlawful to smoke in hotels there and so the whole place smelled like an ash tray. We were a little late in getting our room for Friday night and the only room they had was a smoking room with only one queen bed. Thankfully we were able to get a roll away for Lynnette and I bought some air freshener that helped with the stench. We made it through the first night and then thankfully were able to move rooms for the second night. That morning the girls and Matt went swimming with uncle Kyle and the cousins. I went and did a little shopping, once again unsuccessful in my effort to find some appropriate swim wear. After swimming the girls came back to the room and we changed and then drove to a McDonald's (with a play structure) for some lunch. After lunch was nap time and then we got ready for the wedding. The wedding and reception were beautiful and fun. We had a great time dancing as you can see from the picture to the right (see all the great video and pictures on dropshots HERE.)

Sunday was the Looft family reunion. We got up that morning and Matt took the girls again to the pool and then we got ready for the reunion and packed up our van for the trip home. The reunion was a nice time of talking with some family we do not get to see very often. It officially started at noon and we left some time between four and five in the afternoon.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggety Jog

We headed for home after the reunion. This time I put my foot down about driving straight through. We drove until 10 PM or so and then stopped in Big Springs, NE again (of all places.) The girls were very excited to see our friend, the Dinosaur. The not-so-lovely motel 6 we stopped at was shall we say, adequate. Unfortunately, Aubrie once again got sick and so what should have been a restful night did not end up being so. I'm sure Matt thought it was a waste of good money considering we didn't sleep much and that was the whole point, but despite the interruptions, I did sleep better at the hotel than I did in the car on the way to Iowa. I had hoped we could have done a little site seeing on our way home but due to Aubrie's upset tummy that was just not in the cards. She had on three different outfits during our trek home due to her tummy contents ending up on the front of her clothes. Poor girl! She didn't eat much the rest of the drive home but thankfully her upset tummy eventually calmed down and we pushed through to get home at about 1:20 AM this morning. It was nice to be at home in our own beds after all the traveling. It was a little unfortunate that our house was 94 degrees when we got home. But we turned on the air and every fan we had available and were able to fall asleep eventually.

Thus ends the Iowa Adventure. I apologize for the extremely LONG post. I failed to tell the tales of this adventure as they were happening, which I'm sure would have been much more informative but you probably wouldn't have wanted all that information anyway! :) Until next time . . .