Iowa or Bust

Our week with Breanna ended with a drive north to take her back to Wisconsin. This was the morning of Friday the 13th, and that right there should have told us to watch out. We headed to Madison to spend the night with our friend Stacy, but some severe storms near Milwaukee forced us off the road and into an Old Navy for shelter, where we spent some time coloring in the dressing rooms. After the storm passed we made it to Stacy's and went for dinner at Ella's Deli. Oliver was being a little fussy, and between his not wanting to eat and the beginnings of a fever we knew something was up. We gave Ollie some medicine, cut the dinner short, and headed back to Stacy's.

Oliver and Stacy

In the morning we left for La Crosse, where we would meet Amy's parents at a birthday party for Oliver's cousin Mikayla. Oliver's fever didn't really stay away, and not long after we got to the party we decided he should see a doctor. We went to a walk-in and Ollie was diagnosed with an ear infection and given an antibiotic. We spent the evening relaxing with Grandma Marie and Amy's Uncle Augie and Aunt Sandy. Oliver was a little better by morning (though still not himself), and slept most of the drive to Des Moines, where we saw my Grandma & Grandpa Merkey.

Ollie & Dad with Great Grandma & Grandpa Merkey

On Monday we drove west with Grandma & Grandpa to Elk Horn, IA, which is home to the Danish Immigrant Museum and a windmill that was brought there from Denmark in the 1970s.

The Danish Windmill

We enjoyed touring the windmill and museum and seeing a little bit of Denmark in Iowa. On our way back to Des Moines we stopped in Kimballton, where there is a replica of the Little Mermaid that sits in Copenhagen's harbor.

That night we drove into Des Moines to visit my Grandma & Grandpa Peterson for a little while. We had planned on visiting the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday, but the rainy day kept us inside. Instead, I helped Grandpa with some computer work while Ollie, Amy, and Grandma relaxed (and two of those three took a nice nap). After a few days of medicine, Ollie was pretty much back to himself again.

Oliver with Great Grandma & Grandpa Peterson

That night Oliver had his first REAL meal of sweet corn - no more kernels cut off the cob for him! Iowa was definitely the right place for this new treat.

You are looking at a happy boy

The next day was a good treat too, as we headed to the State Fair with Grandma Peterson. We visited the quilts exhibit, saw the model of Minas Tirith made of matchsticks, saw the Butter Cow and Butter Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, saw the 3000 lb. Super Bull, saw some hours-old calves and piglets, had some delicious pork sandwiches at the Iowa Pork Tent, and ate some Four-Squares (Rice Krispie bars on sticks, but due to a stick shortage ours weren't actually on sticks). We have always enjoyed the Iowa State Fair, and are glad we could take Ollie to it. I'm already looking forward to taking him again when he's a little older and will get more out of it.

Grandma, Dad, and Ollie at the fair

After our visit to the fair we headed east to Cedar Rapids, where my parents moved to in June. However, this was also the day we noticed that Ollie was getting a bit of a rash, and so we called his doctor. We needed to stop his antibiotic, give him some benadryl, and take him in again to get some new medicine. So after making a brief stop at my parents' house, we made a visit to a walk-in in Cedar Rapids. Ollie got a new antibiotic and we were good to go.

Ollie and Dad with Grandma & Grandpa

Thursday morning I biked with my dad to work, and he showed me a little of the city. Cedar Rapids suffered a lot of damage from massive flooding in 2008, and there is still a lot of work to be done. At the edge of downtown we passed by the Veterans Memorial building right on the river. We were admiring the Grant Wood stained glass window from outside when a worker invited us in to look around. The building is still closed to the public, so we were lucky to see the window as it was meant to be seen.

Veterans Memorial window

Later that day, my mom was giving us a tour of the city when our car died. We were crossing a bridge and it just shut off. We had the car towed to a shop after looking online to find a reputable mechanic. (My parents hadn't needed a mechanic yet. So we helped them find a doctor AND a repair shop!)

That afternoon we borrowed my parents' car and drove to Waterloo to visit Amy's cousin Ryan and her son Jack. We had never visited Ryan & Eddie there, and they have a very nice place. Oliver mostly ignored Jack's toys and opted for the cat toys instead.

Ollie with Mom, Ryan, and Jack

On the way out of Waterloo we passed by Oliver's namesake:

Oliver and the Oliver

(And just to be clear: that was a joke - we did not name our son after a tractor!) We spent Friday touring Cedar Rapids, and Oliver tried his hand at disc golf for the first time. We also picked up our car, which was running once again. Saturday we visited the farmers' market (which was HUGE - more like a festival) and toured the art museum before having lunch at the Flying Wienie hotdog shop. Saturday night was Venetian Night in Cedar Rapids, which meant a parade of lighted boats (I never thought I'd see a  SpongeBob dance party on a boat) followed by a fireworks show. It was a very nice event.

Ready for Venetian Night to start

Sunday morning we once again headed east, and stopped briefly at Melissa & Jon's to see them and their daughter Mikayla. Since Ollie was in such rough shape at her party the week before we didn't really see them, so it was nice to have a little extra time to visit.

Oliver and Mikayla

By the time we arrived in Evanston we were ready to be home. We had a fun trip and were thankful we were able to see so many people, all in spite of Ollie's illness and our car trouble. Ollie is all back to normal now, and our car got us home safely so we are glad about that. A big thank you to everyone we saw on the trip for taking the time to see us - we had a great time!

As always, you can see more pictures on our gallery.