Road Trip

This past Saturday I had a great idea (or momentarily lost my mind) that the duo and I would go on a little road trip to see my friend Victoria. I haven't seen her and her hubby's house, they're expecting their first baby this fall and I wanted to see the babies room she's putting together. And it would be a good excuse to get a chance to just hang out. This is their first time out of town. I have to admit, I've been a little nervous about taking them very far from where I know their doctors and the ER at Children's are...but I have to get over it eventually. (I'm trying!) :)

 Saturday after lunch I threw the duo in the car and headed to Merrill, IA. It's only a couple hour drive to get there. They did really well for all the driving, I was so impressed. I think we wore Victoria out but we all had a great time!

There are 3 playgrounds within just a couple blocks of Dan & Victoria's house. And you better believe that once they found out there were places with slides and swings, they were ready to hit them all.

 First time on a trapeze bar!

 Yes the giant tractor tires are partially buried, and yes they are still bigger than him.

 A lot of encouragement, practice and hand holding but we made it across the bridge a few times.

 

 After the parks, we went into LeMars to find dinner. After dinner was a trip to the Blue Bunny ice cream parlor. Payton had to have her standard "pink" ice cream.

 Parker, who doesn't eat ice cream, opted for the Blue Bunny cookie.

 They both thought the giant ice cream sundae in front was great. And the little ice cream cones across the street were pretty cool too.

Do you know how fun it is when your visiting someone and they have the keys to the fire house? You get to run around, climb on trucks, try on the gear, and do it all barefoot when no one else is there. It took a little convincing that the trucks weren't going to make any noise but they finally believed us.

We drove home Sunday morning. By the time we were home, it was sunny, getting sticky and we had a little "I've been stuck in the car for 2 hours" energy to burn. Some of our best energy burn comes from the park and the splash pad. 

Thanks Victoria (and Dan & Scout) for letting us crash your Saturday. We'll be back! :)