Live, Laugh, Love....Our Summer to Remember

The length of summer is determined in many different way.  Ours at this moment is determined by the Lone Tree Community School calendar.  According to this calendar that tries to control our lives it is telling us that summer is over and fall is right around the corner.  Since we are somewhat controlled by this calendar we will surrender to the more routine days of waking early and getting to bed just as early just to do it all over again for the next 179 days.

I can tell you that all the days in between the last day of school and the first day of this school year have been a joy.  I use one of the more over used mottos of life...Live, Laugh, and Love....in the title of this last post because it pretty much described each and every day of our summer.

When I asked Emily which one of our adventures was her favorite she said "The beach....and spending time with you".  While this put an instant smile on my face it made me think that the old saying...it is not the quantity of time but the quality of time that you spend with your child...is true!  Who would have thought that a few hiking trips, 12:00 AM movies, camping in the back yard, decorating a room, and on and on and on could have made so many great memories and that all my children really want is to spend time with me!

So with that information tucked away for safe keeping I will surrender to the school calendar but I will no longer let it control our life as it has in the past and while we might not be adventuring as much as we do when we are footloose and fancy free I do intend on continuing to experience the great things about little old Iowa with my girls and I do intend on continuing to make the memories that last a life time!

Redneck Camping

I am back to work, Cross Country practice has started, school supplies have been purchased and summer is coming to and end.   So it is crunch time on a few things that were added to a list two months ago.

Camping......Can't say I have had too many successful camping trips in my life....there was the time my mother packed me and two of my sisters in a van and headed to the Badlands camping all the way (we still reminisce about that trip and laugh)...then there was the time that Gary and I thought it would be romantic to go camping (before children) and packed some food and a pup tent (our first mistake since I am pushing 6 foot and Gary is 6 foot 4) then headed to the closest campground where we experienced the worst night of sleep and was packed up and back home by 5:45 AM the next morning (we again reminisce about that night all though we are not laughing). BUT, even after each not so great experience I still feel the need to take my girls camping to experience the wonders of nature.  So we did the next best things.....Redneck Camping. 

Gary has setup the camper in the backyard and Emily and I have enjoyed many nights snuggling under blankets, watching movies on the computer (didn't think we were going to rough it when we are only feet away from a wireless connection did you?), singing campfire songs, and scaring ourselves with the noises of our own backyard.  And while probably not the experience I imagined back in June when I put it on the list it has been one that Emily and I will cherish and probably laugh about.

Who knows maybe I will get Gary talked into a early Fall camping trip and just maybe we will go farther than the backyard.....but if not it doesn't really matter because once we are inside the camper we can let our imagination take us wherever we desire.

Sand in the City

Gary had a GREAT idea!  Not that he does not have many but he has a few time throughout the summer given me ideas for places to go for our blog but this was definitely one to show off.  The City of Iowa City Summer of the Arts kicked off their Sand in the City between Dubuque Street and Iowa Avenue last night.  Thirteen teams competed for the 1st price ribbon in sand sculpting....REAL SAND SCULPTING!

Humpty Dumpty (and Emily)

I will admit that I am not a downtown Iowa City (college students) lover but in the summer it does change atmosphere and an occasional trip is well worth it.  The Alice in Wonderland was the winner with Charlotte's Web coming in 2nd Place.  It will run all day today and most of the day Sunday with live music, fair food, a kiddy area and of course the sculptures.  If you have the time (even a little) stop and view these wonderful sand masterpieces.  If you have more than alittle bit of time - stop at Basta and enjoy the rustic fire roasted pizza...YUM!

Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar

Hawkeye Express!

Three Little Pigs

IA Dance Marathon Team and the Giving Tree (love this book)

The Rainbow Fish

2nd Place Charlotte's Web

And the winner is Alice in Wonderland

Swinging Bridge

Our adventure this evening took us to Columbus Junction's Swinging Bridge.  When I was Emily's age my mother would pack up the four of us and take us to the swim pool in Columbus Junction with an occasional stop at the Swinging Bridge.  While at the 4H Fair I saw a flyer for Columbus Junction and the bridge was on the front.  It brought back many memories of the four of us running across the bridge fearing for our life as we would swing and jump and carry on so I decided that Emily must experience this fear. :)  We were lucky enough to have Gary join us as well as Brandon Feldman and Carson Sojka.  It was exactly how I remembered and Gary played the perfect fear master as he jumped, swayed and chased the kids across the bridge.

After we successfully had given ourselves a small case of motion sickness we decided to take our adventure to the Dairy Sweet Mart for fried food and ice cream.  A perfect ending to a perfect adventure.



The kids decided that they needed to climb down into the ravine to get a different view of the bridge



The Fear Master

My favorite picture of the evening

Life is a Beach......

Emily and I took advantage of having Ella all to ourselves today packed the car and headed to Sugar Bottom Day Use beach.  For the last five years we have put up a nice pool in our backyard and enjoyed spending every summer day in our swimsuit.  This year it was decided that we would not put up the pool and I will be honest the girls in this house dearly miss the pool!  Plus, I have gone from being in the water daily, even if it was to just get the bugs out of the pool, to this being my first time to the beach/pool this year.

Now having a 16 year old and a 12 year old you really do get to experience two seperate world at the beach.  Emily as you can see from the pictures couldn't get wet enough.  She ran, jumped, dove, splashed, dug in the sand, build sand castles (I use that word loosely), and floated in the water all afternoon.  Ella entered the water cautiously  (so not to get the hair wet), pulled Emily around long enough to make her mother happy, then sunned on the blanket while desperately trying to find just the right angle so that she could still read the text messages from what I like to call the "uninvited guests".

But whether I was sitting on the beach with Ella or in the water with Emily it was another wonderful day with my girls....and that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Mormon Handcart Park

It took several drives around the same parking lot, one stop to ask the parking lot security directions (he had no clue but was kind enough to suggest that if we are looking for something to do that we stop at the mall since he knows "girls like to shop"...this made Emily and I both laugh) and a lucky turn left to finally find the Mormon Handcart Park.  History is that Iowa City was the farthest train point west at the time and this park was established in memorial of the many mormons that made the trek from Iowa to Utah using handcarts.  It is a beautiful nature trail walk with markers to designate burial sites and campsites tucked behind the Hawkeye Rec Fields and according to Trip Advisory a must see in Iowa City.  Emily and I would agree. 
 

Johnson County Fair

Emily and I went to the Johnson County Fair today to watch Karli and Kaylin Burr show their goats.  It seems like only in Iowa would you hear kids talking about their goats, cows, chickens, pigs and rabbits like most everyone else would talk about their cats and dogs.  The Johnson County Fair might be the only fair left in our area that has stayed true to the tradition of a 4H/FFA Fair.  The only admission fee is the cost of the shoes you wear (because if you are not watching your every step you might be throwing them away when you get home!), the largest grandstand event you will find is the Queen Contest and  the biggest question is what the Regina stand is serving today.

We love to walk through the barns - although we cannot tell a champion pig from your every day pig and the same with the cows - but we do enjoy looking to see the names of the kids that are familiar to us -then oohing and awwing over how nice that rabbit or chicken looks. 

We did stop to take a picture next to the memorial stone that sits next to the flag pole that was placed at the fairgrounds in honor of Gary's mom and dad, Janet and Stanley Feldman.  Stanley was very active with the 4H Board and the Johnson County Sheep Board.  It is always a nice way for us to start and end our day at the fair.

Last year for Emily's birthday she and her Grandmother Brenda went shopping for a comforter for her bed.  We FINALLY got motivated to move her room from the main level to the basement with her sister Ella so that she would have a room that matched the present from Grandma.  It was a great three days with the girls painting, shopping and decorating the room.  Hope you enjoy it as much as Emily does.  Take special note of the flower pictures....these are Emily's very own photographs!  By the way....I think Emily might have a shot at the That's So Random show on TV.  That girl cracks me up!!!

Harry Potter at the Grandview Drive-In Theater

We did it!  If you know me well you know that I LOVE the Harry Potter movie series.  My family will acknowledge that I live for Harry Potter weekends on the Family Channel and if there are too many weeks between these marathons that there is no need to worry because between my sister Christine and myself we own the first 6 so I can get a fix whenever I feel the need.  It might be a surprise for you to find out that I have never been "one of those people" that just had to see the 12:01 showing of the newest film.  No longer!  Ella, my niece Brynne, and my sister Christine packed the car full of chairs, blankets, pillows (just in case), water, camera, and sticky popcorn (thanks to my sister's husband Todd) and headed south to the Grandview Drive-in Theater to catch the 12:01 AM showing of Harry Potter (thanks goes out to my good friend Shelia Burr for the heads up on the Drive-in Theater showing).  

Ella and I have been to the drive-in once before but this was a first for my sister and my niece Brynne.  The outdoor atmosphere was a wonderful addition to this adventure.  To wrap up the evening...the movie was great, we are still a bit confused about the HP/Severus connect, we agreed that we felt a bit sad that it was finally over, and....I can say I am "one of those people"!

Things we know now that we have experienced a 12:01 AM showing at a drive-in:

1. Who has to move if you have claimed your territory and a pickup decides to park in the slot in front of your already established camp?  Answer - You do.
2. Things that we do not like to hear when attending the drive-in.  Answer - Car alarms.
3. FYI, not all cars can get station 96.4 and mine is one of them.
4. FYI, it doesn't matter that your car cannot get station 96.4 because all of the other car radios provide a nice surround sound system.
5. Even if you fall asleep you still get to say "you did it!"  (I did not sleep but I cannot say the same for the rest of my party)

MacBride Raptor Center/Cedar Valley Nature Trail

It's a Beautiful Day....Today Emily and I went exploring the Sugar Bottom area near Mahaffey Bridge.  I had the opportunity to speak with a Marty Holbrook over the weekend and he had several great suggestions to add to our list of things to do this summer.  We want to thank Marty for this great day!  We started our adventure at the Cedar Valley Nature Trail at Sugar Bottom Campground.  This is a nice trail that weaves in and out, and up and down, across small brooks and around rock cliffs.  Emily and I had a great time.

We then moved on to the MacBride Raptor Center.  Emily had the opportunity to visit the Center when she was in Second Grade for the end of the year field trip.  This was my first time.  If you have not yet had a chance to see this Center you must go.  It is quite, has 10 beautiful rescue birds on display, a butterfly garden and a WONDERFUL bird blind.  We both fully enjoyed "hiding" in the blind to bird watch but were surprised when a doe and its baby decided to come into the area to feed.  We both sat in total silence while we watched these deer feed just feet away from us.

Things I learned today.   1) Emily is looking forward to Middle School and hopes that she has Math either 1st or 2nd period because that is when her brain "works" the best :)  2) Emily does not believe that I would win if I were to get into a fight with a deer....I on the other hand fully believe that I could take that deer :)  3) Not all trails loop and that it only takes about 1 hour for my mind to fully believe that we were lost and that the best course of action is to retract our steps.  4) Conversations can take strange turns when you have the opportunity to walk and think and talk about whatever comes to your mind (hence the deer fight conversation).  5) Emily cheats at the Estimation Game because she continues to change her estimation throughout the game until she wins.  6) You don't always have to talk to understand your child....I love the quiet time when I know that she is thinking and I am thinking and then we find we were thinking about the same thing!

Coincidence of the day....I enjoyed signing along with U2 to their song "Beautiful Day" driving back into Lone Tree.  I think those lyrics are the perfect end to the day.....It's was a beautiful day...don't let it get away...beautiful day.......Rock on U2!

The Big Treehouse

Our adventure today started early with a trip to Marshalltown to visit The Big Treehouse at Shady Oak Campground.  It is true that most of us have dreamed of just throwing up a scrap piece of plywood board on the lowest of branches and calling it our treehouse....this treehouse has 12 levels, multiple swings, and a spiral staircase!  Our guide was a lovely older lady named Mary Gift.  She led us through all 12 levels adding fun little anecdote about the building of the treehouse by her grandson and the gardens that surrounded us.

My nephew Brady joined us on this adventure.  Like most boys when he heard it was a treehouse he could not resist.  Emily and Brady are two peas in a pod and are a joy to be around.  I think that we might even have him talked into joining us for other adventures as the summer continues.

Bizarre fact for the day - come to find out the builder of this treehouse was my high school vocal teacher.  It was nice to talk with Mrs. Gift as she remembers a lot of people from the area and was interested in catching up with the town buzz.