trip to iowa

every time i look out of my in-law's front room window i think to myself "i can never, ever watch 'signs' out here".  WELCOME TO IOWA, the land of endless corn fields.  and my in-laws live out there, in the middle of nowhere, absolutely surrounded by miles and miles of corn and endless sky above.  it doesn't get much more out in the middle of nowhere than that.  and i'm a city girl through and through, but I LOVE BEING ABLE TO FLEE THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE - their place is like a sanctuary to me.

THIS YEAR the sanctuary was quite busy.  THERE WERE PLENTY OF other FAMILY members at the inn.  :)

we had 4 out of the 6 married siblings out there, and although steven wasn't coming his wife amy was going to spend time there with their 2 girls.  so my kids got to enjoy what was almost a family reunion... 13 COUSINS WERE GATHERED, AND if we could have stayed an extra couple of days until amy got there it would've been 15 cousins all together.  we were only missing 5 more to complete the entire offen 3rd generation. 

too MUCH HAPPENED, so i thought it would be less boring for me to just list the many activities we were engaged in during the week we spent with scott's family:

THE KIDS... 

didn't notice the humidity

were mystified by the beauty of fireflies

WENT CRAZY on the swing set

ran around the huge property

shot guns with grandpa

climbed trees

fed the chickens

gathered chicken eggs

killed a baby chick (only jonah, actually... but who's surprised?)

went canoeing

made pretzels

met their great-grandma offen for the first time

PLAYED in the grown up size doll house

laughed themselves silly

built cool things with lego's

played with bunnies

played with the dogs

befriended the pet goat (only jonah, actually... but who's surprised?)

made tie-dye t-shirts

made cookies

ate all their vegetables

danced in the rain

made up secret hideout places (only jonah, actually... but who's surprised?) 

played in the huge tepee grandpa set up for them

had water balloon fights

went to bed late AND got up early

found gross bugs in the yard

made cousin bracelets (which is better than plain matching bracelets)

LAUGHED themselves silly some more

watched fireworks

caught & released fireflies

cried because THEY DID'T WANT TO LEAVE... 

but do you blame them?  this was one of those weeks of magical childhood summer memories some of us just wish we'd had.  for that matter, I DIDN'T want to leave EITHER!  i was having a blast there, too!

besides hanging out with wonderful family, i was really enjoying being away from the busy life and the demands of my routine.  my in-laws live in this area surrounded by a bunch of little small towns, so even to go buy milk i had to get out on the road, and i ended up driving through the most beautiful and quaint little old towns.  i know to some people that may sound like the most boring thing on earth, but I REALLY DO SAVOR that slice of americana pie these little towns serve up.  it's so inviting to visit PLACES WHERE LIFE LOOKS SO SIMPLE and relaxed, and i couldn't help but take time to go back and walk through historic neighborhoods to better appreciate the charm of it's old brick buildings.

AND MY FAVORITE part of this trip...a little hiding place i nicknamed "THE READING NOOK".  as if life by the corn fields isn't peaceful enough, my in-laws have THIS ENORMOUS OLD TREE  in their back yard, WITH A PERFECT comfy SPOT big enough for me TO crawl up and CURL UP WITH A GOOD BOOK.  the kids can't reach it, it's too high for little ones to climb there.  so i hid there with a couple of good books and spent some much needed alone time.  IT WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!  i love visiting them in the winter months for the holidays, but i have decided i can deal with the humid heat in iowa and venture there for as many summer visits as i can manage.