Weekends Galore

I've failed to document several of my latest weekend adventures, so I fully anticipate this post to be a long, unorganized, post full of too many pictures and faint recollections. So bear with me.

WEEKEND 1
June 21: Baby Day
My sister and I had a baby day adventure! We started the day at Brookside Park where we ate a picnic lunch, played on the play grounds, climbed on the firetruck, dug in the sand, and splashed in puddles.

I can hardly stand how cute this is. He is going to be a heart-breaker someday.

Abby and Baby Quinn!

Afterwards, we surprised the babies and headed to the pool. As soon as we pulled in, Kennedy said in her cute, concerned voice, "but we don't have our swimming suits!" ...and when she learned her mama had secretly packed suits and pool toys for her and her baby brother, she couldn't contain her excitement.

Just look at that cute little bottom!

I took this video about five minutes later...

Later that night the babies asked if we could visit their great grandma (they love her so much!). She was so happy (obviously!) to answer the door and see two cute little ones staring up at her through the glass! After visiting with grandma, we snuggled up with popcorn and Stuart Little. What a perfect day.

June 22: Cedar Falls
After dropping off the babies at their mama and papa's house, I headed up to Cedar Falls for the day. A few days earlier, Trent had five trees cut down in his yard. Five HUGE trees. And, of course, he made sure to wait till I was there before disposing of all of those trees. So, guess who got to help? This red-haired girl. It was a long, tiring, and extremely hot day, but, I have to say, it did me good; living with my rents means I do zero yard work. And, holy crap, I was so appreciative of my parents after that day. ALSO, I stole several slices of tree for some fire wood for the 4th of July. So, for the next week, my car looked like this:

After our miserably hot day, Trent and I headed out for a date. Trent is so cute. He absolutely loves taking me out on dates. He's like a little giddy school girl each time we go out. I swear, he actually likes waiting for me to get ready. It's always the same...he'll be sitting in his chair, legs on his ottoman, beverage in hand, sports on the tele, and I'll come out in whatever disheveled outfit I happened to pull out of my suitcase (I am a terrible packer), and say, "ready?" and up he jumps, all giddy like, and ready in a second. He'll give me some sort of compliment, I'll brush it off like it's nothing (but inside I'm blushing), and out the door we'll go. Then, once we finally decide on a place to eat (he always makes me pick), he'll ask me ten thousand times if I'm sure that's the appetizer I want and if I'm sure I don't want another one. I love him.

Anyway, this night we went to Tony's--a cute, modernish looking pizzeria. I pick this restaurant, every time, for their calamari (even though it requires several strong shakes of salt). Then, my dear friend, Christy, and her fiance, Marcus, joined us for a drink. Afterwards, we had a quick drink or two at Toads and called it an early night.

WEEKEND 2
June 26-28: Sturgis Falls
This weekend is always one of my summertime favorites. If you're from central Iowa, "Sturgis Falls" is the equivalent of "Colo Fun Days" or "Lincoln Highway Days," but in all honesty, there are few close comparisons to be made. Sturgis Falls is a thousand times bigger and a million times better. Sorry, Colo, but you're dinky beer garden and little kid blow-up-bouncy-thing just doesn't do much for this girl. But STURGIS? I feel like the angels sing when I say that word.

Natalie and I headed to Cedar Falls on Friday afternoon. Once there, we tried and re-tried on seventeen outfits, made a pit-stop at a local martini bar with Marcus and Christy, then headed to the beer garden. My favorite part of the night, for sure, was when Lauren and I started a line dance (traveling four corners--aka, the circle dance) in the crowd; whilst weaving/dancing in and out of people, we accumulated about ten other fellow dancers. We all loved it. And of course, so did our audience ;)

The cute, almost newly weds, Marcus and Christy

Christy, Lauren, Me, and Nat

Me and an old Carlos regular, Troy; I ran into him and his wife, Lisa, every day of Sturgis weekend.

After closing that place down, we hit the bars. I think. Obviously, my memory is a bit foggy--I'll blame this on time, not drinks. 

The next day:
Natalie and I walked around the festivities for a while.
Natalie and I hit the mall (where I purchased seven of the same sweater in seven different colors. really.).
Christy and I got pedicures/manicures.
And, then...the beer garden again.

WEEKEND 3
July 4th weekend: Eldora Tubing Extravaganza

WEEKEND 4
July 12: This night consisted of four ladies, one baby girl, sushi, margaritas, a small town bar in Kelley, IA, and live country music from our local celebrity, Mr. Neil Hewitt.

 

July 13: On this night we had an impromptu, gluten free barbeque at my house. I've never hosted a gluten-free party before, but my mama and I pulled it off--complete with gluten-free chocolate chip cookies (who knew that was possible??)!

After hours of card games, we brought the party to the beer garden/street dance in Colo. I have to admit, I loved this night--mostly because I spent the majority of the evening being swung around the makeshift dance floor. 

Amy!

WEEKEND 5
July 18: I spent the evening with my old friend, Nate. I had a ton of fun, which ultimately depressed me, as I knew it was the last time I'd see him in a really, really long time (he's moving to Arizona today). It's so difficult to describe the relationship I used to have with him; it's the kind that is still comfortable today, even if we only see each other every few months. We spent the night talking, laughing, drinking, playing Mario Cart, and hanging with another friend, Tyler, until 4 AM.

July 19: Another day of goodbyes :( My friend, Laura, and I went to the pool and had such a fun, relaxing day! Laura is another lifelong friend and everything just comes so easy with her. But, sadly, she moved to Colorado a week ago...everything around me is changing way too freaking fast!

Holy crazy hair!

July 20: This day was spent tubing in Boone, eating gizzards and pizza, and watching movies at Natalie's house.

It seems like all five of those weekends were over in a blink of an eye--I wish life would slow down!