Iowa Vacation (Part 5)

Thursday morning we woke up early and dressed for a long day of trips (some we knew about, and some were a surprise to us).  Had a breakfast at IHOP which actually was a very good thing since Grace was not quite in the mood to eat at the moment, I was able to take her pancakes with us and feed them to her on the road.

Chris and Katie drove separately, so we all piled into our respective cars and headed down the road to a location unknown to us.  After about an hour of driving we began to see signs of "Welcome to the Field of Dreams."  It was not until we were turning into the parking lot that I realized that we were at the movie set location of Field of Dreams!

 

Now we realized one more reason why Steve and Sue wanted to watch Field Of Dreams earlier on in the week.

We all got out of the cars, but the surprise did not end there, Steve went to the trunk of the car and pulled out three baseball gloves a bunch of baseballs and two soft nerf-like balls for Grace and Ellie.  And off we went to play baseball on the movie site :)

 

 Grace and I chased after her ball, but more than anything we ran the bases.  We also went to the cornfield and took a step or two in, but we did not disappear into the corn like the players do in the movie.... :(

Yes, that is the house and the bleachers from the movie!  I think that was the neatest surprise that they planned for us.  Very unexpected and very memorable.

Following the trip to the Field Of Dreams, we piled into the cars once again and this time our car (Matt, Grace, Steve, Sue and I) went to Backbone Park for a picnic lunch while Chris, Katie and Ellie headed back to Waterloo for Ellie's nap (and unknown to us all at the time...to change rooms at the hotel).

There were not many people at the park at all so we had the playground structures all to ourselves and Grace loved it that way.  She ate on the run (literally).  She went up ladders, down slides, back and forth on the swings, and chased bubbles.  It was a great time and a wonderful end to a great day trip.  

 

And to finish off (a quote from Field of Dreams...a good one to end today's post with)

"Is this heaven?  No, it's Iowa!"

Iowa Vacation (Part 4)

Wednesday we woke early and all got as spiffed up as we could.  This is because we were going to have family pictures taken for the first time in three years!  We all piled in the van, drove across the street, and went to the Sears Portrait Studio.  The pictures turned out great.  The girls did not want to cooperate at the same time (so a picture of them together was a challenge, but for them both being one and a half, I think that they did pretty well.

As you can tell, Grace had fun at the photo shoot dancing and laughing.  I think that we got some great family pictures.

After pictures we went out for a quick bite to eat, then to see Sue's work place.  We got the full tour of the law offices and most importantly Sue was able to show off her beautiful grandgirls to everyone.

Then we headed straight to the Grout Museum.  The name of this museum was the source of great laughter from Matt and I earlier in the week.  We were trying to imagine a whole museum dedicated to grout.  Different colors of grout, different tiles that you use grout with, ways to clean grout...you get the idea.  I am still not sure why it is called the Grout Museum but it has nothing to do with what is between tiles.  It is a collection of 3 or 4 museums.  We went to one that focused on pioneer, multiple wars, but the upstairs was  world war II, and some of wars of today (I may be missing some, but those were the focuses).  There was a large exhibit of the Sullivan Brothers.  These brothers were very famous because there were five of them who enlisted all at the same time.  They chose to serve together during the war.  They also died together during an attack on their ship.

The museum was very nice and also a good cool place to go during this very hot week.  But by the end of the second floor of exhibits I was very tired and Grace was too.  So we went back to Steve and Sue's place to rest and relax.

That night we went out to a very nice restaurant.  Grace would only eat if she was climbing the stairs up and down and up and down and up and down.  But at least she ate and she was happy!

Iowa Vacation (Part 3)

Tuesday...by this time we are realizing that the days are flying by and we do not have much time together.  But we will make the most of it!

In the morning we went to a park that had a section dedicated for Grace and Ellie's age group and another "big kid" part.  I believe that Grace could have stayed there all day.  She had a slide that had stairs going up to it, she had a swing, life was GREAT for her.

We left the park for nap time (and after being in the sun most of the morning, I think that we all wanted/needed naps).

After the kids woke up and ate lunch we headed out again for a dairy farm.  We learned how they milk, process, bottle, etc.  They make a little of everything at this dairy (butter, milk, chocolate milk, curds, ice cream, just to name a few).  Their name is MooRoo, their logo is a Kangaroo with a calf in it's pouch.  Very cute and they do keep kangaroos on their land for tours.  The tour was very informative but the highlights of the dairy farm was when we got to pet the calves and also we got to bottle feed one of the calves.

At the end of the tour we got to sample their milk and ice cream.  It was a great hit with all of us (Grace went after it like crazy and would not let me have much of my ice cream).

Such a very fun trip.

Sorry about the flipped pictures.  I have tried many times to get them straight and right, but blogger or the computer will not allow it.  But I figure, at least I have the memories written down (even if they are sideways).

Iowa Vacation (Part 2)

Woke early Monday morning (not hard to do when you have a little one who has an internal alarm clock that goes off at about 6:30 am every day) and headed to Steve and Sue's place.  We decided to try to beat the heat and do some adventuring early that day.  So Grace and Ellie (Chris and Katie's child) were presented with their official Iowa sun hats, and off to the Nature Reserve we went.

First we went to the welcome center where the girls got to explore and at one point turned into "animals"

Then it was time for a hike.  The trail that we chose was full of stairs which made Grace very, very, very happy.  She was our leader for most of the hike and very proud of that fact too.

Though it was extremely hot, it was nice to be in the shade and to be out in nature (even for a short bit).  After wearing the girls out on the hike we headed back home to put them down for naps.  Steve and Sue had decided that while we were in Iowa we needed to see movies that took place in Iowa.  For instance...The Music Man, Field of Dreams, Michael, etc.  So they chose that today during lunch we would watch Field of Dreams.  We had all seen the movie before but it was nice to see it again.

But before we got to the movie, we "kids" had a surprise up our sleeves too!  This past July was Steve and Sue's 40th wedding anniversary.  So to celebrate we stole her address box, copied every address, and contacted each one.  Then waited for the letters, notes, cards, and congratulations to come in (which they did) and put them all in a scrap book for them.  I believe they were a little surprised about it all :)

After the movie, the girls woke up, some adults took naps, many card games were played.  It was a nice lazy afternoon.

The evening ended with a nice dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse.  

I was hoping to get to write about two days with each post, but Grace is getting into the mail stack...must go rescue the bills!

Iowa Vacation (Part 1)

Last time I wrote, I told of our Harrisonburg vacation to my side of the family.  We were home for a total of 4 days then off to Matt's side of the family in Iowa!

On Saturday we woke up, had a wonderful breakfast, then paced and cleaned the house till my friend came to take us to the airport.  The flights went very smoothly (Roanoke to Detroit, and finally to Cedar Rapids, IA).  We picked up a car and drove an hour north to Waterloo where Matt's mom and dad live.  We had already had quite a day, and we were all covered with airport grime :(  But, when we got to the house we got to visit with Matt's aunt and uncle from South Carolina who happened to be visiting at the same time, and of course visit with his parents!  Matt's aunt and uncle were there to drop off some items that were left for Steve and Sue (Matt's parents) by his grandfather.  When they got this piece of furniture, I bet they did not expect it to come complete with a doll inside...

We had a good evening, a wonderful home cooked meal, and some relaxation where we were finally not moving (either in car or airplane!)

Steve and Sue were kind enough to provide us with a crib at the hotel and also at their house.  Grace slept great the whole trip (it also helped that we wore her out every day, but that is another story).  However, the cribs were not only used as a place for sleeping, our adventurous daughter decided to turn it into a trampoline...that stopped quickly (but not before we snapped a few pictures)

Sunday morning Matt, Grace and I woke early to go to church with Steve and Sue.  It is a smaller church, but it is very nice and friendly.  I also really liked the pastor.  She is a story teller and you have to love a pastor that uses two references appropriately in her sermon to Harry Potter!  I kind of felt like a star at the church, everyone knew we were coming so everyone wanted to say hi and see the adorable granddaughter that they keep hearing about.

Afterward we went to Red Lobster for lunch.  It was during Grace's nap, but no worries...the grandpa mattress is always available!

Well rested from the nap that she had the entire time we were out to eat, we decided to go to the Ice House Museum.  Waterloo is very close to the Cedar River (in fact you cross it many times to almost anywhere).  Well, Cedar River freezes in the winter and many, many years ago (during the days of the icebox) a lot of ice was hand cut (also later done by machines), packed with sawdust (for insulation), and stored to be sold and sent to households.  However, it does not stop there.  They also sold ice from Waterloo, IA as far away as the Indies!  The museum was very interesting and I am so glad that we got to go, but man...for being an ice house, that place was HOT!  I also have to mention that they no longer keep ice in that building.  However outside in the shade it felt better and also provided a chance for some pictures by the river.

Cedar Falls

Soon  after we arrived back to the house Chris (Matt's brother) his wife Katie and their daughter (only 5 weeks older than Grace) finished their long drive from Arkansas to Iowa!  We were very happy to see them, and the fun with the two one and a half year olds was now able to begin!

After a wonderful meal of brats, hotdogs, potato salad, and many other items, it was time to head back to our hotel to get some rest.

That just about finishes through Sunday, Grace is getting cranky so I think I will have to wait to write about the other days and go start the bedtime routine.

Harrisonburg Vacation

This past weekend has been wild, crazy, busy, and oh so much fun.

Thursday Grace and I woke early and hit the road by 8:00 am.  This was because I was going to meet with one of my friends at my parent's house in Harrisonburg.  My friend recently got engaged and has asked that I make her wedding dress.  I accepted and this was our first meeting of...ok, what do you what to wear and do we have all of the materials?

Friday Matt joined us and he had a blast playing many games with my brother-in-law.

Saturday and Sunday were just filled with craziness as usual.  I believe that it involved an oil change.  I helped my sister make a quilted wall hanging.  And Grace played on the trampoline and in the kids pool with her cousins quite a bit.

Monday, yes we stayed till Monday...that is odd but it was for a good reason.  My nephews have their birthdays 5 weeks apart so my sister chooses one day in the middle and celebrates both birthdays on one day.  So this was their birthday celebration.  We had a special lunch, then we all packed up and went out to the Massanutten Waterpark.  It was so much fun.  I was not able to do any of the slides since I am pregnant, but Grace and I were fine going down the frog pond slide, playing in the sprinklers, wading in the edge of the wave pool, and riding the floats around the lazy river.  She was so busy and running everywhere, she played for two hours straight then fell asleep when we stopped to get a drink.  She slept for an hour, then was busy once again.  It was such a fun time, I am glad that Grace found many things that she enjoyed doing.

Good weekend.  Glad that we were able to be part of it.  Even if my garden welcomed me back with 7 quarts of green beans to be canned, and 5 quarts of tomato juice.  Happy to be back!

Header

Three years ago (two days from now) Matt and I got married!  It was a wonderful day, but it was also the last time that we had a family picture taken of the extended Kiser family.  Now lots has changed since then...the boys grew, the adults have changed a little, and of course we got a new member to the family (Grace!)

So we decided that it was long overdue for a new picture.  Much talk about who we should get to take the picture was passed around.  Then we had to figure out the hard part...when we could get all of the family members together, and what we would wear.

With two days notice, we chose the beginning of June and greens, browns, and blues.  A family friend who used to do quite a lot of photography was willing to take our picture.  He was wonderful in getting the kids to smile, taking a lot of shots, and afterward giving the boys rides in his airplane :)

So with that said, the header is compliments of the talents of R. Burkholder who was kind enough to give permission for me to use it in my blog.  Following are just a few more shots that were taken at the same photo shoot.

Once again, all thanks to our wonderful photographer.

As a personal side note:  Steve and Sue, do not worry we will be bringing the picture CD with us.  Also these pictures are an example of the green, blue, brown color scheme that I suggested for our family photo.  What do you think?  Do you still like that idea, or do you have other suggestions?