RAGBRAI

Yesterday we had RAGBRAI come through and it was so much fun! RAGBRAI is Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa and it's basically one big bicycle ride across Iowa! They start on the west side of the state and over the course of 6 days they ride across Iowa. It's a LOT of fun, especially at the over-night stops because everyone just parties all night long and the over night cities usually have a band and some entertainment. While Baxter wasn't an overnight stop, it was the only stop along the way serving alcohol, so it was a BIG attraction! I woke up at about 7:30 and there were already people coming through. Our house had a bike repair shop set up right next to it and a thing of free water so it was basically the first stop and everyone dropped their bikes and hung out in our front yard. I went out & saw Alex's family's set-up out on the highway then we all got together and went up to the bar. It was INSANE! So many great people and fun times - we loved it! Here are some pictures from the day:





They had a shot taker ice sculpture.


Once Josh got off work we went to Grinnell to the overnight stop and listened to the band for a while - SO much fun! I wish RAGBRAI came through Baxter every year! :)

Summer is coming to an end soon...August 16th I go back to work. But before that the State Fair is coming up and we're going to the Def Leppard concert...CAN'T wait!!

Mid-Summer Update

Even though some days it feels like I'm not busy and I'm not doing much, I've realized that in reality we've been doing so much lately that I haven't had time to update! Since it's about 100 degrees all week, I've been spending time either inside or poolside so that's been nice. Since the last update we've been busy doing plenty of things:

-Andy's birthday
-Lake of the Ozarks vacation
-Baxter Fun Days
-Storm clean-up
-Kayden's first birthday
-Finishing up bathroom upstairs renovation
-With a wedding or two mixed in there

Needless to say, we haven't had much time to do much on our own on the weekends. We finally went boating this past weekend and had a lot of fun. But I'll post pictures and recap those events to keep you up to speed. :)

For Andy's birthday we went to Davenport to celebrate (it's his 30th) and we took the boat. It was towards the beginning of June, which we thought would be a nice time. It turned out it was rainy, cloudy, and cold the entire time we were there. We still went boating down the river, but I kept myself wrapped up in a towel and long sleeve t-shirt, not much fun. They had some sort of fair/celebration downtown Davenport though that night so we went there and it was really neat.

Then over the 4th we went to the Ozarks for vacation. The Petermeier's are nice enough to give us their hospitality and let 8 of us crash there, and we always have a BLAST! It's seriously my favorite vacation of the year, so leisurely and nice. We hang out by the pool all day, head out on the boats, drink down at the docks, and just have fun with our friends. I absolutely love it, and we tried a shrimp broil this year. I've never seen one and we thought it was just amazing! You basically broil a pot of shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob (cut in half), and potatoes. Then instead of fishing it all out and things, you just put down some paper on a table and dump it all out on the table and people just pick what they want off the table and eat! It was so neat and different and delicious! I wish I had pictures, I'll have to wait for Virg to post some - it was one of the coolest things we've done.

Baxter Fun Days came around the next weekend and was another weekend of good friends and fun. Alex has friends from ISU that come to the Fun Days events and they are always so much fun. We all played games at Bryce & Jill's Friday night, then went up to the bar to listen to Loose Neutral all night. The next day we get up for the parade, eat some good lunch, go down to the car show, and just kind of hang out until we head back up for the band that night. I didn't really like the band Saturday night, but again, good friends makes that worthwhile. I do have a few pictures of Fun Days:
(My hair isn't actually THAT long, those are extensions :))

All the girls @ Bryce & Jill's

And this past weekend we made the trip to Davenport again for Kayden's first birthday. She is one of the cutest, sweetest, happiest babies ever. (Well, she's technically a toddler now!). Andy & Laura had a rainbow themed birthday so it was really fun to see all of that and she LOVED Uncle Josh & Aunt Rachel's tunnel gift. :)

Loved her rainbow dress

Rainbow cake!

In the tunnel!


The upstairs bathroom is thisclose to being done! I am finishing up the painting today, and then Josh and I are doing the tile tonight then we just need to fill it up! Our vanity is in and stained, now we just need the counter top, toilet, and things to decorate with! CAN'T WAIT! <3 I'll post pictures when it's done, no use just posting a few pictures. I've been so thankful that Josh has been able to do it all himself - I admire a lot about him and being so handy is one of them.

Well that was a quick update! Soon the fair is coming, and then school starts again. I can't believe I'm starting my 3rd year at Collins-Maxwell. Hopefully I'll be able to update a little sooner than last time, keep checking and I hope everyone has had a great summer so far! xoxo