Epic Journey to Iowa

The kids and I left last Friday for a 19-hour drive to Iowa to spend a week with my college roommate Shelley and her kids. We took two days to make the trip, stopping frequently at rest areas to eat out of our ice chest and spent the night at a hotel in Louisville. We were in a daze when we pulled in on Saturday night.

Shelley and her family live on a campground, where Shelley's husband is the executive director. It's a great place for kids--there's a swimming pool, a dining hall (= no cooking meals for us) and lots of dirt roads for riding bikes. I went for a run one evening on the campground, and it felt like I was in a Disney movie, with a pink sunset and deer and rabbits leaping across my path.

The kids are enrolled in swim lessons every morning at the local country club, where they apparently have hired the Iowa bikini team as instructors.

Josh learning the backstroke

Molly is the smallest kid in swim lessons, and the first day she was a terror. She screamed, cried, and attached herself to the program director (pictured here) for 45 minutes. She made an excellent recovery, though, and now is a very enthusiastic participant.

Maggie, Molly, Alex and Josh after swim lessons today

We spent one afternoon at a local vineyard, listening to live bluegrass music and drinking wine while the kids played among the grapevines. It was pretty idyllic.

Alex, Molly and Josh in the vineyard

Molly has gone from being camera shy to now performing all sorts of weird dance moves when a camera is turned on her.

Josh and Alex playing fetch with Zoe at one of the camp's ponds

Josh and Shelley in the garden

Me, Shelley and a new friend, Laura, at the drive-in double feature last night in the middle of a bunch of cornfields. We got home at 2:15 a.m. and successfully cared for five children all day--including taking them to a parade--without growling, barking or other obvious expressions of sleep-deprived crankiness.