Ella and Jack have definitively been taking advantage of their Iowa relatives this summer! With Aunt Abby in town from Austin for her bachelorette party, Ella, Jack, and I (Jeritt) decided to made the trek back to Iowa to visit my family for the weekend. Ella and Jack had a blast playing on the farm and with cousins Ava and Reid. On Friday, Ella and Jack helped Grandma "Neema" do chores, pick flowers, ride in the tractor, drive the lawn mower and feed baby calves. On Saturday, Ella and Jack played with Grandpa Al and Ava, Reid, Jill and Adam. Ella has mentioned many times (prior to this trip and since) that she loves to play with all of Ava and Reid's toys. Also, despite less than ideal weather, we were able to make it to the pool for a few hours on Saturday.
Elsewhere during the week, Ella was determined to fly so Liz made Ella some "wings". Also, on Sunday, Abbie and Eric stopped by for a few hours while back from from Washington D.C. Jeff, Kristen, Jace and Erin and Martin also came over to visit.
 |
| Getting ready to feed the cows! |
 |
| Jack decided to start early. |
 |
| Grandma Neema had to help. |
 |
| Jack's turn! |
 |
| Of course we finish with a trailer / lawn mower ride. |
 |
| Ella's (and MooCow) turn to drive the lawn mower. |
 |
| Ella and Danny take a closer look at the cows. |
 |
| Ella wanted to bring this cow back to Chicago. |
 |
| Thankfully Danny offered to keep it for her in Iowa. |
 |
| Tractor rides with Jamie and Donnie. |
 |
| Jack was a big fan of sunflowers. |
 |
| "I'm going to keep you" |
 |
| They found a baby kitten. |
 |
| Feeding baby calves! Ella was a natural. |
 |
| Going for a gator ride! |
 |
| Movie time! (With popcorn and M&Ms. Ella just ate the M&Ms) |
 |
| Ella sent this up by herself. |
 |
| She's a natural. |
 |
| A fitting way to end the trip. Ella decided to put stickers on herself. |
 |
| Liz made Ella her very own wings. |
 |
| We have to make sure Ella is aware that she can't truly fly. |
 |
| Eric and Jace |
