Trip to Iowa!

My mom's 6 grandkids (3 girls and 3 boys)! Didn't they do a GREAT job sitting for a picture??? From left to right: Olivia (Matt's daughter), Lucas (Dawn's son), Lily (Matt's daughter), Jackson (Crystal's son), and then Meggan and Jordan (mine, of course).

At the new pool (even though the water was FREEZING)! Doesn't it look tasty? :)

Meggan and Jess in Jared's semi!

Jordan's "cheese" face on the swing and Meggan and Jess building sandcastles in the background! Got to a few parks in the couple days we were there!

Jordan's signature head rub (he does this to Lucas multiple times a day)! I think that means he loves them?!?!?!

We got home at 1:30 a.m. today - but we were just glad to be back! The kids all did great both on the way to Iowa and on the way home last night! Dawn and I were able to have some nice conversation (while they were sleeping at least)!!! No, seriously. They did do a great job on that long car ride! What a fun-filled visit to Iowa, for sure, but I think we are ALL glad to be home! :)

Crystal and Jesse have themselves a keeper, for sure! He is so cute and so sweet - and he seems to be a good eater and a great sleeper! Let's just hope he keeps that up for their sake! It was so fun to see them and get to catch up with everyone else while we were there as well.

Meggan went to the circus that happened to be in Grundy Center TWICE on Wednesday night, stayed overnight at Uncle Jared's house with Jess and Jo-Jo, then had them stay overnight with her at Grandma and Papa's house the next night, then stayed overnight at Uncle Matt's house with Lily the next night, and then finally stayed overnight just her and Jordan at Grandma and Papa's house the last night ... she's quite the social butterfly, huh?!?!?! She had a blast getting to enjoy all the playing time with cousins and Grandma and Papa! She also had a great time riding the "new" bike that Aunt Crystal found at a garage sale for $10 ... it looks like it's brand new. It needed a little fixing on the back wheel and was out of commission for a few hours, but once Papa and Uncle Jared got their hands on it, it was good as new! That will see many, many blocks of riding in the years to come.

Jordan had a blast too once we got there, mostly enjoying the playing time with Grandma and Papa and also with the cousins outside! Saturday was a treat as we went to get pedicures and manicures since Meggan was still at Lily's house playing and Jason's parents kept Jordan busy (or was it him keeping them busy?) while I got some nice time with my mom and sisters and holding the new baby too!

After a busy weekend and the long drive back, VBS kicked off at our church this morning at 9:00. Meggan has grown up so much in the last year that I can hardly even believe it. Her poor teacher last year pretty much walked around with Meggan on her hip last year, and this year she just dove right in and started singing the songs and having fun! I'm sure having both Maggie and Cami in her group helps a little bit there, but she ran off and never looked back! I was off work today and have gotten caught up on all my pages, so it was fun to take them both along with me to VBS and then go to the pool at the YMCA and swim for a while this afternoon (and not even feel guilty in the meantime that I should be at home getting some work done)! Not something we get to do every day, so it was a real treat for all of us!

We are happy to be back in Indiana and back to "normal" everyday life! Now we just look forward to the end of this month when we go down to West Baden/French Lick for an adults-only base ball tournament the guys are playing in that last weekend (which also just happens to land on my 29th birthday)! We all have made arrangements to escape down there with no kids, and it should be quite enjoyable!!!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we did!