Iowa - Saturday, May 26th

Our first night in Iowa was a long one.  Or, maybe it's more accurate to say that it was very short!  Emily was so excited to see that Mama and Daddy were sleeping just across the room from her so when she woke up at 2AM she ran to our bed, ready to start the day.  I ended up trading spots with her so that we could go back to sleep until 5:30 - at which time I gave her the iPad so I could at least remain horizontal for a little longer.

This trip to Iowa was a really special one.  We were there to see Great Grandma Velda mainly, but it was also a chance for Emily and Everett (though he won't remember it) to see where Nana and Grandpa grew up and everything that is special about Iowa to our family.  So, after breakfast, we were off to Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa.  When we arrived, we walked around the 1875 town of Walnut Hill.

And stopped in at the Advocate Print shop...

where we learned all about how the paper was printed in 1875...

and even had a chance to run an old stamping machine.  (It probably has an official name)

Everett was paying attention but also trying to find his own entertainment.

Then we boarded the tractor cart and mapped out our visit...

starting with a stop at the 1900 Horse-Powered Farm.

Grandpa was able to give us a lot of information that wasn't provided for everyone else...

especially when it came to the corn crib...

and this shelling machine you see in the middle below.  He also showed Emily how to (illegally) feed the cow, behind the back doors, a cob (or three) of corn.  Emily wanted to stand there and feed the cow all day and kept going back to visit her.

We did finally drag her away from the cow to see these cuties.

(Note: that is not a special treatment I did to the photo... that is all of the dirt in the air in the pen)
Once we saw all of the animals there were to see (we also stopped in at the hen house), we walked over to...

the homestead...

where some of the Living History people were enjoying an authentic noon meal and Emily pumped her own water at the well.  (Photo is after she pumped, enjoying someone else's pumping.)

From the 1900 farm, we walked over to the Exhibit Center (learning a little along the way)...

where they had a cut out...

and really interesting comparisons between 1st place ribbon winning animals from 1950 and how they would be regarded at an auction today.

Then we were back outside and killing time while we waited for our tractor cart to come back for us...

so we could go to eat lunch.

Everett enjoyed some turkey sandwich, veggies, fruit, and his hat strap.

At this point, we were back in Walnut Hill (1875 town)...

where an original mansion...

and matching barn still stand.

We chose to visit the barn first...

and Emily was thrilled to have a large dance floor all to herself.  You can also see in this picture that Grandpa was tracking the cords for the lights...

so that he could plug them in for Emily.

She was very grateful.

Everett was pretty excited when we left the barn and he was liberated from the stroller...

so we could all tour the mansion.

And both kids were VERY happy to find one of the childrens' rooms complete with toys that we were allowed to touch!

After we broke up the play time in the mansion we headed back outside...

and back through town...

to go home.  But, we did have to make a little stop for Emily to ride a tractor...

and throw a rock in a neighboring pond.

That afternoon, Emily got a chance to ride on Great Grandma's new special chair.

They both enjoyed the ride!

And that evening, Everett enjoyed his own ride as well...

before trying the tricycle on his own...

and going to bed for the night.  What a day!