beautiful iowa, part 2

as usual, we did some sightseeing while in iowa.

we try to go to the little town of eldon each time we are up north,

to see the american gothic house.

it's been fun to get boyd's picture there and see how he has grown.

crossing over the beautiful des moines river.

we stopped and played at a park in selma.

we were actually in selma twice on this day.
this was the first visit.

 a cute winery in the town of selma, iowa.

i came home with a couple of bottles, of course.

 we tried to eat at a restaurant on the river, in bonaparte, iowa, but it was closed.

there was a small carnival going on by the river, so we stopped for that for a little while.

the kids got on this slide, and we had some fried oreos.

they were good, but they sure were sweet.

we finally found some burgers to eat in another town just up the road.

 this still haunts me.

it's heartbreaking, and such a beautiful tribute.

a few farms down from larry and dianne's, where a soldier lived,

who lost his life in afghanistan on june 20 2014.

he was remembered at his home on memorial day.

adam wolff.

and even though i don't know him, he has stayed in my heart ever since.

we got back to the farm, and the kids played for a little while, 

before we headed into town to grab some dinner.

 looking back at these pictures, i realize that we packed a whole lot into this monday,

memorial day. i'm tired just looking through these, but it was a really great day.

we ran by to see grandma and grampa, but they were headed out to dinner.

this picture makes me laugh.

uncle larry with two of his grandkids and boyd,

picking out donuts at the hyvee grocery store.

it was funny and crazy, and kind of summed up our day.

while taking this picture, i already had my chinese food in one hand, to go.

another thing i love to eat when i go to iowa,

chinese take-out at the hyvee.

we had one last stop at the mcdonald's drive through that night,

which turned into an ordeal, and we laughed about it all the way home.

memory bank stuff.

good stuff.

life is good.

be back with the rest of the pictures, soon.

love,

nicolle