Special Days in Iowa

We had two special last days in Iowa, when my family played "tourists". The first, my grandparents and my Aunt Pat took us on a journey through northeast Iowa. I love that my grandparents, my mother's parents, are still healthy and energetic in their late 80s to be able to make these type of memories with my family. They first took us to Osbourne nature center to see animals and look at exhibits in the building. Then onto Gunder, Iowa for the famous Gunder Burger.....
which I think Evan could have finished the 1 lb. burger, but we didn't allow it this trip!
The onto Gilbertson Nature Center in which the highlights were the potbellied pigs!
The next day, my dad and step-mother took the day off from work to take us to Bur Oak, Iowa to tour the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. This was interesting to my kids for two reasons: we are reading through the series right now and Iowa is not included in the series because the Ingalls family only lived there for a little over two years.

The last stop on our "Iowa tourist" trip actually took us into Minnesota and memories from my childhood. Dunromin' Park Campground was where I spent a week each summer camping. I have wonderful memories of the campground and it was nice to walk around the campground again with Dad reminiscing. Although the campground is a little different now, 20 years later, and it was recently flooded, most of it looked the same.

We all enjoyed the zip-line at the playground.


And the old barn with video games is still standing....spent lots of time in there! The pool is still open and looks exactly the same also.

I am so thankful that we could enjoy these two days, experiencing northeast Iowa with my family. I will have fond memories of this trip for many years!