Other Summer fun

Our vacation wasn't the only fun we had this summer. Here are a few of the highlights.

Swimming lessons. Adam, Lizzy and Ben took lessons this summer. They all did great. Anna and Jake hung out with me on the side watching the other kids (thus the picture of Anna sticking out her tongue; don't you just love her freckles?) We also enjoyed a few evening trips to the pool with Greg. The pool we have is great with waterslides and a lazy river. The kids always love a trip to the pool.

I convinced Greg to take the day off for his birthday this year. We spent the day at Adventureland. It was a lot of fun. It is a smaller amusement park but the lines were practically non-exisitant and all the kids could go on so many rides. It was a great day, with a funnel cake serving as Greg's cake that day (I actually made him one a few days later, but the funnel cake was on his actual birthday).

We also had box seats at an Iowa Cubs game thanks to John Deere. We all enjoyed that way more than we thought we would. We did feel rather out of place in the box seats, but it was still awesome. Too bad the game went on into th 14th inning. We left after about the 11th or 12th and caught the rest of the game on the radio.

The Omaha Zoo was a fun trip too. We are not very smart though and went the same weekend as the NCAA world series for baseball so traffic and parking was insane (the zoo is right next to Rosenblatt stadium), hotels were overpriced and the heat was oppressive. Oh well, we bought a season pass and will be going back.

Another fun event was the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, IA. We have never been to see any hot air balloon stuff so it was great fun for all of us. If you live in Iowa this is a must do one summer. It is really cheap to get in too. It was a lot of fun.

The Iowa State Fair kept us busy one day. Again thanks to John Deere for footing the bill and even giving us meal tickets and ride tickets. I don't think we would have gone if they hadn't paid for all of us. We are glad we got to go, but I don't think this is going to be a yearly tradition. We would much rather go to Adventureland:) for the money. But, everyone must see a butter sculpture at least once in their life right? That is not be outdone by the snake house that had some really cool (but creepy snakes). Greg insisted we pay to have our family picture taken with a 13 foot burmese python. I said I would do it as long as he held the head. How's that for a memory?! Another crazy thing was feeding the camel at the petting zoo. Can you say slimy and GROSS?!

How was your summer? I hope it was as filled with fun as ours was. Here's to a fun fall!