Mother's Day Weekend

We decided to head to Northwest Iowa for Mother's Day weekend.  Aaron took his last personal day and we picked-up Jenna from the Blank Park Zoo and made the long trek to Sioux City.  I love seeing family, but man oh man do I hate the actual packing and traveling part.

Anyway, after a quick trip to Target we headed out to our friend Gabe's house.  He (along with his wife, Jenny) live north of Sioux City on three acres of land.  Gabe is like an annoying brother.  A total smart ass, but when you haven't seen him for awhile you realize you kind of missed him. :)  He took the kids for rides on his 4-wheeler.  They loved it, especially Jenna!

 Adam and Jill and the girls came up Friday night too, so it was great to see them.  Aubrey is a May birthday, so we celebrated her birthday on Saturday.  She was very embarrassed when we sang her happy birthday.

 The big two year old!  I love her, what a cutie pa-tootie!  She has an affection for Minnie Mouse.

 The weather was better than expected, so the grandkids got some quality playtime in the backyard at grandma and grandpa's.

 Jenna found this ginormous lion in the basement and toted it around with her all weekend.

 My two peas in a pod.  Bowen ventured out off the patio area into the grass and these two found some dirt to play in.

 Brody showing Bowen the ropes of getting dirty and playing in the dirt.

 No trip to Sioux City is complete without a stop to Caribou Coffee!  Love that place.  It was so warm I had to get an iced coffee.

 After my trip to Caribou I took Jenna and Brody to an elementary playground nearby to burn off some more energy.  The other Burdorf clan had headed to Spencer to see Jill's family.

 Saturday night we saw some good friends of ours from college, Jared and Jill Bodammer and their twin boys.  Ironically, they live just down the street from Frank and Linda.  We had an AWESOME time catching up with them!  They made a huge, tasty meal and the rest of the time we chased around two sets of twin boys. :)  I'll have more about that in another post.

 Jared and Aaron played bags.  Blake (above) was their distraction during the game.

 They had a circular brick patio area that Jenna and Brody thought was like the Indy track or something as they kept going around in circles.

 In honor of Mother's Day...Aaron and his mama. :)

Sunday morning we headed to Cherokee to have lunch at my mom's.  She put Bill in charge of the meal and it was delish.  He made me an asparagus seafood bisque! Can you say yummy?!  

The kids were excited to meet the three kittens my mom's cat just had a few months ago.  Aren't they cute?

 My mom's neighbor and landlord put this trampoline right next to my mom's place.  The kids LOVED it.  Jenna and Brody wore Uncle Mitch out. :)

 Me and my mama.  Love her.  Maybe someday her hair will be brown again so we actually look a little bit alike - haha!

 One final stop at my dad's before we headed out of town.  The first thing Brody asked for was to get grandpa's tractor out.  He gave Jenna, Blake and Bowen rides.

 It was a great trip.  Like I told Aaron, it was nice for me to get away because I didn't have to worry about housework or going up to the office.  I just relaxed and really enjoyed myself.  It was nice.  The kids both made me something in school for Mother's Day.  It's my favorite when they fill something out.  Here's Jenna's:

 My favorite food is asparagus and I like to pick her up from school.  Love that we look the same. :)
And Brody's:

 I'm the best at giving out vitamins.  Well, I guess that's important, isn't it?!

All of my baby dolls.  I feel so lucky that I have been blessed with four great kids.  I thank God everyday that he chose me to be their mom.  They are each unique and special in their own way and that's why I love each of them.  They keep me on my toes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. :)