Proverbs Thirty One: Thirty

Oh Iowa! We just got home from our first long road trip with Breyton to Rolfe, Iowa. The last time we were there, Breyton was in the womb! This time, it was Jon's Grandpa's 80th birthday and most of the family and friends were heading out to celebrate together.


We decided to leave after I got off work last Friday so that we could drive mostly through the night and help Breyton get through the {12 hour} drive! Lindsay accompanied us on the way there and got the pleasure of riding in the backseat next to Breyton. (She was prepared with Ipod and earplugs!) The drive there was pretty uneventful; a stop in Sterling for dinner at Arby's and for Breyton to stretch his legs and then hunkered down for the long road ahead. B finally fell asleep around 9:30pm and was utterly excited to get out and run around at the gas station in Grand Island, Nebraska at midnight! Back on the road, he didn't fall back asleep until 2am but was quiet and content the whole time. From there it was a quiet baby, Jon driving, me sleeping on and off, and only the sound of the Book On CD.



We arrived in Rolfe around 6am. We were met by Grandma Martin at the door and nice beds to sleep in downstairs! Breyton was not happy to be woken up and basically cried until he was put down in his bed.

Saturday: Woke up to Grandpa's famous 7-UP blueberry pancakes followed by introducing Breyton to Iowa and "the farm." B explored the house, said his hello's to the family staying there (he was happy to see Grandma and Grandpa -Kim & Randy- also joined him in Iowa!), and he was off to the vast expanse of the front yard to explore. The front door has a ramp that he instantly fell in love with going up and down on and then lots of land in front of that to walk to his heart's desire (with no mom or dad saying "no street"). Martin Grandparents are also known for their yearly summer kittens that take up an inhabitance in the old green house. There was one cat that Breyton became instant friends with, a kitty by the name of "Squeak." Squeak was a newborn kitten when we were their last but was the kitty that was sick. Well, whatever it had, it survived, but not without damaging it's vocal cords. So Squeak could not squeak. It was kind of funny; you could see him meow but no noise came out. He was very sweet though and followed Breyton around that first day and let him pet him too. Breyton loves kitty's.

That afternoon was the "friends" birthday party for Jim -- a lot of people we didn't know, some Jon knew of, but all waiting for B to wake up from his nap so they could meet him! Of course he slept like 2.5 hours that day and made the end of the party.


Sunday: Went to Jon's other grandma's house (Grandma Gerry). She is now in a nursing home so we, Kim, Lindsay and a couple of Kim's sister went over to say a last goodbye to the house and do some organizing. Breyton got to see ducks, baby chickens, and a rooster! He was not so fond of petting the chick for some reason though. He liked hearing them cheep though. There was also a ramp there from the back door which occupied most of Breyton's time.




That afternoon was the second birthday party/family reunion in town at Pizza Ranch. After lunch we went home to put Breyton down for a nap. Mainly just hung out the rest of the night with family; B walked around outside more and played with kitty.

Monday: In to town to see Grandma Gerry at the nursing home. She has pretty severe Alzheimer's at this point but she recognized Kim as someone she knew when we walked up. She has always loved kids and babies (she did have 12 kids!) and so she enjoyed seeing Breyton, holding his hand, waving hello to her, and watching him happily walk around. It was nice to see her again, not knowing how many opportunities we may have left!




That night, Jon and I went into Humboldt to get ice cream at DQ and see at 9:50pm showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Regular price of admission at that theatre is $4 each!! And Tuesday nights were $2 with free popcorn! Ah, small towns! And it only had one screen - weird! And the theatre was kind of opposite of stadium seating - the floor kind of went "uphill" to the screen. It was nice to get out together. Although, out of the maybe 10 people that were in the theatre, a group of 5-ish high schoolers clapped, repeated lines, laughed, and sympathized emotionally to the movie out loud. (Liz, totally your favorite kind of movie-going people! ;)

Tuesday: Last day in Iowa. We dug up some flower bulbs to bring back to my garden. Packed. Said goodbye. Headed to Nebraska.


Went to Omaha, Nebraska to stay the night with Joe and Liz. We got there a little early so we went to an outdoor mall to waste some time. They had some water fountains that Breyton really enjoyed playing in. Then we just let him walk with us meandering around to stores.

Went back to the Messer's to meet Liz for dinner. We convinced her to go to Chipotle (thank you Liz!)... Jon was having withdrawals from being in Iowa! Then took a burrito to Joe at work at ShopKo. After that, Jon took B home to put him to bed while Liz and I went out maternity clothes shopping and Starbucks drinking! Jon and Joe enjoyed some Rock Band that night after Joe got off work while Liz and I continued to talk pregnancy.

Wednesday: Took our time in the morning before the long drive home. Jon and Joe played more Rock Band while Breyton toddled around listening to their joyful rock music.


Long drive home. In the afternoon there were pockets of storms all across I-80. As soon as you got out of one torential pouring it was only a few minutes before hitting the next. In the middle of one of the storms, almost golf ball size hail started bolting down on us coming in sideways from the north (along with the down pouring of rain). It was incredibly loud hitting the car and hitting us so hard I thought it might shatter glass! All along, Breyton was completely sleeping through it! Jon decided just to keep driving to get through it (there weren't any covered areas to stop anyway). When we reached sunshine again, I could see dents in the rearview mirror. Sad day.

So, with a newly dented car and a tired baby, we trecked the rest of the way home. On a side note, Jon did see a BMW Z3 Coupe on the road which is then non-M version of his dream car, the M-Coupe. He said it's only one of maybe 4 he has seen on the road. This is the back view of it... I didn't have a chance to get a good shot.


Needless to say, we were happy to back in Colorado and happy to see that the terrible hail storm that came through did not hit our house. All-in-all, a good trip and very nice to see family! I told Breyton the car ride will be good practice for the long airplane ride to Hawaii!