Adventureland -- summer 2014

Every summer we make it a point to take the kids to Adventureland.  It's a lot of fun for them and for us!  We get to enjoy a lot of rides and visit the water park located inside Adventureland.  I'm still waiting for Alexa to become tall enough to ride the roller coasters with me..so far none of the kids are brave enough and Gordon doesn't like them, so she is my only hope!  :)

Go Cards!

What's a summer without some baseball??  Even though we don't have a professional baseball team in Des Moines we do have a minor league team with a big and beautiful stadium (for minor league standards).  We took the family to see the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals) play the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs) and the Redbirds won!  The family even took a pedicab from our car to the stadium, the girls thought that was a blast!

Tubing down the river

Over the summer Gordon and I went tubing down the river with our friends.  Normally river tubing is reserved for college kids, but that didn't stop us!  It was my friend Becki's idea and we made sure everyone had a great time.  Actually, there aren't too many times that I can get away from technology and kids to focus on talking or catching-up with friends.  This experience gave me several hours to enjoy the "quiet time"  ha!

Danielle comes to Iowa!

I moved to Iowa in May of 2007 and the running joke is asking my best friends when they will come to visit me.  I'm not sure if they thought I wasn't going to stay this long, or what...but after 7.5 years Danielle came to visit!  We showed her all that Des Moines has to offer, but Danielle's primary intentions were to spend time with me and my family.  We went to the Iowa State Fair, saw a 311 concert, attended a Farmer's Market, had great dinners, and spent a lot of quality time talking and catching up on memories that go back 18 years.  Love you Danielle!!

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Lake of the Ozarks -- Guthrie and Sieren Families

Continuing our summer of fun, we took the family to the Lake of the Ozarks!  Our friend Kristin's parents have a home in the Ozarks and they invited our family to join them at the lake.  It was the second time for the girls to ride in a boat (the first time was in Gordon's parents boat, but I'm not sure if they remember).  We all had a great time water-skiing, tubing, riding around in the golf cart, and enjoying our time with wonderful friends!

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Summer Vegas 2014

We went on our annual Vegas trip over the 4th of July holiday and stretched out our stay over 10 days!  It was such a great time with so many wonderful stories!  This year our good friends, Adam and Kristin, joined us in Las Vegas and helped us celebrate Independence Day too.  As you'll see in the slideshow, we had a party with family and friends, which included my Dad's super fun, super silly string fight...Drake's favorite!!  We also took the family to Red Rock Canyon and the Kids Discovery Museum, plus we spent countless hours in the pool.  The adults enjoyed fabulous dinners, the Beatles Love Cirque de Soleil show, and lounging by the Pool at Encore Beach Club while dancing to Steve Angello.  Once again, we had an amazing time in Las Vegas!!

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New York, New York

In June, Gordon and I celebrated our 36th birthdays in New York City!  It was Gordon's first trip to the Big Apple and we were welcomed by one of my best friends, Alexis, and her fiance Alex.  They were amazing hosts and showed us a great time!  We did everything touristy and even went to a polo match.  We loved every minute and hope to return the favor by having Alexis and Alex join us in Iowa :)

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Alexa's Birthday Party

Alexa had two parties to ring in her 3rd birthday.  A family party on her actual birthday of August 5th and another one on August 16th to celebrate with her friends.  We rented out The Little Gym for 15 kids and they had a great time.  I took so many pictures because that was my only job...the instructors took care of everything else!!

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The Guthrie Family Visit

In early June, Gordon's family came to visit.  We welcomed his grandparents from Hawaii, his parents from Wisconsin, and his sister with her family visiting from Illinois!  We had plenty of room for everyone since we had put on the addition, so the more the merrier.  It was wonderful to spend time with everyone, especially considering Gordon's grandparents hadn't even met Alexa yet!  The trip went by fast and before we knew it 5 days had come and gone.  

Alexa's first trip to the ER

Alexa had her first trip to the Emergency Room this evening after she slipped on the jungle gym.  She was very brave and didn't cry except for when she first took the tumble.  Thankfully the doctors were able to seal her cut with glue instead of stitches.  Gordon and Kirsten accompanied us to the hospital and everyone was very patient while we waited.  Kirsten snapped this photo of me holding Lex, I thought it was a sweet moment.