June: part 2

After a wonderful week in Minneapolis, we headed three hours south to my sister's house in Iowa Falls. If this road trip rings a bell, we did the same route back in March. We're trying to take advantage of living close (5 hours is close in the Midwest) to family, especially since Aaron and Tandy will finish school next May.

Laura lives in a wonderfully small town, with not very much to do. But they are great at always looking for fun activities for us. We went out to a lake near their house, had a picnic, only to discover that the lake had had a 'fish kill' - when pesticides from the local farms kill a lot of fish in the nearby lakes and rivers. So, due to the terrible smell, and the rotting fish in the lake, we changed plans and went to the city pool instead.

The kids weren't too disappointed. My girls just loved riding in their 12-passenger van :)

A very relaxing week, full of cousins playing, adult conversation, and yummy food.

Aaron (Laura's husband) was able to go on a little day trip with us to Ledges State Park. This is about as hilly as it gets in Iowa and it was beautiful.

That night the kids joined us for camping, then we went hiking the next day with them for a little while.

Anna is our brave child...

...whereas Hattie is more timid.

It was a great, much needed vacation...can't wait til we see family again!