Thursday, August 15, 2019

End of summer Des Moines visit.

We've declared it to be annual that the girls and I take a trip midweek sometime in August to do "end of summer fun activities!" Not that we don't want Kley to come of course, but work duties press on unfortunately. It's been such a fun tradition, as all of the summer activities are done at home (library programs, music class, swim lessons, summer rec activities, etc.) and school hasn't started yet. Norah is going to preschool three mornings a week this year, as opposed to two last year, and even adding one more morning is making me a bit sad! She will love it and it will be good for her, but we will miss her.

We had a great time visiting their pool that has a super nice kids area with a splash pad, shallow pool, and park. It's so fun to watch the girls enjoy time with family!




Aunt Kayla is home for the summer from college too, so it was fun to hang out with her!




Norah's swimming has improved so much this summer!



We hit the fair on the first day this year and it went super well! We found a close parking spot, the weather was nice, we didn't have to wait in long lines, and we didn't have any big meltdowns, so I'd call that a huge win. They had this free kids area that was so cute about farming where you walked through and did simulated activities of planting seeds, combing a sheep, milking a cow, etc. 



At the end, they got to sell their produce at the market and they got a pretend dollar that they could use to buy something at the store, so the girls unanimously chose ice cream cones.


They loved seeing the baby pigs in the animal building.


Fair cuties!


The girls were thrilled with the giant slide!



Trying nitro ice cream- a big hit! (Yes, that means the girls got ice cream twice. Major treat day! :)


We also got to go swimming at a family friend's house and had fun seeing Stephanie, who was in town from DC, and Keaton, Rose, and Jorie! Is my niece the cutest ever? Absolutely yes.


Love this picture of the girls and Stephanie! She doesn't have her own kids but loves mine like they are her own, which is so special. She gets more excited than anyone when I send her pictures of the girls. :)


Fun cousin time.


It was a goal we had for Norah to jump off the diving board this summer, and she did it! They tried to get her to do it at the beginning of the summer at her swim lessons, but she was too scared, and then they wouldn't let her do it again later because she had to pass her swim test first, which was more advanced than what she had learned yet. So tonight was perfect as this was a private pool, and the diving board was smaller than at public pools. I wondered if Norah would be scared, but she walked right up and jumped off all by herself without anyone even in to catch her! So proud of you, Norah! I actually missed that because I was lame and forgot to turn the camera on, but then she jumped in several more times with Uncle Keaton catching her. She didn't want to jump again solo because it's a saltwater pool and she got some in her mouth and said it was too salty. 


Lucy jumped off too!


Ellory is a bit more cautious, so she jumped off the side a few times, but I was able to get her off the board once at the end! 


We love you Stephanie!


Sweet cousins! Jorie is the best at saying cheese and smiling for the camera!



What a fun trip and a great end to the summer!

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