Visiting the Capitol Building (May)

Brooke being adorable.

Dad playing chess with Spencer. Sometimes this ends in tears. (Spencer's not Dad's) but we're working on that.  Spencer is quite the chess player. He is figuring out lots of good moves and takes his time.  He is lucky to learn from Dad, the chess master, who learned from the players in Spain.

Brooke and I were snuggling one day after church. She said her picture below was her favorite one of us.

We got it in our heads one Sunday that we needed to make donuts. I am not a good donut baker so we went with a youtube video on how to make the best donuts. Spencer was a great help.  Everyone loved them.

We have had an awkward seating situation in our front room since it is such a long room.  I discovered a scratch and dent shop out of an old barn, where we got these great chairs for a great deal. And no scratches or dents!  

Blake and I went to The Cheesecake Factory before we saw Garth Brooks one night.  This was one of the menus and Studio C has a funny sketch called "Skinnylicious" that the kids love. So, I had to send a picture of it to them. I just love how things remind us of the kids and we like to share everything with them.

A few weeks before Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood came to town, our friends had two extra tickets they wanted to sell.  I am a lucky woman, because Blake agreed and came along though he didn't know many of the songs.  Our very nice friends, the Bailey's, watched the kids.  We got to go to dinner and eat real food that was pretty too.  And cheesecake, what more could you ask for?  Then we went to the concert which was totally aweosme and so fun. I saw Garth when I was 12 or so and he does such a great show.  It was the last concert of his world tour and it was so much fun.  I still remembered all the old songs.  We were super tired the next day, of course, but it was worth it.

Our apple trees are starting to grow leaves.  We still need to stake them, but it's been so fun to watch them grow. In a few years, I will be able to tell the kids to go out and get a snack off of the tree.

Brooke lost a tooth at school, which is always exciting. Of course, she had to show Tade, her favorite boy friend.

Hailey and I got to go to the capitol building in Des Moines for a field trip.  Of course I had to teach her MASH, an old game from when I was a kid.  She taught it to her friends too.

Part of the field trip was going to the Iowa Hall of Fame.  There were some games and exhibits about well known Iowans. I always find it interesting to see how many random famous people come from Iowa.  

The Capitol Building was pretty amazing.  This ceiling was 135 feet up.  It was so intricate and beautiful.  It was built somewhere in the late 1800's.  So much history was there. I am sure we could have stayed all day learning more about it.

Hailey had free reign of the camera so she got some pretty great shots. The chandeliers were amazing.  The roof of the Capitol Building even caught on fire once because of all the candles.  I am guessing it was pretty hot back in the beginning of this building with all the candles burning!

The law library was a great spot.  Nothing I would be interested in reading but the staircases were super cool.

There were a bunch of mosaics that were beautiful and intricate.  Their eyes followed us wherever we walked.

I had a great time with Hailey. It was so fun to spend a whole day with her.  We climbed to the top of the capitol building and those were some steep stairs!!  My dad asked why the gold dome wasn't in the picture and it's because a 5th grader took the picture, of course!

On the way home, the bus was so hot and kids were all asleep.  Hailey listened to Charlottes Web and I read for a bit before I fell asleep!  I don't miss the days of the school bus!

The kids made posters with their classes for the school carnival.  Spencer couldn't find his and he didn't really care either

The school carnival was right after the field trip.  We were all tired after a long day with friends and school but we managed to make it.  The kids won lots of fun prizes.

I had volunteered to help sell food at the Bake Sale and Spencer and Hailey helped out too. They loved taking money and making change for customers.  Spencer would go announce that items were being reduced in price.  It was pretty entertaining to watch him.

The next day, our friends, the Dealbas were moving to Utah so we went to help them pack up.  Will sure miss them!