a midwest summer

It is officially summer break for a good 2 months for me and officially a mini summer break for Tanner for another couple of weeks.  It is so nice for us both of us to have a break from our chaotic schedules at the same time...and what better way to spend (part of) our break than take a vacation to Iowa?  I mean, isn't Iowa the obvious choice for anyone's summer vacation? That's what I always thought anyway.  Well let me tell you, in case you don't believe me, it is hard to beat a midwest summer, and even harder to beat a vacation that involves spending time with family that you haven't seen in six months.

We had so much fun in Iowa.  We went to the new pool everyday, went on bike rides, watched storms roll in every night, witnessed my basement flood (again), almost witnessed the river overflow and flood the town, visited my little sister at her first real job at Tropical Sno, marveled at how tall my little brother is (and how deep his voice is), ate at almost all of my favorite restaurants (and ate home-cooked meals from my mom), went to my cousin's lemonade stand, and watched Glee every night until 2AM.  Overall, I would say the whole thing was refreshing.

Refreshing to be away from school, refreshing to be away from work, and refreshing to be in a place where most people really don't care about the superficial things of life.  I think that is why Iowa is so great to me - when you're there, you don't feel any pressure to be something you're not.  Some might say Iowa is just three years behind, but I think it has somehow preserved a mentality that has been lost by many, one that focuses on the simple things of life.

I didn't take a ton of pictures while I was there for some reason but here are a few we took the morning we left.

(hunter had already gone to scout camp and shea is in italy)

love. by the way, we have almost been married for one whole year! can you believe it? I expect all of you to be planning your next vacation to Iowa, just make sure it's in the summer.  Hope to see you soon, Iowa!