Leaving On A Jet Plane

(I just love John Denver . . .)


I wish!  Me, Myself, and my four children are driving to Iowa today, right after school lets out at 9:30. (Brandon will join us in a week.) After stopping approximately 32 times, I imagine it will take us about 20 hours to get there. (Only the number of stops is an exaggeration, but keeping expectations really low is very important in situations like these.) My entire family lives in Iowa, so it will be great to see them all together again.

It's finally summer!!  Yippe!!  I'm bringing all my idea lists and brochures of things to do in the area so I can get working on my summer bucket list.

Not to promulgate any more stereotypes about the midwest, but for the next few weeks we'll be trading in this:

For this:

That's the farm house where my mother grew up and our family lived until I was 2 or 3 when my parents moved across the Mississippi to the "city" in Illinois. My grandparents lived in this house until I was about 8 I think--many happy childhood memories on the farm! I took these pictures the last time we visited Iowa two summers ago when we took the kids there on a day trip down memory lane. (We did have pigs when my grandparents lived there, but the sweet wind chime is new.)

Happy Trails!