Road trip to Iowa (August 1st - 8th)

Our family made the road trip to Iowa this last month to spend a week with Jaron and Em and their boys. And I have to say... it was totally worth the drive!!! We had the best time being there. Boy oh boy, do they ever know how to show a family a good time! We did so many fun things that I seriously didn't even get to post all of them. And when you see all the pics in this post you will understand that there was lots of fun packed into one week. We went to a beautiful lake, that had sandy beaches. We built sand castles, swam and chatted while the kids entertained themselves. We did dinner out as families, and another night we had date night as couples without the kids... so fun! Wish we could double date more often. We went to an awesome pool/water park that totally rocked. Jaron, Dallon, Dawson and I had a blast "getting flushed"... most times getting dumped out head first into the pool below. We loved splashing and riding the water slides. Em made delicious food - and we were introduced to the most delicious waffles we've ever had in our life. I think Jaron calls them "good morning" waffles... says they are so good they make you want to say... "good morning!" We had the whole bottom level of their home... great accomodations - we give it a 4 star! We played at parks that had carnival rides. Went to the Childrens Museum. Ate ice cream. Stayed up late playing cards. Em and I went walking most days on some of the most beautiful trails I've ever seen. Iowa is beautiful! There was biking and scootering each day. Jaron even taught the kids how to drop into his half pipe on their skateboards. He has an awesome ramp that he built in his back yard. Both Dallon and Dawson were able to drop in after some great coaching. We went to Jaron's big cycling race and cheered him on. He did so awesome - taking 5th place. It was so fun to see their darling home, and the city they live in. We loved being a part of their world for a week.

***We had planned to take this trip about 6 months in advance. Knowing Jaron's schedule is so busy - both families set aside the time early this year to make sure it would happen. So when Aaron had a bad basketball injury one week before the trip we were devastated. He had xrays, an mri and the day before we were to leave he met with the doc to find out the results. He found out that his injury was worse than expected. And he did indeed need to have surgery. That night (friday) when Aaron returned home the trip was called off. We were so bummed - but thought the trip would just be too hard on Aaron to travel so far. By sunday afternoon, after Aaron had watched hours and hours of t.v., he got out of bed and said... "Pack your bags... lets go! I'm sick of watching t.v." The kids and I started cheering and we all packed our bags as fast as possible. Aaron was a trooper the whole trip. He never complained. He wasn't able to do all of things we did. But he went every where we went enjoying being in the company of family, and watching his children spend time with the cousins they love so much. Each day we were there - at some point during the day - one of us would always say... "I'm so glad we are here. So glad we we made the trip!"

Thank you Sullivan Family for a wonderful week! We love you so much and miss you already!