Iowa and RAGBRAI!

Last week we traveled to Iowa to spend some time with Pat's family while Pat rode in RAGBRAI (more on that later). The weather was hot and humid, with the heat index hitting over 100, so we spent a lot of time indoors and in the pool. Needless to say, we had a great time and the kids can't wait to go back. We swam, rode on the train, went to the park and the zoo and collected lots of toads. Kami loved playing Grandma's Wii (and got quite good at a few games) and Brennan loved playing with all the cars and riding on the lawn mower.

Hanging out at the train station watching the freight trains leave.
Many afternoons were spent swimming in the pool. Kami has now found a love of jumping and is getting to be quite the little swimmer. It's nice to not have to really worry about her in the pool.

Kami and cousin Keely posing.

Brennan is also turning into quite a fish. He feels more comfortable jumping off the side and has learned to swim to me under water. I can't wait for him to do swim lessons this winter.

My wonderful sister in law and my god daughter Shaylee!

Hanging out with Shaylee.

There was one morning where it was "cool enough" to take the kids to the park, so we headed outside so the kids could play. This is a great little park down the street from Pat's parent's house.

The kids are posing by McKinley Lake while we joined Grandma in a walk with her dog, Macy.

One of Kami's favorite things was to play with the toads. There were about 20 of them hanging out in a window well and Kami wasn't afraid to get down in there and grab a bunch. She and Keely like to collect them and stick them in the wading pool so they could swim.

Kami and Keely with their toads.

Toad-fest in a bucket...

and toad fest in the pool.

Grandma thought it would be fun to take the kids on an Amtrak train ride to Osceola (which is 30 min away). The train was supposed to leave Creston at 7 am and get into Osceola at 730. Since some of the tracks were flooded in Nebraska, the freight trains had to move over to the Amtrak line, which delayed our train...by almost 7 hours! Luckily we were able to go home and hang out.

Yay! The train is finally here!

Grandma and Brennan.

Kami and Mama.

The kids loved riding the lawn mover. Shaylee and Brennan are taking their turn.

Kami and Keely are screaming as Grandpa drives them down a hill.

We took the kids to the zoo in Des Moines and they had a great time time. We met up with Pat's cousin Lexi and her family and one of my best friends, Dana and her daughter Evelyn (her husband was riding in RAGBRAI with Pat). Kami loved petting this snake...right up her alley. She also got to pet an alligator. Brennan just wanted to look.

Kami, Brennan, Dana and cousin Lilia checking out the animals.

Brennan and Evelyn walking together:)

Kami and Evelyn in the dinosaur exhibit.

Evelyn, Brennan, Kami, Lexi and her children Elsie and Lilia.

Kami loves to get her face painted, and this day was no exception.

Posing on a toad.

While we were at the grandparents, Pat and his good friend Ethan (Dana's husband) rode in RAGBRAI. It stands for Register's (the Des Moines newspaper) Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. They rode for 7 days and covered 450 miles from western Iowa to eastern Iowa. Both had a great time and were glad to have the experience. They met a lot of different people and got to see parts of Iowa they've never seen before. About 15,000-20,000 people ride in RAGBRAI with most of them coming from out of state (I learned that while watching the news).

The bikes before the ride.

Looking back at a bunch of riders coming down a hill.

Pat said this was a hard hill to climb.

Pat in front of a very large beer stein!

Finally done. Before you start and when you end, it's tradition to dip your tires in the river. This is the river at the end in Davenport...pretty yucky looking.