Soaking Up The Midwest

Have I mentioned yet that I loved our time in Madison? 

Because, for reals, yo, I loved it! 

The Midwest is great in so many ways, we did our very best to see lots of great stuff before we had to leave.

The Dells

 One of our favorite places to visit near Madison is The Wisconsin Dells. There are like a million Water and Theme parks to visit as well as lots of Kitchy exhibits and shows. We always stay at the Wilderness Resort, where we go wild in the many indoor and outdoor water parks. We went for my birthday and Jack totally surprised me by arranging to have my sister-in-law and nieces and nephews come up from Iowa to meet us. We had a blast! But no pictures because I didn't want to take my camera to the pool. 

Originally, the main attraction at The Dells were the actual DELLS. Which are beautiful rock formations along the river. We took a great boat tour to see the sites.

 Along the tour route the boat lets you off to take little hikes. This canyon was so awesome!

 On one of the stops you get to see a dog jump across this gap. Can you see him?

Jack is famous, his name was carved in the cliff.

 And on this Trolley!

Door County

 We were told by many, many people that we "had" to visit Door County. WI. So we did, and they were right! We L-O-V-E-D it. It was gorgeous, I want to retire there (in the summer only of course) Door County is the little point of land that sticks out from Wisconsin into Lake Michigan.

 We toured a light house. Truman was a Zombie.

 We took the Ferry to Washington Island.

 The Island was beautiful. While there we stopped at Schoolhouse Beach. The Beach is covered in these beautiful smooth white stones. Which I think are really rare, at least you aren't meant to take any away with you when you leave.

Not so great for relaxing on, however.

We stopped to see this awesome Stavkirke.

 Back at camp on the main land we went swimming, and toured around and enjoyed the most gorgeous sunsets over the lake.

Spring Flings!!

Wow, we have had a crazy Spring! That is why it is the middle of Summer and I am just now posting about it. We worked really hard to enjoy our last few weeks in the Midwest. We made the trek east and we are officially back to our "real" life in Maryland. We are unpacked and settling in. It is nice to be in Maryland again but there was definitely some heartache over leaving Wisconsin and all of our friends there. It was the first time that Truman showed any distress over moving. He loved it there, his school and his friends were awesome. But he is a trooper and has bounced back already.

So one of the things we did before leaving was to take a quick trip to Illinois. Our first stop was in Chicago, where we attended the Temple, went to the Lego Discovery Center and ate perhaps the best Middle Eastern Food Ever.

Then we went to Springfield, Illinois. Perhaps you are wondering why? Well, for once in our married life we went to a (an?) historical site that I was yearning to see...

Abraham Lincoln's House!!

It was so cool! They have about four blocks of historical homes that you can walk through and a few that you can tour. We also lucked out because there were re-en-actors there the day we visited. 

And I loves me some re-en-actors!!!

Perhaps the best part was the realistic pile of amputated arms!

 Jack loved it, Truman...not so much.

We also ate some crazy food in Springfield. We went to the original Maid Rite, were we enjoyed some loose meat sandwiches and some homemade root-beer. We also had some Pony Shoes, which are small versions of the Horse Shoe. Which you need to Google right now. It sounds gross but is oh-so good.

 

As we were driving home we saw a sign that said Des Moines this way. We just went ahead and took the turn and headed to Des Moines, for one last visit to the Isaak homestead.

 As always, we had a sing along...

That soon turned into a parade.

Looking at these pictures is making me miss these guys!!

Except this one. This one just makes me laugh!

A Gigantic Post With All the Rest of Our Spring Break Nonsense!

Okay, so this has gone on long enough. I am just going to post a ton of pictures from the rest of our trip and be done with it! So there!

 We went to the Temple in Twin Falls one morning and then met my parents and Trum at Shoshone Falls. The falls are so pretty in the Spring, but it was blasted cold and windy. Notice the assortment of jackets we are wearing.

 My Aunt Jan and Uncle Al drove up to see us from Nevada, with their puppies of course! They are so cool, we love them so much and it was great to see them!

Grandpa Dennis teaches Trum how to drive the four wheeler.

THE PARTY
 While we were in Idaho we wanted to get together with our friends who live there and my sweet sister, graciously offered her home as a gathering place. We had so much fun! Don't you love getting together with friends who are awesome every time you see them? These people are just that cool!

Charity and I went to Junior High, High School and even college together. She knows all of my secrets! I once fell off one of her horses. Ahh, the memories.

Look at these scholarly fellows. Our friend Dave (on the right) went to high school with Jack, and Aaron went to grad school with Jack in Arizona.

My sister with Julie and Jim. Seriously, why wouldn't you want to hang out with these people?

Ahh, Sarah, love her!

EASTER

Trum's first egg hunt of the day at Grandma and Grandpa Isaak's house.

We went to my sister Hillary's house after church. And since we figured the kids need just a touch more sugar we had them decorate and eat cookies before dinner.

My sister Jodi is such a great aunt. She understands that the key to a great holiday is fake mustaches.

The kids had another Easter egg hunt and if they picked up a "real" egg they could exchange it for money. Look at Trum's little maniacal face.

 

The Road Home

On the drive home we made sure to see a few more sites.

 Trum was so excited to stand on the actual pioneer trail, where some of his ancestors traveled west.

And of course...Mount Rushmore!!!

In Our Lovely Desseret

When you are Mormon and you grow up in the west, going to LDS church sites is a yearly activity (at least). Temple Square and all that good stuff. After a while you lose your enthusiasm for it. But for Truman all of it is new and cool, so we had to take some time for a trip to Utah and indoctrinate his little mind with church history.

 First stop, some Family History. Here we are at the Logan Temple. This is where Jack and I were married 13 years ago. Side note: Jack was watching our wedding video this morning and we were tiny babies. I can't believe they let us get married! What were our parents thinking?

 Trum was super excited about these ducks in the reflecting pool in Salt Lake.

 Jack's mom, Paula, stricks a pose. So cute.

 The church always has the most beautiful flowers and gardens. I was in LOVE with all of the tulips.

THE JAM SESSION

I think this was the thing Jack was the most looking forward to on our trip. He hardle ever gets to just hang out with his friends and play the guitar. The music was loud and they had a grand ole time.

 Cody takes a break from playing with the doll house to play some drums.

 Griffin and Jack. So happy to be reunited.

More Cousins!!

So Truman has a cousin that is JUST like him. They look a lot alike, the both love video games, think farts are funny, and speak jibberish. And as Truman says, "Amaya and I are just alike, except she likes dolls and stuff and I like legos." They love each other and pick up as if they just saw each other a week ago instead of years ago.

And of course the adorable Perry was in on all the action.

Cody and Mandy, Oh the stories that they could tell. They know us so well. But they are too cool to blab our embarrassing past. And that's why we love them.