Vacation Part I

Well our journey to Iowa and Missouri didn't start out too well. We got stuck in Phoenix because of weather both in Phoenix and in Denver. There were tornados in Denver and wind sheers in Phoenix. Once we got to Denver our flight to Des Moines was two hours late leaving causing us to be late picking up our rental car. We finally got a rental car through a different company but we had to go back to the airport the next day to pick up our van for the trip. After we did that we were finally on our way.

Not far into Missouri Chris discovered that fireworks are leagl in Missouri and he had to stop and buy some so we stoped at Pyro City. I slept through the stop but apparently it is every firework fanatics dream. We ended up with a bag of fireworks to set off on our trip back to Iowa.

After many long hours in the car we finally made to the YMCA Troutlodge in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri. Since it was late and very dark we would have to wait til morning to see what the camp had to offer. Saturday morning was cloudy but not cold. We explored the camp after breakfast and decided on some activities for the day. We had a ton to choose from and managed to do most of them. We had an archery lesson, went on paddleboats, the kids went swimming, Chris took the boys hiking and the girls and Seth went Kayaking. Saturday night I got sick and spent the rest of the night and all of Sunday in the cabin. I have no idea what anyone did on Sunday. Sunday night we went on tornado watch which thrilled Seth! He is always afraid that we'll see a tornado and Chris is afraid we won't!

Monday I was feeling better which was good since we had to drive into Iowa. On our way up to Washington, Iowa, we stopped in Hannibal, Missouri, home of Mark Twain. We went to the Mark Twain caves, saw Molly Brown's house and the mighty Mississippi River. After we left Hannibal we stopped and shot the fireworks off before crossing the Iowa line. We were close to the Mississippi and dusk which made the mosquitoes terrible. I had to watch the fireworks fromt the van so I wouldn't be eaten alive. The kids thought it was great and was dissapointed when they were gone.

Now we're on to phase II of our vacation. Touring Iowa.

Water Park Fun

We went to Espee water park in Chandler on Friday morning with Alison and Clark. Usually both boys really like to play in the water but this morning Kyle just wasn't in the mood. He didn't really want to go at all but Caleb finally talked him into it but after we got there he decided he didn't want to get wet. Kyle stood next to me very content to watch Caleb and Clark play in the water. After about an hour he asked if he could go play at the regular park with the other boys. Meanwhile, Caleb had a great time splashing and playing in the water. I guess that just because they look alike doesn't mean they have to act alike.

Harry Potter End of Term Feast

I decided we should have a BBQ to celebrate our new house, great friends and great weather. Since I love Harry Potter and we play Quidditch every Sunday I thought it would be fun to have an End of Term Feast.

Basically, our feast consisted of hamburger, hot dogs, potato salad and a lot of dessert. In addition to the feast we had some games to liven things up. In Harry Potter, the kids that attend Hogwarts School are sorted into one of four houses. I thought it would be fun to do the same so we sorted everyone into four groups to compete against each other for the house cup. For the competition we played five different games. I came up with some HP trivia questions, there was a riddle to solve, an egg-on-a-spoon relay race, water balloon toss and a water relay.

There were about 50 people that came (about 1/2 kids, 1/2 adults) and most of them stayed all day. From what I could tell everyone was having a great time. I know I did and I can't wait to do it again next year.