Parks, No Letterboxing...Can You Believe It?

We made a list of goals for the summer. It was a pretty long list of things to do and places to go. There are only a few things left on the list: 2 things that we won't get to do, 2 things we will be doing when Matt's dad is here at the end of the month and 1 thing we did this past weekend (go to Scott County Park and the Pioneer Village). I am very proud of us reaching our goals for the summer!


We got up early Sunday morning and got a few things done around the house. We left for the day mid morning. Our first stop was to drop off a few things at Becki's parents. While Matt unloaded garage sale boxes, the kids ate a snack on the driveway and showed off their dance moves!


Scott County Park was our next destination. This is a beautiful park in Iowa, about 20 minutes away from our house. Lots of hiking, playgrounds, camping, swimming, etc. We were able to play a lot and even see some wildlife!!


Just outside of Scott County Park is a Pioneer Village called Walnut Grove. The kids loved to run around and look in all of the different shops, church & school. Their favorite, by far!, was the old train.

Buffalo Bill Homestead...Buffalo Bill was born in this area and his homestead is just a few miles from the Pioneer Village. We got there and found we were the only visitors - so we had the place to ourselves to run & play! Reflecting back, that was the case throughout the day! We had a beautiful, sunny Fall day to enjoy some history & great parks in Scott County.
Matt & I decided to show the kids how to do a kartwheel (Katie was trying to do one)...Here I am laughing at myself after doing one - Wow!! Hadn't done one of those in YEARS!!

Here is Matt...Matt & I laughed later (once we saw the pictures)...we decided that in our minds the kartwheels were beautiful...but the pictures revealed otherwise! Either way, we were very proud of each other to make silly sacrifices for the sake of the kids (who loved it by the way!).

Getting home that night, we unloaded the van...it felt surreal that we didn't have any letterboxing items to unload or any "finds" to log in! I guess there is life beyond letterboxing! : )

I can't drive - I'm not a teenager!!

We were going to go to the zoo today...until I picked up the girls from school! From the school to the parking lot, I lost control of all 4 kids!! It was not pretty. Katie was screaming, Alex was crying and the twins were loose! So, I informed them that I was going to surprise them by taking them to the zoo...but now we weren't going. Yeah, that made them happy...or not!

Once we got home, I put the twins in their room to nap and sat with the girls to lecture them on their attitudes. About halfway through my lecture, Alex looks at me (totally serious) and says "Me & Katie are going to walk to the zoo". I told her that is fine - go ahead. Katie started fussing and saying, "Alex, we can't walk. It is too far!!" At that point Alex stopped talking and I could see her little wheels spinning. She didn't miss a beat though when she looked at Katie and said, "Ok Katie, you're driving". I had to quiet my laugh...and Katie started freaking out and saying, "Alex, I can't drive...I'm not a teenager!". Alex made her final decision - she would drive.

We did end up going to the zoo a bit later in the afternoon. This will be our last visit until spring. Niabi zoo is closing early this fall so they can work on some construction projects before winter hits.

Not another cemetary, Dad!!

We got an early start (doesn't happen very often for us!) this past Saturday to do some letterboxing in Burlington, IA. There were 11 new boxes that we wanted to get before winter. After getting the kids loaded up and breakfast in their laps, we let them watch a movie (another rarity - we generally wait until later in the day for a movie). Matt & I were able to enjoy the peace & quiet for a few hours. We love the headphones - definitely worth their weight in gold!!

First stop was the port of Burlington. We were able to find Buster...and hunted unsuccessfully for "Where is Delaware?".

The kids sitting under the bridge looking for "Where is Delaware?"

Alex WAS successful in finding this leash on the ground and ended up using it all day for "Roxy", her reindeer.

We were so proud of the kids! This walkway is very narrow and grated. If you look down, you see the river below you. I didn't try it, but I honestly don't know that I could have done it! All 4 did it (the twins were pretty cautious, but Alex ran back and offered her help for them).

Here are Matt & the kids

...and Maddie walking back to the bikepath.

I gave Will a high-five when he walked off the dock...this is what he offered me in return. Instead of high-fives, he kisses my hand!! (he has been doing this for months, we just finally got a picture of it!)


We next drove to Snake Alley - named "The Crookedest Street in the World" by Ripley's Believe it or Not. We were disappointed to find that we couldn't drive down it due to repairs being done. We were able to walk it though. I have been here before to watch the Memorial Day Weekend Bicycle Criteum. If you EVER get a chance to watch this race, do it!! It is unbelievable to watch the bike riders push themselves up this hill!

Mosquito Park held our next box, "The Catfish are Jumping". The kid loved the "Mosquito Park" sign - the M was a fancy mosquito! Very clever. What a beautiful view of the river! Wow!

Maddie was the finder for this box...here she is putting it back (don't worry...Matt went in after her to hide it better...although she is getting pretty anal about making sure it is covered up all the way!)

Will wearing his "silly hat"...his backpack...and showing off his new catfish stamp.

We found Lucinda's Rose a few miles outside of Burlington and then drove back to Aspen Grove Cemetary. We have gone boxing in Burlington 3 times and each time we have found a new box in this cemetary. It is a huge & beautiful cemetary...very easy to get lost in! When we finally found the box, we spotted these deer (notice where I place the two stars...also notice how close the kids are to the deer!!). When I hollered at them to head back, Katie wanted to know why the deer ran away. I told her that they are scared of us. Her answer was "well, I wish they would come back so I could tell the daddy deer that we are just little girls and boys. There is nothing to be scared of!"

The "Lorax" series (book by Dr. Seuss) and "Cupcake" were our next boxes - found in Perkin Park. There was a wedding in the park, but luckily it didn't interfere with our hunting. We stopped to play in the playground and get some slide pictures. While there, Will decided he had to go potty so bad that he couldn't wait to head to the bathroom. He said "Mommy, Potty" and I looked in time to see him standing beside me (on the playground), peeing...pants down to his ankles! I couldn't get him dressed fast enough! We found daddy and off they went to the bathroom! Now Maddie doesn't understand why she can't do that! We were successful in finding all 4 boxes at this park. The kids loved finding the Lorax stamps - we had read the book on the drive down and tried to guess what the images would be.

Our last stop in Burlington was Crapo & Dankwardt parks. Both of these boxes are based on Chief Black Hawk. We took a nice mile walk and saw a beautiful waterfall, but we were unsuccessful with both boxes. It was getting late in the afternoon and the kids were nearing the end of their ropes. We decided to head out of town to Burnside, IL (and a few surrounding towns) to find a few more boxes before the sun went down. This decision gave us an hour of driving (snacks & movie for the kids!)

We found 3 cemetary boxes: "With the Best of Intentions", "More than Lincoln" and "Fountain Green Cemetary". We attempted "Heroes" with no luck. This is the drive that leads up to that cemetary. However (thanks Wrong Way for the note!) we didn't trust driving over this bridge, so we walked!

We finished the day in Blandinsville, IL looking for 4 boxes. We were successful with 2 of them, but 2 are indoors at a location that was closed. We ended with 15 boxes and a VERY dirty car from the country gravel roads...traveling to all the country cemetaries. I must say that it warms Matt's heart when we drive by a cemetary and Maddie & Will both say "Daddy...Letterbox!!"

The Hart Family

My friend Kari loves her new Cricut machine...and new cartridge that makes these people! She surprised me with this mini Hart family...She knows how much my kids love to dress up!! I love how I look - peaceful and sane!

Cubbies & Sparks

Last night was our second week of Awana (Cubbies for the twins, Sparks for the older girls). Awana is a bible based youth program...we started when Katie was 3 and now all of the kids LOVE it! To hear Will & Maddie talk excitedly about Cubbies brings joy to our hearts...I don't know if they like the actual program or they just like it because they are doing what their older sisters did for the past 3 years! I think it is a little of both. All 4 kids received their vests last week during the meeting, so I took a picture last night before we left. I don't know why it is SO hard to get a nice, smiling picture...but it is. So I am settling for this (this is the best of the 20 that I took!).

studying the map

Katie loves maps! She drew this map (in her hand) today and was showing all the kids where our house is, as well as our neighbors, hospital, library & school. I walked out and saw them...ran back in to grab the camera and they were still positioned the same when I ran back out! There aren't many times when all 4 of my kids cooperate with each other and actually enjoy the same thing...glad I got a picture to prove to myself that it DOES happen occasionally!

Lucky Duck

We picked up her new bike at school today - to see the proud smile on her face as we walked the bike to the van was priceless!! Unfortunately, she tried the bike when we got home and it was too big for her (without the training wheels)...she fell a few times (getting extremely frustrated in her after school tireds!). So, the bike will be put in a safe place until next summer - hopefully she will have grown a bit by then!!
The Lord has showered His blessings on our little Alex (I love this picture...it shows how little she truly is!!). Roosevelt school (where the girls attend) held a safety fair last Wednesday. When the girls got in the van that afternoon, Katie was the first to inform me that "Alex won a bike"..."What?"..."they pulled her name and she won a bike!"..."are you sure it was a bike and not a helmet?"..."no Mom, they said 6 people would win a bike and they said Alex Hart". I still wasn't sure that I wanted to believe it, but we received this picture and a letter from the school today. Evidently Alex DID win a brand new bike and a bike helmet! I have to contact the school about picking up the bike next week, so I will post another picture at that point in time.

As a side note, Alex has won PZ Kut, a birdhouse (with chocolate candy inside), a $40 gift card for Chuck E Cheese and now a bike & helmet...all in the past 1 1/2 years! Please excuse us while we take her to buy some lotto tickets!

Feeding the Squirrels

A month or so ago, Alex found a "baby acorn" while hiking. She had placed this baby acorn in her treasure box and had taken good care of it. Fast forward to this past weekend. The kids were all playing outside - Alex came running through the kitchen, heading downstairs. I followed her to make sure everything was okay. She grabbed her treasure box and looked for the acorn. As she ran back upstairs she was telling me that she found a squirrel that needed to eat her acorn! She was so willing to give up her treasure for a SQUIRREL!! That is Alex for you - our middle child - the one who is always giving, rarely receiving (see bike post!!). Even though the squirrel was long gone, she placed the acorn by the fence...knowing that he would be back to get it!

Spending Time with Great Grandma

We did lots of fun things with Great Grandma Hart this weekend. Here are some pictures to prove that!!

We took Grandma to the John Deere Pavilion...

We also enjoyed a ride on the Channel Cat...Ate yummy Chick-Fil-A after church...and again on Labor Day with the kids team jerseys (thanks Grandma!) Whiteys & Whiteys again (a good way to start & end our weekend!)!! We had a great time with you Great Grandma! Thanks for coming all the way from Oregon to visit us.

Off to Preschool

Maddie & Will started preschool today. Will was up early enough to go with Matt to drop the girls off at Roosevelt. He was so excited and grabbed his backpack while running out the door. Alex gave him a pep talk about preschool on the drive to their school - "Will, you will have so much fun at preschool", "Will, are you going to go potty on the toilet? Good, because you need to if you are in preschool". To say that Will was heartbroken when Matt wouldn't let him get out at Roosevelt would be an understatement. He evidently thought that was his school too. Will was still pretty upset with Matt when they got home.

We left for the "real" preschool about an hour later and everything went extremely well...They were thrilled to see me when I picked them up later, but they seemed to enjoy their time there.