For Christmas, Heather and I gave her two brothers and my sister coupons for a weekend of babysitting and this past weekend Rob and Erin cashed theirs in. So Friday afternoon, we packed up our gear, our dog and headed up to Orange City for a fun filled weekend.
First it was off to the park, the girls made a train down the slide!
and they made it to the bottom, say cheese!
Riley wanted to play on the playground too.
After the slide, it was over to the swing set.
Higher, Auntie, Higher!
The latest addition to their backyard is a trampoline! We had so much fun jumping and bouncing on the trampoline. We even took a group photo on it!
Dog pile on Uncle Seth
Bouncing, bouncing, bouncing
Karys gives her "Peace" sign
It's all thumbs up for the girls!
Let's take a break and look for birds, or a plane, or a cloud.
This is so much fun!
Saturday morning we made a road trip to Le Mars, IA. For those who aren't aware, Le Mars is the Ice Cream Capital of the World and is the home of the Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream factory.
We went for a tour through the museum.
And the best part of the trip was, of course, the ice cream!
And when Auntie Heather and Uncle Seth are babysitting, it doesn't matter that it is 10:30 in the morning, it is time for ice cream!
After our trip to Le Mars and the sugar high went away, it was story time, everyone on the couch.
We also played in the tent, who is in the tent with Gracie and Karys?
Why that's Auntie Heather!
Can Riley get in the tent too?
Sunday, we put on our cape's and became super hero's!
Wrapped real tight, like a burrito.
And one last time to the park, down the big twisty slide!
Let's all go down the slide, one at a time up the stairs.
This is so much fun, say CHEESE!
All in all, we had a blast with the girls. They are so much fun to play with and talk to. It was nice to be able to bless Rob and Erin with a weekend get-a-way, but we were also blessed to spend a weekend with two great girls. Their laughs and their love reminded me to enjoy the life that God has given us!
A yearly competition at the fair, the outhouse races. 
The competitors lined up and the rules were explained. The team in black on the left are from our church, Lutheran Church of Hope, the media team.
DMACC vs. KCCI, as the announcer said, this is basically like Beijing but without the smog!
The sprint down the Grand Concourse
Lutheran Church of Hope's outhouse
Heather checking out the new John Deere
Nathan, this one's for you
And where there is fun, we will find it!
Off to the horse barn, this horse was getting ready to be shown.
You can't miss the big bull, weighing in at 3,012 pounds!
We ran into the Siskow's at the Channel 8 news taping at 5:00
Aaron is still counting his money, and I think he is trying to teach Evan.
This is something seen only at the fair and I was so amazed I had to take a picture. This young gal had on her knee high, black rubber boots paired with her bright pink, Hannah Montana t-shirt. Awesome!
And for dinner, pork chops on a stick!
Behind us is Shawn Johnson, made out of butter.
The world famous butter cow.
Taking the skyglide to the top with my gal!
One of the coolest things we saw was the draft horse competition. 6 horses pulling a huge wagon.
These guys won the blue ribbon
A full day at the fair, but according to the map and my tour guide, we saw it all!
