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| Mothers Day Amy, Kelsey and Kaylen |
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We topped off our Tennessee visit by putting on frilly things and having Mothers Day brunch at the lodge. A real southern style meal!
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| Emilys Birthday Party with the grandkids |
Just made it back to Iowa in time to celebrate two little girls birthdays. Ever decorated a Fairy Barbie and a jumbo cupcake in hot pink? Its pretty exciting when you get 12 kids together and shout the words: It's time to open presents, do you want cake and ice cream? It definitely draws a crowd!
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| exploring Tn forest |
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What do you do with a net, bucket and three girls? Catch crawdads...!! 29 to be exact. We did release them back to there habitat. I loved the morning spent exploring a stream with the girls! We talked about what it was like when the native Americans roamed theses Tennessee hills and how they lived off the land. Kids are so open to new adventures as I call them. We made rafts out of twigs and blades of grass and floated them down the rapids.
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| Old Oaks |
On our route back to Iowa we stopped at Rend Lake in Illinois, with a great campground and 20 miles of paved biking and hiking trails. You wind around the lake through big oak groves and patches of native prairie grasses. There is a wonderful visitor center with educational exhibits of the area. We poked around the local small town and found a cool cafe on the square. It was originally a Woolworth store and still had the old tin ceiling and wood floors. The daily specials were made from scratch and had a warm slice of pie! Of coarse I had to bike a few miles to work it off..
Well summer is now in full swing in Iowa... So what will we do next. Mainly just hanging out with the kids until we head out again in the fall for our westward travels to our winter home in Tucson.
