Drawing in Space - Art Center

Drawing in Space is an exhibit currently on display at the Art Center. According to their website: https://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/exhibitions/drawing-in-space

this is the work of 3 artists and one artist collective: Dave Eppley, Monika Grzymala, Numen/For Use and Heeseop Yoon. Uniting these artists are explorations of line and space through large-scale, site-specific installations using a novel yet humble material, tape.

 These works are incredible and massive!

 Streching across the Art Center...and interactive, so we headed to the Art Center to check it out

 Our friend, Paisley, came along, we were able to climb inside one of the exhibits!

 Tunnels of tape!

 No shoes or sharp objects, but we were free to explore!

 It was really cool and a little strange to be crawling across tape, Trigg thought it was awesome

 Down the tunnel we go

 Selfie with Trigg!

 He is already trying to figure out how he can recreate this in his room!

 Tape, tape, tape...how cool is that!

This is a traveling exhibit, so it is only on display till late January 2018, so if you have a free afternoon you should check it out!

Center Grove Orchard

As fall rolls around, we love to head to Center Grove Orchard to pick apples, find pumpkins and have fun at the farm! All smiles from this crew as we start our adventure!

 They have a story book field complete with the billy goats gruff! Blythe finding her way over the bridge.

 We can practice planting and harvesting in their kids barn!

 And look at all those pumpkins!

 They have a giant corn pool that is always a big hit with our kids! Blythe was a little slow to warm up to sitting in the corn, but once she got used to it she had fun!

 Garrett is all in when it comes to the corn pool!

 Loving it!

 Brothers having fun!

 They also have a "blob" jumping mat that is super fun!

 And the giant slide! We ride on grain bags and go though giant culverts to slide down the huge hill. It is super fun...

 ...but a little scary the first time you go! (My favorite picture from our whole day!!!)

 Then it was off to the apple orchard to pick some apples

 B found a good apple!

 The next stop is the pumpkin patch

 My three pumpkins found pumpkins!

We love Center Grove Orchard and could easily spend a day there with all the stuff they have to do! I would highly recommend heading to Cambridge, IA for some fall fun!

Mt Rushmore - South Dakota Trip

Thinking about a summer trip...with 3 little's in the car, we knew that we could travel too far without getting stir crazy, so we looked at the map and considered our options. With family in Sioux Falls, SD, we had a good pit stop on the way out to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands!For our family summer trip, we packed up the Jeep and headed west. 2 in the far back, 1 in the middle and parents up front...let's do this!

 B snuggled in and ready for the trip!

 We stayed at Holy Smoke Resort and Campground nestled in scenic Keystone, SD.

Our cabin was great and the kids loved it!

Custer State Park was by far my favorite adventure/spot/place that we explored. It covers 71,000 acres in the Black Hills and there is lots to do: hiking, exploring, abundant wildlife...there is adventure for everyone!

 We grabbed our gear and explored some trails!

Adventure is out there...let's go find it! This crew was all smiles as we started out!

 We hiked this trail that went past "Needles", formed from granite pillars!

 So fun to hike through the woods and see the granite formations!

 After the hike, we jumped back in the car for a driving tour. Blythe fell asleep, so we checked out the little cave right next to the car!

This road takes you through several tunnels...

 This one is called the "Eye of the Needle"

 And another tunnel!

 We hopped out to check out this cool tunnel!

 Then we stopped at the beautiful Sylvan Lake.

 There is a short hike around the lake that is really fun!

 Back in the car, we hit the Wildlife Loop Road...and sure enough, we found some buffalo!

 Lots of buffalo

 Buffalo that got closer and closer to the car...

 Really close!

 This one was using this car's license plate as a back scratcher!

 Highlight for Trigg, meeting a real Park Ranger (that's what he wants to be when he grows up!)

 The next day, we headed to Bear Country USA, a drive-thru wildlife park!

 The bears were everywhere!

 We stayed in the car and the bears were right next to the road!

 Walking beside us! The kids thought this was awesome!

 The next day we headed to the famous, Mt Rushmore!

 Majestic figures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, carved into the rock! We learned how they were made and toured the artists workshop!

 Trigg was determined to pick George Washington's nose...check!

 On the way back to Iowa, we took the back roads and went through the Badlands...which means more driving. Blythe didn't seem to mind!

 Welcome to the Badlands!

 The scenery dramatically changed from where we were, no more forest...this is more like a desert!

 Even has some cactus!

2 National Parks + 1 State Park + Buffalo + Prairie Dogs + 1 Mom + 1 Dad + 2 boys + 1 girl = fun family vacation!

Another pit stop in Sioux Falls and then home to Iowa! A great family trip in the books!