Iowa

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun we had in Iowa this year!  :)  What a great vacation!  I'm very glad we got an opportunity to go to Tugfest and see family before our little girl arrives.  This time next year we'll have 3.  :)  Can't wait to share this with our little one.  :)  Here's a somewhat short (haha!) rundown of how our vacation went.  Enjoy!  :D

Wednesday I had a very long day of work.  The girls and I were working very hard to organize and reorganize the store.  I spent the entire day on my feet.  I haven't done this in quite a while.  I usually take a lot more breaks than I did that day.  After I got off work I went home and Michael had the car and the puppies packed and ready to go.  We dropped Harlee and Gabby off at Grandma and Grandpa's house, then headed to Topeka.  My right foot was feeling a little funny as I drove, and when we got to Topeka I realized why.  My right foot was completely swollen.  I was worried and didn't want anything to risk the baby, so I called the doctor's office that night, told them about my foot and the trip and the nurse told me to keep an eye on it and that I would be fine to go.  I was very relieved.

Thursday morning we left around 8am.  It was nice to get off so early.  Michael and I ended up being the ones people were waiting on.  I told Glenn and Linda they could go ahead and we could catch up, but they just waited on us.  The trip to Iowa went quickly and without incident.  My foot was still a little swollen on Thursday, but was getting better.  We got to Iowa, checked into our hotel, and headed down to Grandma Jean's house.  It was great seeing all of the family again!!!  There were over 40 family members in town for the weekend!  It was awesome!!  I met a couple of people I had never met before (I think this happens every year at Tugfest, lol).  Thursday night you can get into the carnival for free.  So we walked downdown to watch the kids ride the rides.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL!  Almost a little cool.  We had to put our hoodies on a few times.  It was amazing!

We stayed at a hotel instead of with family this year.  It was nice to have a freshly made bed everyday, air conditioning at night, and hot breakfast in the morning.  :)  Friday morning Michael and I got up and had breakfast, then went back to his Grandma's to visit the family.  It was a nice lazy day there, sitting around chatting, playing with the kids and babies.  Michael and I did some shopping downtown, including some wine tasting!  We brought back a few souveniers from our trip, as well as a Christmas present for Linda!  :)  Friday evening is the parade.  I decided to pass on it this year and took a nap instead.  Friday night was the fireworks!  A wonderful 25 minute show off of a barge in the middle of the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois.  It was beautiful!  :)  Always a great show!

Saturday we went out to Michael's uncle's house, he lives just outside of town and is Glenn's brother.  Sadly, he was off at work.  We talked to Michael's Aunt Kris for a while, then went back to Sneaky Pete's for lunch!  After lunch we went to the tug.  For those of you who haven't heard of Tugfest, it's a giant tug-of-war over the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois.  This was the 26th year.  This year Iowa was trailing 10-15.  I haven't seen Iowa win in the 5 years I've been coming.  There are 11 tugs, each lasting 3 minutes long.  The score was tied at 4-4 when Illinois won the next 2 tugs, giving them the 6 points they needed to win.  Iowa finished strong and won the last tug, but it wasn't enough.  Iowa has now lost for 6 straight years.  Yuck.  Oh well, not going to keep us from enjoying our time.  ;)  Michael and I both got sunburned from our time out in the sun watching the tug.  But it was nice that the weather only got up to 85 degrees!  It was AMAZING weather all weekend!!!  Saturday evening we went back to Kris and Dave's to visit for a bit.  Then we finished the evening back at the carnival listening to a country band cover current country songs.  It was a very nice day!

Today we didn't really spend any time with the family as we had a long driving day ahead of us.  We got out of Le Claire around 8:45 this morning.  We're expecting to be back home around 5:45.  Less than an hour to go!!!  It was a WONDERFUL trip!  I can't wait to go back next year!!!  But until then, I'm looking forward to seeing my puppies again and sleeping in my own bed.  :)  It will probably be a few months until you hear me talking about Tugfest again, but rest assured, I'll be looking forward to it plenty early again next year.  ;)