DSM - part III - the vineyard tour

Iowa is known for its agricultural products - corn, soybeans, pork, beef. And now some people are trying to add wine to the list! We had a great time touring some local wineries & tasting their vintages. We went to Jasper Winery, in DSM; La Vida Loca Winery, outside Indianoloa; and Two Saints Winery, near St. Charles. They make some pretty good stuff!



La Vida Loca Winery -
Yes, it was named after the song.
They have AWESOME, SPECTACULAR stuff here...
The Autumn Harvest, Cinnamon and Cynthiana wines were our favorites - though we'd have liked to have taken home several others!



Sign to let you know you've reached the vineyard...
b/c the grapevines among all the nearby corn & soybeans aren't a dead giveaway... ;)
It's called Two Saints b/c it is between the cities of St. Mary's and St. Charles...


View from the porch at Two Saints



LOTS of stuff to try...
We liked the 'edelweiss' and 'leon millot' the best



The tasting area


No pics of the Jasper Winery b/c we forgot the camera that day. But it's a really COOL building, and you can go inside, taste the wine, and see the vats & stuff where they make it all.

DSM - part II - parents' night out!

My parents graciously agreed to watch the boys for the night so Jim & I could have a night out. We went to the local AAA baseball game for the night - we thought about doing the Farmer's market the next morning...but didn't want to b/c of all the stuff going on that weekend downtown.


The DSM skyline...
Yes, there really are big, tall buildings in Iowa not just farms and cows and pigs...



SecTaylor Stadium, um, I mean 'Principal Park'



See...it's Principal Park now...
the scoreboard



It's funny, when the stadium is built for the fans, you can actually SEE the players!

Obligatory picture (YUCK!)

Notice our matching I-Cubs hats - yeah, they were free...



DINNER!

Chicago dogs & drinks



Jim made me do this...

Me, Jim, "Cubbie"



Look how close we are!

Jim almost caught a fly ball (would have except he was holding dinner in his hands); and almost caught a T-shirt, too...but the guys next to us got it.

Afterwards there were fireworks, which were really LOUD and made us really glad the boys were at grandma's house!

Trip to DSM - part 1

The trip to DSM is LONG...so we took a break in KC at a 'Penguin Park'. The kangaroo & penguin are over 20 feet tall...there is also a giraffe & an elephant in the park, too.



View of part of the park. There is a slide INSIDE the kangaroo which Andrew went on.



Andrew at the bottom of the elephant slide.
I could NOT believe he actually did this b/c it was SO high up.



And, this would be my biggest kid enjoying the park.
He also stood next to the giraffe and measured his height against the (fake) animal



Peter rides an elephant

They LOVED this bridge!

Andrew got pretty good at it..

Peter was a little less secure and had those chains in a death grip.



The kangaroo

The penguin

Train Ride - June 2009

Every year, BNSF offers a special train ride for its employees and their families. This year the 'special' was in Texas! So we got tickets & took the boys. As we drove up, Andrew excitedly yelled, "Hey! It's one of Pop-pop's trains!" Peter just kept saying, "Tain! Tain! Tain!" over and over again - also very excitedly. When I went to get him out of the car, Peter added, "So 'cited!" (so excited!). That pretty much summed it up. It was a fantastic ride!



Near the engine...
this was actually AFTER the ride was over, hence the boys' uncooperativeness



Andrew & Pop-pop



Family shot, before the train started moving



They even gave us treats - goldfish & sprite & fruit roll-ups!



Peter had a 'capri-sun'. He really enjoyed it!



An inside view of a double-decker car



Peter wears the engineer's hat

Andrew having fun on the ride!

Pop-pop and Peter looking out the window

In front of the car we rode in...

Trip to the FW Zoo - June 2009

We took a trip to the FW Zoo to meet up with some friends. Unfortunately, due to traffic & various other things, we didn't get to see our friends until almost the end of the trip, but the boys and I still had fun watching the animals. I also learned that this particular zoo is not very stroller-friendly...and that Peter should not be allowed out of the stroller unless we invest in some sort of degrading leash-type thing...or Jim is there to help corral him.




The boys LOVED the flamingoes.
These were the quiet ones, which amazingly, my boys preferred over the very loud ones on the other side. PEter calls them 'mingoes'; Andrew has started calling them by their proper name - which is good, but also sad, as I liked the term 'eagle-mangoes'...



This is one of my fav pics of Peter.
Don't worry...it was a happy scream, I promise...




In the midst of searching for our friends, we stopped here to have a snack.
Notice Andrew wearing a raincoat - it is NOT raining and is actually quite HOT & muggy outside - I think he just liked it because it was 'unca luke's' coat





The boys watching the penguins.
They liked watching them waddle & swim,
I liked that the building had A/C



This car was, sadly, the highlight of the trip.
Notice Peter waiting patiently for his turn...
he was NOT so patient when I made him get out so we could move on...



random kid, Peter, Andrew, other random kids playing in the fountain
This cemented the learning experience of 'why Peter can't be out of the stroller'