Today we participated in Meals from the Heartland’s Annual Hunger Fight. Every year they host a weekend of meal packaging and we have been there since almost the beginning. Andrew tells me that this is his 6th year. Nate also volunteers at an even higher level, helping manage the floor.
This evening we hit the Jasper Winery Summer Concert Series, with the Reagens (of course). The kids had a blast dancing up front!
This past weekend we visited Wills Apple Orchard, a small farm owned by a homeschool family that puts on a fun fall festival. It is a cool place in a beautiful setting.
Today we went on our annual trip to Adventureland with the Reagens. We could not make it during the summer and today turned out to be the perfect day, with plenty of sunshine and very short lines.
I was hoping to do more with these, but time is not on my side, so I decided to just include them all separately.
Adventureland 2014
The kids on the raging river
Susan, Erin, and Nate on the Raging River
The ladies on the Sawmill Splash
Andrew and Ian on the Storm Chaser
Andrew in the Juggling Show
The Search Begins
The Search Ends
This past weekend Susan and the kids once again participated in Meals from the Heartland, and helped pack over 4,000 meals for people in need. Overall the event packaged over 4 million meals.
Today we made out annual visit to the Iowa State Fair. We usually like to go in the evening, but this summer has been busy and we had to find time during the day today to make it happen. It was a cool, rainy day, which made for smaller crowds and less stress. Still, by the end of the day, we were all tired.
If there is music, Lucia can’t keep from dancing.
There was nothing on the calendar for today, so we decided to knock-out a few summertime standards. This morning we hit the Downtown Farmers’ Market, where we enjoyed some treats from La Mie and our traditional fried rice and egg rolls, which I think we get every time.
After the farmers’ market we headed to hooping in the park, where our friend Leah was leading this week. She had everyone working on some new skills. WE all have fun hooping and hanging out with a fun group of people.
By mid-afternoon we were back home for Lucia’s nap and some downtime. Â By 4 we were on the road again, headed to Ledges State Park. Ledges State Park is n area near the Des Moines river with the corn fields suddenly turn into a beautiful canyon that has been carved out of the sandstone. It offers some interesting hikes and a great creek that flows right through the heart of the park. We hiked, ate a nice picnic dinner, and then the kids enjoyed playing in the creek.
This weekend we decided to cut our camping trip short because we knew that the weather was going to be questionable and we are in the midst of a very busy stretch. That meant that after dinner tonight we had time to make it down to the Des Moines Art Festival. It was a beautiful, fun night.
