Dane's Farm and Dairy, here we come!

The last field trip of the school year for both Peter and Natalie was to Dane's Farm and Dane's Dairy. Sam was able to go with Natalie and her class. She was so happy that Daddy was there!
Here's Natalie with her field trip buddy, Mackenzie. Don't they look super excited?!

The day was beautiful for the outdoor field trip! The class got to see so many different animals like a donkey, chickens, sheep, a calf, mini horse (not sure the technical name), and alpacas!

A class picture in front of Farmer Herky!

A sweet end to the field trip was ice cream cones from Dane's Dairy.

As always, Natalie with Thomas!

Is that a mini hand holding I spot!? :)
Nothing could be sweeter...well, except the bus ride home with sixteen 3- & 4-year olds on a sugar high!

The very next day was field trip day for Peter's class. They were not so lucky with the weather as it turned cold and rainy. That didn't damper my group of boys that were assigned to me.
Peter B., Peter K., and Jack...all ready to go!

Hello, Farmer Herky!

Classic me, I forgot to grab Peter's jacket for the cooler weather. That's him wearing my black jacket...if only I had some thick rimmed glasses and a magic wand, I could've had a Harry Potter on my hands!

Peter really loved it when the peacock flew on top of the roof.

This sweet calf enjoyed the attention!

Despite the rain and cold air, all the kids ate their ice cream, some shivering more than others!

The Bear class ready for the trip back to school!

Great time had by all!

Mother's Day 2010

We celebrated Mother's Day a week early this year. Sam would have the luck of having a conference in Seattle over Mother's Day weekend. So, we made the best of it.

We started the morning with my favorite: Sunday brunch at Iowa River Power Restaurant! It's my absolute favorite in town. The fact that mimosas and kids under 5 are free makes it an even sweeter place in my heart! :)

After we ate enough to last us the entire day, we took a stroll across the bridge next to the restaurant over the Iowa River. The kids really enjoy the walk on the bridge...

...well, almost all the kids. Elaine could see the roaring river through the cracks of the bridge planks and froze in fear. She wouldn't move without holding someone's hand. Even then, she was a little hesitant. I found this unexpected from our resident daredevil!

Elaine definitely wasn't thrilled about the waters below!

I snapped the next photo in awe that my kids would be so interested in reading about the fossil stones found near that area. Afterwards, I found out that they were actually watching these tiny red bugs crawling along the plaque! :)

At the end of the bridge, we were greeted by a giant dragonfly.

Peter hitched a ride with Daddy back across the bridge while I had Elaine hanging onto my pants for dear life! Literally, as I clicked this photo, my pants were at a dangerously low level! Next time, I will remember a belt!

We relaxed the rest of the day at home. By the end of the day, we saw a great rainbow in our backyard. If you look closely, there's actually two rainbows...one to the left of the main one.

It was a beautiful end to my special day!