So, we left Friday morning at about noon on Northwest Airlines, and departed from Nasvhille. At around 3:45pm, we arrived at the Des Moines airport. Sarah's mom, dad, sister, and our 3 year old nephew, Riley, were there to greet us. This was actually the first time I had met my nephew, so that was a new and neat experience.
The rest of Friday included a trip to the hobby shop (awesome, btw). I went there to look for Star Trek model kits, but while there my nephew, who loves trains, saw all of the model railroad stuff in the hobby shop. He went nuts. I think we both were sad to leave the hobby shop.
After that, we all went to Sarah's sister's house to eat dinner. We had hot dogs and chips, how can you go wrong...yummy. As I arrived at the house, I got to reunite with my brother-in-law, Jason, who is a really cool guy. It was fun to see him again after 5 years.
The next morning, all the ladies went shopping around at Goodwill's, while the men had their own plans. Sarah's dad and I are both artist, so we spend much of the morning discussing our various art projects that we were working on, and complimenting each other's work. I got to view many of his paintings, while he got to view some of the visual effects work I did on Ryan Vs. Dorkman 2.
After that, Jason and Riley came over, and my father-in-law took us to Iowa State University's Reiman Gardens. I must say, it was quite the good time. They had over 80 species of butterflies in the atrium, and many exotic plants as well. Riley had a great time looking at the butterflies, as did the rest of us.
Later that night, we had a church meeting. After that, the whole family at at Pizza Hut, where we had sausage and pepperoni thin crust pizza. How can you go wrong? Yummy.
On Sunday morning, we attended our church services, and then went to Jason and Laura's house to have a delcious meal. Laura is a great cook, by the way, just like her mother and sister. After that, we all went back to Sarah's parent's house to play Cranium. That was a fun game. Movin' on up! That night, I had to say goodbye to Jason, as he had to work the next day, and I would not see him anymore on that trip. After everyone went their seperate ways, I watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith with my father-in-law. I always enjoy that movie, if for no other reason that the awesome visual effects.
On Monday morning, I went with my sister-in-law, mother-in-law, wife, and nephew to Ames. There I went to two hobby shops, and Hobby Lobby. I picked up a 1/144th scale F-15 Strike Eagle to assemble in my spare time when I am bored. After all that, we all, excluding Jason who was at work, went to my in-laws house for lunch. We had tacos. Very good.
Sadly, at around 4:00 pm, I had board a plane to come back to Alabama. A very sad and sinking feeling came over me as I stepped onto that plane. I had had such a fantastic four days, I did not want to leave. But alas, I am now back in Alabama, anxiously awaiting my next trip to Iowa in July.
And as a side note, my 3 year old nephew, Riley, is an awesome little kid. I'm happy to say, I have a new buddy in Iowa, that I look forward to hanging out with again in the future.
