A month in Iowa

In mid-June, the kids and I set off for the States.  We were so excited to be heading to Iowa for a visit and had all sorts of things planned.  I'm not going to lie, I was nervous about the flight, mostly because of Brock.  I was by myself with a nine year old and a 1 year old.  Reagan is a breeze (or so I thought), but Brock was still a wild card traveler.  Turns out on the flight going to the US, Reagan had the most trouble.  The poor girl got motion sick shortly into our flight from Tokyo to Chicago.  She couldn't keep anything down for about the next 15-20 hours.  She was just miserable.  Luckily, we had nice flight attendants who helped as best they could, either watching Brock for me, or taking care of Reagan.  

I made a serious error in Chicago though, and it ended up costing me my car seat.  After coming off an international flight, you have to claim your baggage, then recheck it.  My stroller was in my checked baggage initially, and I decided to swap that for my car seat so that I could use it in O'hare to help cart some of our bags.  Anyway, not thinking it through, the tag that told the airline where to send my car seat was attached to the stroller.  It appears to be lost for good, but I'm still waiting to hear from United about the claim process.  

Here are a few of our vacation pictures.  Mom, Jess and I took the girls to Adventureland and shopping in Des Moines.  

 Reagan loves the silly silo!  

 Mom and Drew getting ready for the log ride

I took the kids up to Williamsburg's kids day one Saturday.  Colton was the only one game enough to try the pizza eating contest.   I encouraged  him to shove it all in, like Adam Richman does on Man VS. Food, but unfortunately Colton wasn't able to chew.  He came in 3rd.  

 Reagan with her patriotic face paint. 

 Here's one of Brock unloading my mom's cupboards.  

It seemed like we were always on the go.  Here's a funny one of Reagan after a nap one afternoon.  She looks worn out, right?

 The 3rd of July Parade

 Hanging out with Grandpa

 Brock discovered his need for speed.  He LOVED golf cart rides.  

The girls were in the Williamsburg parade to show off Aunt Jess's real estate business.

 Andy dug out this riding toy, that had Aunt Jess' name on it from when she was a kid. 

We also went with Brandon's family over to his Aunt and Uncle's lake house.  Here's Brock enjoying the pool.  

 Reagan, Colton and Zach swimming in the lake. 

Reagan and Colton spent a lot of time on the dock fishing.  Here's a couple of their catches.

We took several boat rides.  This one was so relaxing Reagan fell asleep. 

Our friends from Chicago came over for a visit and we went to the Devorian fossil gorge.  The girls spent a little time digging around, but it was hot.

Next up, ice skating!  

Here's one of adorable Avery in her tiny skates.  

My mom and Brock share a love of cold baked beans....eww.

Coutney's visit days 4 and 5 Aquarium, Okuma and Cape Hedo

We had plans to spend the night in a cabin at Okuma and decided to show Courtney the aquarium since it was on the way.  

Inside there is a great petting area and Reagan loves holding the various sea creatures.  This is my favorite picture of Courtney!  This is her response to me telling her she MUST hold a Sea Cucumber!  

Reagan is persuasive and here Courtney is "grinning and bearing it" while holding the sea cucumber.  

The kids playing at the park outside the aquarium.  We decided to see how tough Brock really is on this rope climb.  

 Courtney took this picture, and I've been meaning to post one for awhile, but keep forgetting.  This is a japanese toilet in the women's rest room, I try to avoid them at all costs.  

This photo is also one of Courtney's, pretty great, right?

So, after the aquarium, we drove a bit farther North to our cabin at Okuma.  We went with the nicest one available...I'm not much of a camper :).  I want a flush toilet and shower all my own!   This is our cabin for the night. 

Because we were there on a Tuesday night, it was dead and we had the place mostly to ourselves. 

We walked over to the restaurant for dinner, this is the closest got to all of us looking :).

I forgot Brock's beach hat, so we improvised... 

On our way home we decided to drive North a bit farther to  Cape Hedo point.  This is the Northern most point in Okinawa and has stunning views.  The pictures just don't do justice to the water colors.