My cousin Albert told me that he would have a week long break from Princeton and planned to visit us the first week of November. YAY! What exciting news! We love having family visit us! It proved to be a fun week for all.
While Peter was off to school, the girls and Albert got some two-on-one time. As Albert tossed leaves up in the air, Elaine found the concept of gravity hilarious.
Natalie had a nice picnic lunch with Albert, talking about who knows what!
A little bit of chase was good fun. Elaine showed her "fierce side".
Who wouldn't run from this little monster!
The ever-popular duck-duck-goose...at least our kids' version of it!
Albert was impressed with Natalie's gymnastics class stunts and tried some himself.
It was fun to see Natalie show her stuff, and a quick way for me to realize how old my body is and what it's not capable of anymore!
One day, we ventured to Pheasant Hill Park in search of the "Mighty Sword" geocache. With so many clues and exact coordinates, we could not find the geocache. We searched high...
and low...
with no luck but some good times in a park on a nice evening.
Despite the chilly air, we headed toward a park one day for some playground and (finally) soccer action. Since Albert had played soccer for ten years, we thought it would be good for Peter to learn a few things from him!
Natalie showing us a treasure she found in the sand.
(if by chance you are reading this, and see that this is your lost bouncy ball, please let me know and I'll return it to you!)
A nice afternoon topped off with a good tire swing.
Another fun and most popular fun the kids had with Albert...hide-and-seek. This by far was the best time had by all. (I got some free time to actually clean up the kitchen every night while they played). Elaine had some crazy counting skills (2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14...).
No trip to Iowa and the Burer house would be complete without the John Deere tractor drive. This may not be a big deal to most Iowans, but to us, it's cool to have a John Deere. It completes the "Iowa" in us and is something we like to share with visitors.
Sam gives the lesson to Albert on how to operate the mower.
Albert took a couple laps around the property and loved it.
I think his words were "This is awesome!"
Thank you cousin Albert for visiting us in Iowa! We hope you had a great time! The kids loved having you here and surely do miss you, "Abert"!
Three peas in a pod
Our snuggle pit:
It was a different level less than 1/4 mile later.
We made it to the park and we stopped to check our coordinates with Daddy's handy dandy iPhone. The kids were happy to have a shaded spot to rest.
The trail to the "X" spot took us through beautiful fall scenery and this old walking bridge.
Elaine was so proud (as was Mommy) that she walked across the planks on the bridge. If I hadn't mentioned before, walking on bridges through which she can see the bottom scares Elaine stiff. She took it slow and held onto the side and made it all on her own.
"Wait for me guys!"
While Daddy and Peter double check our trail, Natalie finds her own "geocache" - a giant pea pod from a tree.
We're getting closer!
The name of the Geocache was spot on and gave Peter enough to know to look around this old fencing. Bingo, Peter found it!
Unfortunately, it was log and we didn't bring (Mommy forgot) a pen.
The kids were excited that we could see Regina from the spot.
Then it was time for the "long" trek back home. On the way, nature called for Natalie. If you're a female reading this, you know how difficult this is in the woods. This being Natalie's first time, I didn't want to make a big deal; however, at the same time, I wanted her to have dry pants for the rest of the hike. While the rest of the gang went ahead (for privacy and lookouts), we found a little bridge and...well, Natalie found it funny to add to nature.
No telling who Natalie's calling on her giant i"pod" phone...maybe her friend Thomas or a taxi cab service!
Back to Elaine's proud bridge spot (different from Natalie's bridge).
Elaine ended up on Sam's shoulders. By the time we made it back to our street, she wanted to get down and walk, but it was late and we needed to get home.
Until our next geocaching, that's our adventure!
They first stopped at the concession stand. Someone was excited about that.
Enjoying the game and a pretzel.
Peter even found a couple of his kindergarten classmates.
Fun times for all!
Natalie had a nice picnic lunch with Albert, talking about who knows what!
A little bit of chase was good fun. Elaine showed her "fierce side".
Who wouldn't run from this little monster!
The ever-popular duck-duck-goose...at least our kids' version of it!
Albert was impressed with Natalie's gymnastics class stunts and tried some himself.
It was fun to see Natalie show her stuff, and a quick way for me to realize how old my body is and what it's not capable of anymore!
One day, we ventured to Pheasant Hill Park in search of the "Mighty Sword" geocache. With so many clues and exact coordinates, we could not find the geocache. We searched high...
and low...
with no luck but some good times in a park on a nice evening.
Despite the chilly air, we headed toward a park one day for some playground and (finally) soccer action. Since Albert had played soccer for ten years, we thought it would be good for Peter to learn a few things from him!
Natalie showing us a treasure she found in the sand.
A nice afternoon topped off with a good tire swing.
Another fun and most popular fun the kids had with Albert...hide-and-seek. This by far was the best time had by all. (I got some free time to actually clean up the kitchen every night while they played). Elaine had some crazy counting skills (2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14...).
