Iowa Orchard

After watching the Iowa game at home on Saturday we headed to Iowa Orchard to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. 

As you can see, Henry is now right at 3 feet tall!

 

Family picture on the hay rack ride.

The tickets were $4 each for age three and older.  I only have ten more days of both kids for free, so I better enjoy it while I can!

We have never been to this apple orchard before, so were not sure what to expect.  So when the tractor brought us through the apple trees to an open play area, the kids got really excited.  Hannah of course went right for the big girl slide.  The slides were really fast. 

Playing in the corn and seeds.  Much cleaner than sand!  Though smaller children will still try and eat it - hence the picture below of Hannah with her paci in her mouth. 

There was face painting as well.  Henry picked out his own stamp - the dinosaur of course. 

He sat so still and waited so patiently.

Coloring in the dinosaur (with washable markers of course).

The finished product.  Roar!

The day was absolutely gorgeous and the kids had so much fun.  We stayed there for about two hours, successfully leaving with no tantrums.  Very surprising since Henry doesn't take naps on the weekends anymore.  The plus with that is that he goes to bed at least an hour earlier!  It is amazing how much more I get done now with that extra hour!

We ended the day eating some delicious dutch crumb apple pie from Iowa Orchard. 

Iowa Orchard overall was great for my younger children.  It was on the small side though, so if you are looking for somewhere with more activities for older kids, I have been told to visit Center Grove Orchard.   They have a lot more activities, but the price is more ($10 for 3 and up vs $4).  We are all about trying the different kid friendly places around town, so I'm sure we will visit this place next year!

Big Girl - Slide

Hannah has turned into quite the toddler.  She is now throwing full tantrums when she doesn't get her way, she throws her food on the floor all the time just to get our reaction, she hits me and then laughs, she loves riding on the tricycle now instead of in the stroller (even stands on it once in awhile) and she takes away every toy her brother is playing with and runs in the opposite direction, which makes Henry not so happy.  It is pretty hilarious I must say, but Andy and I try to keep on our serious faces as much as possible. 

My grandma always tells stories of when I was a little girl and how my feet would never touch the ground from the second I started walking because I would run so fast everywhere.  I now know exactly what she is talking about as I watch Hannah sprint, jump, and climb on everything. 

Her teachers have commented twice this week on how she needs no help at school anymore climbing up the ladder and then going down the slide all by herself.  She did it for me the first time last week on a Wednesday night when Andy was out of town, September 13th for the date book boys and girls.  

Check this girl out!!

Vegas Baby!

Last Friday Andy, me, Jill and Adam boarded the late night flight out of Des Moines and arrived in Vegas shortly after.  I love flying into Vegas when it is dark out.  The casino lights in the middle of the desert are very impressive and always exciting to see from the plane above.

We checked into the timeshare my parents have located on Harmon Ave and Koval, less than a mile from the strip.  Its called the Wyndham Vacation Resort.  We have stayed here numerous times and love it.  This time we were upgraded to the 4 bedroom presidential suite which was so nice.  Plenty of room for four people.  We each got our own master suite with a jetted jacuzi tub, talk about relaxing!

Andy chillin before heading out to the strip.

Different view.

Saturday we got up early and headed to MGM Sports Book to watch the Iowa game. 

Then to Emeril's to eat a yummy lunch.  Best clam chowder soup we had ever eaten. 

We headed back to the resort and enjoyed a few hours by the pool.  The weather was sunny and in the 90's all three days we were there.  It was absolutely beautiful!

Sunday morning we took the shuttle over to the Rio to meet up with Andy's high school friend Bert and his girlfriend Amy.  We ate lunch at the Italian festival and had some great meatball sandwiches and Italian churro desserts. 

Sunday night we made dinner reservations at Bradley Ogden, a fine dining steak house in Caesar's Palace.  Bert is a chef at Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio and knows the chef at Bradley Ogdens so he made a phone call to ensure we received the best service.  And that we did.  First of all we were seated at a great table, and best of all, we were served additional tapa dishes while we waited for our meal.  The food was delicious.

Adam and Jill trying one of the many appetizers brought out.  This one was the delicious cream of tomato soup.

Monday morning we had three hours to hit the strip, eat a great lunch, and head to the airport.  We received a recommendation to try a place called Hash House a Go Go.  Even though the wait was pushing our arrival time to the airport we saw the plates coming out of the kitchen and knew we had to give it a try.  And boy are we glad we did.  Check out Andy's burger - that was one of the smaller dishes too!

My blueberry and pecan pancakes with eggs, sausage and bacon. I didn't even make a dent in the pancake.

Vegas is the perfect destination for couples that want to relax, stay busy, have fun, sleep in, lay out, gamble, eat good food, the list goes on and on. It is the perfect mix for everyone. I can't wait to book our next trip!

Nursery Rhymes

Tonight while I was upstairs getting the kids packed to head to Grandpa and Grandma Schmidt's house I heard Henry reading Hannah some bedtime stories.  I had to get him on video as it was too cute.  He reenacted it for me once I got Hannah to bed tonight.  If you have three minutes to spare Henry would love to read you some old fashioned nursery rhymes! 

We Love the Hawkeyes!!

Football season has finally arrived!!  That means every Friday is Hawkeye gear day at school and work for the entire family.  Check out the kiddos gear, especially Hannah's adorable Hawkeye dress. 

Both kids were so good for me this morning.  They must be very excited for the weekend!!

Hannah got some new kicks this weekend too.  She can run even faster now. 

We head to my parents house tonight.  We will get up bright and early tomorrow morning and head to Iowa City.  So excited I can hardly stand it!!

Go Hawkeyes!!