Things learned on vacation

Well, we made it home to PA on Sunday and I've been wading through mounds of pictures to decide which ones best capture our trip to Iowa. Here are some highlights and lessons learned on the trip:
Darrell and I learned that when taking a trip to see family and friends in Iowa, it's not about us, but about spending time with the people we love so much and do not get much time with. So we forfeited lots of couple time, and in return were blessed with lots of quality time with our wonderful family and friends. We also learned that it is possible to lose a child in Fredericksburgh, Iowa (don't worry, Evan was found after five minutes of frantic searching), but it was a first for us!
Evan learned a lot of things on this trip.....that he is allergic to cats (who knew, but after two bad reactions we figured it out), that you can cut your eye open on a toilet seat lid (Grandpa was in charge when that one happened!), and that he really loves to spend time with Grandpa and Amma.
Ann-Marie learned more about baking cakes from Amma, riding four-wheelers and tractors with Grandpa, and holding lots and lots of babies. Alec learned tons of new words and confirmed what we already know.....he loves anything that has wheels!
To summarize a two week vacation is the picture above.....my Grandparents (who are both in their mid-eighties) with our children and my sister, Carla's, children. I thank God for the time we had sharing memories together.

Now, onto the rest of the summer......

Farms, floods and babies

Above is picture of our new nephew, Brock, with Ann-Marie.

Here's a brief update of our trip to Iowa.....we have one more fun-filled week left before heading home to PA.
Horse riding with some family friends.....

becoming friends with the new farm dog, Junior....

Local area flooding....this is Gouldsburg park, a campgrounds I used to hang out at.....


And the above and below pictures are from Clermont, Iowa.....

We had five new babies to meet this trip: above are my three with our new twin nephews, Wade and Will, and Isabelle (who's three).

Above is Abigail - we will be her godparents tomorrow at her baptism. We've also met Brock, (first picture) and Josie, who is my best friend's baby girl.

Floating in Iowa

Just a quick update....I'm not sure if I'll be able to post pictures on the road. We made it safely to Iowa and it is flooding everywhere! I think the Midwest is going to float away. We had a great trip....Pennsylvania to Chicago; Chicago to Belle Plaine, Iowa; then up to Hawkeye, Iowa where we will be until June 20th. We've spent precious time with Aunt Sue and Uncle Lyle, who were fresh from a trip to Israel so we got to hear wonderful trip stories. We've spent a wonderful couple of days spoiling our niece, Isabelle (Izzy, I like to call her) and cuddling, feeding, and changing the diapers of our twin nephews, Will and Wade, who are now 3 1/2 months old. I'm so proud of my sister, Carla, and how she has grown as a mother to a new three year old and identical twin newborn boys. It's so neat to see the changes and to experience a day of the busyness of it all.

Now, if it will only stop raining here.......

nail polish and toddlers DON'T mix

What do you get when you take one toddler.....
and a bottle of nail polish mixed with distracted parental supervision?

A beautiful, pink manicure and pedicure! It came off of the skin, but his toenails look better than mine do right now! We're all ready for summer.

Cleveland zoo

We decided to visit the Cleveland, Ohio zoo on Saturday. It's only about an hour and a half away and our FONZ membership gets us in free. We had fun discovering a zoo we hadn't been to before. They had special exhibits spread throughout the zoo called "Frogs, Hogs, and Dogs."
Evan really enjoyed the African rhythm and dance presentation we watched.
The polar bears were really active during the time we visited.
And those are koala bears - a mom and her baby - cuddled up in the tree behind Evan.
We hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend!

Ann-Marie's last preschool weeks

Ann-Marie is finished with preschool (sniff). She had her last week this week with a cute performance on Thursday night that her Pap was able to attend and a picnic celebration yesterday (Friday). How the time flies! We will have two school-age children in this house in the Fall.



Ann-Marie made some wonderful friends in her preschool. Above are Bailey, Jadyn, and Patrick. Unfortunately, none of them will be attending her school, but we hope to have summer playdates and see them once in awhile.

On to Kindergarten!

An accomplishment for me.....

I took three days off of my stay-at-home mom position to undertake a new venture. I took a certification class to teach BodyPump at a new gym opening in the area. I passed! I still have some work to do on the certification (90 days to submit a tape of me teaching a class) and some details to work out, but it was a wonderful experience. Here's a link for more information on the class:

http://www.lesmills.com/midatlantic/en/members/bodypump/bodypump-group-fitness-program.aspx