We just got back from our summer vacation to the midwest. We had a really fun week. It started last Saturday, when we flew into Des Moines, IA. There we rented a car and went to visit my friend Becca, who works for the USDA in Ames, IA. We had a great time together, learned all about corn, and had a great meal in her backyard.

Sunday, we toured the campus of Iowa State.

We then loaded up the car and headed to Kieler, WI, home of my cousin Angie. Angie and her husband Kurt have 2 kids, Kate, who is 3 and Julia who is 15 months. Ethan had a blast with Kate....they really hit it off. We enjoyed some pizza for dinner and had a lot of fun catching up.

On Monday morning, we checked out a family friend's farm. Ethan was a little scared at first, but Kate showed him the way, and he sure loved the tractors!


The backyard swingset was also a big hit!

We headed to Chicago on Monday afternoon, and spent the rest of the week there.

Highlights of the trip included swimming in the backyard pool, a trip to the zoo, and storytime at the library.

My mom is not doing too well though, she is getting much more unstable on her feet, and mostly needs a wheelchair to get around now. Nonetheless, I am glad that we got to spend time with her and that Ethan got to see her again.
On Friday night, we headed to Milwaukee to see the Ferschl side of the family.

Ethan enjoyed some great-grandma Ferschl time and also got to hang out with his second cousin, Spencer, who is my cousin Tonya's 11 year old son.



I enjoyed catching up with grandma and my great aunt Sister Ann.

Also, while in Chicago, Jason and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary.

Grandpa babysat, and we enjoyed a night out downtown. All too soon, vacation was over, and we are now getting ready to go back to work and school.