My Macy

As I indicated in my previous post, Natalie made a new friend when we were in Iowa, her cousin, Macy from Chicago. They weren't sure of each other at first, but then once Macy let Natalie borrow one of her swimmy diapers, they were inseparable :-) They played in the baby pool and sandbox, ate dinners together, took walks to the big weeping willow tree, rolled down the hill more times than we could count, sang "Ring Around the Rosy". Natalie constantly referred to her as "My Macy". It was so adorable and we hope we can get them together soon!

I also wanted to share a picture of GG with two of her great-granddaughters. GG is not a fan of getting her picture taken, so this is about the only one that Papa could sneak in. I'm sure she waa exhausted when we left, but this visit will be such a special memory for all of us!

Visit to the Hawkeye State

We recently took a last minute trip to Iowa to visit Josh's extended family. At first, we were just going to go with Grandma and Papa J, to visit Great-Grandma Connie (now known as GG). Next thing we knew, Uncle Sam was coming from California and extended family was coming from Chicago and other parts of Iowa!
We lucked out on both of our flights with an extra seat for Natalie, so it was nice to be able to spread out and have room for the new Dora backpack, baby doll, sticker books, snacks...you get the idea. Grandma, Papa and GG picked us up in Rochester, MN and Natalie took a nice little nap during the hour drive to Osage. After a fun afternoon of playing we ended the day with a couple ears of what Iowa is known for...corn!

Thursday started out with a trip to the local playground and lunch out with GG. After naptime, Uncle Sam, Aunt Cyndy and Uncle Bill arrived and we packed up and headed over to Josh's Uncle Dick and Aunt Renee's house to meet up with the rest of the family. Josh's cousin, Amber, has a little girl, Macy who is 6 months older than Natalie. As you can imagine, they became fast friends. Stay tuned for a seperate post about those two!

Friday was Aunt Cyndy's birthday, so the ladies (plus Uncle Sam!) headed to the neighboring town of St. Ansgar to enjoy lunch at a cafe owned by one of Grandma J's high school classmates. It was in an old Victorian house, so you can imagine my anxiety with all breakable objects about. Natalie was very well behaved and I was grateful to have so many extra hands to help keep her occupied! That evening the entire family came over to GG's house for a dinner and Natalie enjoyed exploring GG's backyard and hiding in the corn field with the birthday girl, Aunt Cyndy! Kaija had a nice evening out at the county fair watching the 4-H talent show!

Saturday morning we headed over to Josh's cousin's for breakfast and then to the county fair. We were disappointed to learn that the rides didn't open until the afternoon, but we enjoyed looking at all the animals just the same! In the afternoon we visited Spring Park, one of Josh's favorite places in Osage. The well spring flows with COLD water, which some partake in drinking, and others use it as a wishing well....we did the latter! Afterwards, we headed over to Josh's aunt and uncle's again for dinner and a bonfire where Natalie got to eat her first marshmallow, she loved it of course!

We awoke early Sunday morning for our 7AM flight from Rochester and arrived back in DC around 1PM, which made for a long day, but it was nice to be able to re-group before the start of the week. We had a great time during our short trip to Iowa and hope we can go back again soon!