We have Arrived:
And other activities at the house
Family Vacation to Iowa
May 21-27, 2008
Wednesday
Upon our arrival, the girls and I have finally reached our exhaustion point and have passed out. We get there and wake every one up. Kyra is excited if a bit hesitant. Adeline is very disoriented and not too happy with having been woken up. Ryan is just glad to be there finally and I am whisked away leaving Ryan, Kyle and the girls on their own, while mom and I head for the nail salon. Mom had a nail appointment that morning and really wanted to not have to cancel it. And since we arrived when we did she took me along. We enjoyed pedicures together as I caught her up on the happenings of the last week (i.e. getting ready to go and my newest niece). Once those were finished I moved on to get my nails done. I bite my nails, a habit I've had for a very long time and have tried time and time again to break, so it was a brief manicure. While mom goes to get her nails redone. She has acrylic nails that were in desperate need of a redo as one had broken off.
After a couple of hours we headed back to the house to find Ryan and Addy asleep, Dad home and Kyle watching Kyra. Kyra really loved spending time with her Uncle Kyle. She called him Evan (her other uncle) for a day or two, but now knows Uncle Kyle when she see's him. Kyle (or Tyle, as Kyra says it) was great with Kyra. He never complained when she called or wanted to play with him. Thanks so much Kyle.
We really appreciated all that Kyle did for us. He was very attentive and patient with both of our girls. We also really enjoyed having him around while we were there. He is going through some trials (that aren't my place to talk about), so it was good to spend time with him and talk with him more about what he's been up to and what he has planned.
Thursday
We went to the Valley Junction Farmer's Market Thursday night. It was a bit chilly for us Texans, so we donned our jackets and went for a much needed outing. Kyle again was great with Kyra and kept an extra close eye on her as she wandered about.
The Farmer's Markets in Iowa are REAL Farmer's Markets. They have food, treats and crafts being sold by those who actually grew or made them. Mom and Dad Zielke are really into the Farmer's Markets up there and attend 1-2 a week.
We stopped at a concession to buy Grinders for dinner. A Grinder is similar to a pizza with a hoagie roll in place of the crust.
Here we are running back to the car from a quick potty break. Kyra loves to run and loves it even more when we run with or after her. Really it's not bad exercise if you can keep up with the energy levels of a two-year-old.
Friday we went to the Science Museum. I will talk about this trip in another post. We also had the pleasure of having Ryan's cousin Mindy, her husband Steve, and their children Saren (rhymes with Karen) and Stephen for Memorial Day weekend. They arrived Friday evening and they came with us as we went to Nauvoo (also another post) on Saturday.
Sunday
But on Sunday evening after we recovered from the trip to Nauvoo and put Kyra and Addy to bed we played Charoodles. It is a game that combines Charades with props. Very entertaining, very fun and a great ice breaker game.
Everyone had at least two turns during the game. Here Dad Zielke is trying to get us to guess what he is acting out.
Mom Zielke's turn.
Kyle's up to bat.
On Ryan's turn one of the clues his team needed to guess was cheerleader for the topic of "School Clubs/Organizations." Very funny!!!
(You may have to go to our blog page to view this)
Here Steve and I went head to head to have our team guess the clues we both get to act out.
Mindy's turn.
Saren working the crowd.
Stephen did great getting us to guess.
Monday
Monday morning Steve, Mindy, Saren and Stephen headed for home and we spend the day chilling out at home playing games.
We also decided to allow Mom Zielke to give Kyra a hair cut. This was bit bitter-sweet. On the one hand she really needed a trim. On the other this is her first official hair cut and the hair we were cutting was the same hair she was born with.
Much to my effort only Uncle Kyle could get Kyra to stay unnaturally still long enough for Grandma to cut a straight line. She only trimmed an inch or two off, but it was still sad.
Here Grandpa tries to wrangle Kyra after her haircut. She did not want to go inside because inside meant bed time.
While Kyra was getting her hair done Addy was showing off her mad walking skills for Grandpa. She's been walking for a little while now, but really seems to have taken off in the last week.
I call this her monkey walk. She usually walks with her hands out stretched in front of her or up over her head with a giant grin across her face. Her arms kind of shake from side to side and looks like a monkey walking. It is soooooooooo super cute.
What I didn't mention at all during this post was the round of the stomach flu that passed through our little family. Addy started it, a day later Kyra joined in and Monday night I was the next to fall. We were really lucky with the kids as they only got sick when they tried to eat a meal and once each at night. I however was not so lucky as Monday night I was up at least once an hour. Before bed we all received blessings to allow us to make it home without much drama. I am so eternally grateful for those as the only incident we had was two minutes after we got out of the car for lunch Kyra upped her snack, then preceded to eat like she hadn't eaten in two days. I was able get home without a problem and at this time Ryan has been spared. (We want to apologize to any of our family that are or will get sick.)
Tuesday
Since the flu was running it's course through our family we didn't get going as early as we'd like. We left around 9:30, stopped for lunch around noon, dinner around 5:30pm where we all managed to eat something, and made it home around 9:30pm. Considering what the ride could have been like it was uneventful.
We are home, healthy and relaxing before we head out to Houston for my brother's graduation on Thursday.
Thank you Mom and Dad Zielke for a wonderful time.
Family Vacation to Iowa
May 21-27, 2008
Wednesday
Upon our arrival, the girls and I have finally reached our exhaustion point and have passed out. We get there and wake every one up. Kyra is excited if a bit hesitant. Adeline is very disoriented and not too happy with having been woken up. Ryan is just glad to be there finally and I am whisked away leaving Ryan, Kyle and the girls on their own, while mom and I head for the nail salon. Mom had a nail appointment that morning and really wanted to not have to cancel it. And since we arrived when we did she took me along. We enjoyed pedicures together as I caught her up on the happenings of the last week (i.e. getting ready to go and my newest niece). Once those were finished I moved on to get my nails done. I bite my nails, a habit I've had for a very long time and have tried time and time again to break, so it was a brief manicure. While mom goes to get her nails redone. She has acrylic nails that were in desperate need of a redo as one had broken off.
After a couple of hours we headed back to the house to find Ryan and Addy asleep, Dad home and Kyle watching Kyra. Kyra really loved spending time with her Uncle Kyle. She called him Evan (her other uncle) for a day or two, but now knows Uncle Kyle when she see's him. Kyle (or Tyle, as Kyra says it) was great with Kyra. He never complained when she called or wanted to play with him. Thanks so much Kyle.
We really appreciated all that Kyle did for us. He was very attentive and patient with both of our girls. We also really enjoyed having him around while we were there. He is going through some trials (that aren't my place to talk about), so it was good to spend time with him and talk with him more about what he's been up to and what he has planned.Thursday
We went to the Valley Junction Farmer's Market Thursday night. It was a bit chilly for us Texans, so we donned our jackets and went for a much needed outing. Kyle again was great with Kyra and kept an extra close eye on her as she wandered about.The Farmer's Markets in Iowa are REAL Farmer's Markets. They have food, treats and crafts being sold by those who actually grew or made them. Mom and Dad Zielke are really into the Farmer's Markets up there and attend 1-2 a week.
We stopped at a concession to buy Grinders for dinner. A Grinder is similar to a pizza with a hoagie roll in place of the crust.
Here we are running back to the car from a quick potty break. Kyra loves to run and loves it even more when we run with or after her. Really it's not bad exercise if you can keep up with the energy levels of a two-year-old.Friday we went to the Science Museum. I will talk about this trip in another post. We also had the pleasure of having Ryan's cousin Mindy, her husband Steve, and their children Saren (rhymes with Karen) and Stephen for Memorial Day weekend. They arrived Friday evening and they came with us as we went to Nauvoo (also another post) on Saturday.
Sunday
But on Sunday evening after we recovered from the trip to Nauvoo and put Kyra and Addy to bed we played Charoodles. It is a game that combines Charades with props. Very entertaining, very fun and a great ice breaker game.
Everyone had at least two turns during the game. Here Dad Zielke is trying to get us to guess what he is acting out.
Mom Zielke's turn.
Kyle's up to bat.On Ryan's turn one of the clues his team needed to guess was cheerleader for the topic of "School Clubs/Organizations." Very funny!!!
(You may have to go to our blog page to view this)
Here Steve and I went head to head to have our team guess the clues we both get to act out.
Mindy's turn.
Saren working the crowd.
Stephen did great getting us to guess.Monday
Monday morning Steve, Mindy, Saren and Stephen headed for home and we spend the day chilling out at home playing games.
We also decided to allow Mom Zielke to give Kyra a hair cut. This was bit bitter-sweet. On the one hand she really needed a trim. On the other this is her first official hair cut and the hair we were cutting was the same hair she was born with.
Much to my effort only Uncle Kyle could get Kyra to stay unnaturally still long enough for Grandma to cut a straight line. She only trimmed an inch or two off, but it was still sad.
Here Grandpa tries to wrangle Kyra after her haircut. She did not want to go inside because inside meant bed time.
While Kyra was getting her hair done Addy was showing off her mad walking skills for Grandpa. She's been walking for a little while now, but really seems to have taken off in the last week.
I call this her monkey walk. She usually walks with her hands out stretched in front of her or up over her head with a giant grin across her face. Her arms kind of shake from side to side and looks like a monkey walking. It is soooooooooo super cute.What I didn't mention at all during this post was the round of the stomach flu that passed through our little family. Addy started it, a day later Kyra joined in and Monday night I was the next to fall. We were really lucky with the kids as they only got sick when they tried to eat a meal and once each at night. I however was not so lucky as Monday night I was up at least once an hour. Before bed we all received blessings to allow us to make it home without much drama. I am so eternally grateful for those as the only incident we had was two minutes after we got out of the car for lunch Kyra upped her snack, then preceded to eat like she hadn't eaten in two days. I was able get home without a problem and at this time Ryan has been spared. (We want to apologize to any of our family that are or will get sick.)
Tuesday
Since the flu was running it's course through our family we didn't get going as early as we'd like. We left around 9:30, stopped for lunch around noon, dinner around 5:30pm where we all managed to eat something, and made it home around 9:30pm. Considering what the ride could have been like it was uneventful.
We are home, healthy and relaxing before we head out to Houston for my brother's graduation on Thursday.
Thank you Mom and Dad Zielke for a wonderful time.
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