Iowa visit

It had been quite a while since we took a trip to Iowa, so after Isaac got the all clear from the doctor (he had bronchitis), we took off. I'm happy to say that the trip was much more successful than the last one! It still took us about 8 hours. And the low tire sensor came on about an hour before we got there! But I was able to stop in a couple miles at a gas station and air it up and it was fine.

The kids jumped right into the toys and playing :)

 Cowgirl Anna. "Stick 'em up!"

 Isaac just has to be in on ALL that big sis and big brother do! He loved riding around on the bike with Anna!!

 What's a trip to Iowa without going to Incredible Pizza?! Isaac even had fun playing.

 All the other times we've been here, Jacob hasn't wanted to actually play any of the car racing games. I think the Wii has changed that! He played several and actually does pretty good steering.

 Isaac thought the little carousel was so much fun!

 By the second ride, it was old hat.

 Isaac also LOVED riding the mower with Papa!! The noise didn't scare him at all. Unlike his brother...Jacob still won't ride it!

 When they expanded their front porch, they built around the Japanese Maple. So now it's a great climbing tree! :) Anna was actually pretty fearless about climbing it.

 Ugh...if I can just get my foot riiight there...

 Hmmm....now where do I go??

 Maybe if I smile pretty and pose for a picture...

 Mama will let me climb onto the roof...maybe??

 I bet I could sweet talk Papa into it!

 Uhhh...Mama?I think I'm stuck...

  I love this girl. So much my heart hurts!

 If I had photoshop (and knew how to use it!) I could really make her beautiful blue eyes pop in this shot. :)

 Such a silly boy.

 Ohhh those blue eyes! What an ornery little squirt!!!

 He comes by it naturally!

 Like I said...Isaac has to be right there in the middle of it all. Literally!!

 This was about 2 seconds before Isaac chomped down on Papa's thumb!! HA! I think he forgot how many teeth Isaac has! It almost broke the skin!

 Papa replaced the timing belt on our van for us. Isaac was more than happy to help. I've noticed since we moved (and have had various tools laying around constantly) that Isaac really likes tools.

 Anna helped, too. :) Papa is so good about letting the kids "help" and giving them little jobs to do to make them feel included and spend time with him. Even though I know it makes the job go much slower! (Jacob was out helping, too...I guess I didn't catch him in the picture)

Here Papa, let me get that for you.