The Lieslands

We hit up Stam tonight for some gelato. I have always felt that Des Moines’ ice cream screen is rather lacking, but Stam makes a good attempt at keeping it real.

Yesterday we had our annual trip to Adventureland. The Reagens scored some free tickets earlier in the year and this year we were lucky enough to be accompanied by Bianca. I took the kids most of the day and Susan joined us in the evening. The weather was great and the crowd died down by mid-afternoon so we had almost instant access to most rides.

This past weekend we took our (hopefully) annual trip to Whiterock Conservancy with the Reagens. We stayed at the 805 River Cabin, which has no running water or electricity and is right along the Raccoon River. A good time was had by all.

The kids headed cousin camp this past weekend in Kansas City. As usual, a great program was put on by the Connors. The kids had a great time and came back exhausted. All 6 cousins headed down to Kansas City this year, marking that first time that all of the cousins have been old enough to attend.

Last night we hit Andy’s third birthday party. We all had a great time.

Susan has been in full-swing getting things ready for the baby. We have a whole list of house projects we want to get done this summer and we would like to have everything ready for the baby before school starts.

Last week we made our annual summer trip to Cincinnati for the 4th of July. I got to work a little bit while Susan and the kids hung out with friends and explored the city. For the 4th of July we enjoyed a day of swimming at Joyce and Dave’s, complete with a locally-grown fireworks display put on by Will. Thursday we made it to Ikea and then on Friday we hung out with friends. As usual, it was a fun, busy time.

A couple of of Susan’s/our friends happened to be passing through town this morning to and from Omaha so we had a nice brunch, complete with waffles and ice cream!

Last week we made our annual trip to Mahoney State Park with the Liess clan. As usual, a good time was had by all.

Today we had to make the long drive home. We ended up leaving Boulder a little late and didn’t get home until almost midnight. It was a long time in the car, but we made it!

Today we made one last trip into Rocky Mountain National Park. We were hoping to hit the Bear Lake area one more time, but because of the construction we decided to check out Trail Ridge Road.

Today we headed into town in the morning to meet my Uncle Tom, who lives in Colorado Springs, for lunch. We had a nice lunch, hung out in Boulder for a bit, and then headed back to our house in Nederland to celebrate Mari’s birthday.