Iowa (5)

The Science Center of Iowa was a highlight of the trip!

It is similar to the Children's Museum of Memphis, only it had more hands-on exhibits for older kids too.  A really great place to visit with kids of all ages (and adults!)

(picture from google images)

 Halle and Anna (my cousin's daughter) were partners for the day- they were a good match!

 And Maddie and Cate were buddied up too (also a good match!)

 Not my favorite exhibit:

 Halle and Anna snuck their way onto the noon weather forecast!  Ha! 

 Building and shooting rockets was the consensus favorite for my kids: 

 Trying to look "evil":

 



 

Iowa (4)

My niece, Maddie, turned 5 while we were around and we got to be at her two(!) celebrations!

Saige became Kit and Ruthie's new cousin!  (haha.)

  Her party with friends was at a really fun place (that I didn't get pictures of)- it was a playground showroom.  Basically an indoor park with about 8 different play structures, a trampoline, and several basketball goals. Pizza + Playground(s) = one great birthday party!

 

Happy Birthday, Maddie!!

Iowa (3)

 One afternoon we spent at Bass Pro Shop- looking at animals, shooting targets, and bowling!

 

Bass Pro =  a fun (cheap!) afternoon!

Iowa (2)

We visited my Grandparents over one long weekend while we were in Iowa.

I love long walks in Lamoni...

(Grammy and Ty:)

 

(Isaac and Grandpa Martin:)

 

Some St. Patrick's Day painting:

 Ty got addicted to Uno while we were there:

ha!

 Heading back to Des Moines:

Iowa (1)

We traveled to Iowa over Spring Break (and added an extra week on!)

It was cold and muddy for most of the trip, but there were a few nicer days.  We got to "hike" through puddles and mud and even had a picnic at a lakeside beach park (in the melting snow!)

 

Basketball

I've been pretty quiet about basketball on the blog this year.  (Let's be honest, I've been pretty quiet about everything.  Ha!) 

 It was a little bit of a rough year.  Last I heard JD mention it, on average we were losing every game by 3 points or less.  That is NOT fun.   

It was especially hard because of the amazing group of guys we had.  Our seniors are the first group of JD's recruits, and they are so special. 

Last Thursday was Senior Night- and our last home game.  JD was very sincere when he talked about them leaving the program so SO much better than how they found it when they got here. 

Technically, we had the best record in school history at 9-20.  (Last year we were 9-21.)  We won 3 of our last 4.  But even through our seemingly-never-ending losing streak, JD had nothing but good to say about how our team was reacting.  They worked hard, they encouraged one another, they never hung their heads or gave up, even in the locker room.  And most of the credit for that belongs to the three seniors.

I feel like a broken record- I say it every year, but the future is bright.