git along, little doggies

Hey All! It's Tuesday (aka back-up blog day) and I'm happy to report that we've really been enjoying our time in Iowa. Last Tuesday we went to Iowa City and had lunch with my undergraduate voice teacher, Stephen Swanson. We had a great time catching up with him and I did my best to talk him into visiting us in Frankfurt. After lunch we went and saw my cousin Lacey and her family. We enjoyed taking a tour of their new house and seeing how big their boys are getting.

On Saturday, my parents took us to the farmer's market in Des Moines. I hadn't ever been to the farmer's market before in spite of the decades it's been running. A friend of mine who I hadn't seen since high school has a stand there and we enjoyed catching up with her.

Mom, Brenda and I at the farmer's market in Des Moines.

Every time we come back to Ankeny eating breakfast at CJ's Bagels is a must. My grandmother has eaten many a breakfast there and is somewhat of a celebrity among those that frequent CJ's. We've already been there twice this trip and I wouldn't be surprised if we find ourselves there again before we leave. Below is a picture of my mom at CJ's with my adorable nephew, Noah.

On what must have been one of the hottest days of the summer, my parents, Brad, Brenda and I all put on our spikes (some of us figuratively) and went golfing. This was the second round of golf Brenda has ever played and it's safe to say that she's a natural. We played four person best shot (Brad played his own game) and we used quite a few of Brenda's shots. If she ever decides to make a career change I'm going to encourage her to pursue professional golf.

Brenda mid-swing at Toad Valley golf course.

Brenda and I have been talking about going up to Osage and riding horses for a couple of years now and yesterday we finally did it. For those of you who don't know, Osage is the town where my mother grew up and we still have a lot of family there. My uncle Mark was kind enough to let us ride Bonita and Roxy (two of his horses) around his beautiful new acreage. I wish I could tell you that I was a natural at commanding the 1100 pound animal but I'm afraid that, for the most part, Bonita only walked when she felt like it. Mark and my parents kept encouraging me to kick Bonita harder but I was hesitant to do so seeing as I was trying to stay on her good side. Brenda and I rode for around an hour and afterwards both agreed that the soreness was well worth it.

Brenda and I atop our noble steeds.

Our summer vacation is finally winding down. We leave for Frankfurt on Friday which means that my next blog post shall be written in Deutschland. We've had a great vacation and we are very thankful that we got to see those of you that we could. For those of you that we didn't see, you'll just have to come visit us in Germany! Until next time, have a great week.