What a month. It started out rough, but I’ll admit I came around on this July. Not only did my collarbone/shoulder issues heal much quicker than the doctors predicted, I also ended up getting better at handling school/life. I also got quality time with Joe, myself and quite a few Iowans.
Grandma and Grandpa are two of those Iowans. Though we had them here in Minnesota for a good long while, we can no longer claim them as residents. So Joe and I hit Polk City to explore their new domain. Gramps got a hole-in-one right here, so he’s a pretty big deal!
And they’ve got a new ice cream joint on the town square, so we channeled our inner Gilmore Girls and enjoyed it by the gazebo.
Meanwhile, our kids were in southern Missouri with my parents examining every trailer and boat motor they could find.
Apparently Henry loved getting hit in the head with the tether ball. Mom took videos of this, and he could not get enough of watching them. He laughed and laughed and laughed every time it bonked him.
Grammy and Grampy with the girls!
Training the next generation
Looking at vehicles while walking to the marina for (presumably) ice cream. Life’s good.
And it gets even better when you find a dog!
Sandbox time. Henry loved that Brady called it “playing Tonka.”
Oh, that Gator
Da gurlz
I love this so much!
He’s the king of the world!
Da boiz
The whole crew. What a meal this must have been. Glad I wasn’t on the serving crew, but I wish I could have been there with you all.
Crazy. This is how many of us cousins there are. Even the same number of boys and girls. So go back roughly thirty years, cross the road, and this was us.
…although our s’mores back then had to be toasted over a lukewarm grill, not a raging bonfire.
Aw! Just add water.
Thanks, Nate!
The big guys!
A lot I wish I could have been there for…
But luckily at least there’s ice cream in Des Moines, too.
It was good to have the boys back!
Right away they got to work setting me straight on all the vehicles around. Because that’s important.
We also spent about five hours at Bret and Leslie’s place this weekend playing with Chryanthemum, but I forgot my camera!Â
Sunday, when we got back to Minneapolis, Julia was there, and we got to spend the whole evening together before she had to fly back to CA. Again, forgot to document the occasion, but she made these super beautiful earrings that I got to show off at school this week
Now life’s back to its current normal for now. It will be nice to have some time on auto-pilot before things inevitably get crazy again.
