happy 4th of July week

We had the best 4th of July week around here. My bestest friend Melissa and her family came to visit us for a week.

Guthrie had a great time getting to know her cousins Zoe, who is three, and Teagan, who is 14 months. She watched and watched all that they did. Zoe read stories to her and Teagan showed Guthrie how to get into all kinds of good trouble- like playing with the cat food. She was so jealous of Teagan getting around that the day after they left she started crawling!

Melissa and I got to catch up. I don't think we had a moment of silence the whole week between the two of us. I'm pretty sure the highlight of John's week was sharing his Wii with Nathan. It's priceless to see two grown men virtual boxing and getting all sweaty.

We got to break in our new wading pool that Gramma Carol got for us. Such fun! Guthrie loved it and even purposely got her face wet a few times. On the 4th, Gramma Carol's birthday, we grilled out and went to the Coralville fireworks. They were really good this year- maybe even better than last year. Unfortunately, similar to last year, Guthrie slept through all of them. She could sleep through anything when she's actually tired and not actually in bed!

Our last day was spent in Dubuque at the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. Very cool, as long as you don't think about it too much when you're swimming, to see the gigantic cat fish, turtles, snakes, and even the river alligator (we still don't know if we believe the boys that it was actually alive). Gus enjoyed it more than I thought she would- being absolutely capitaved by the fish which were at eye level. Teagan's highlight (we could tell by the squeals of delight) was a tie between the stroller level fish tanks and the ducks which, according to her, say 'quack.' Zoe was drawn to the floor to ceiling flannel graph (who wouldn't be?) and the erosion display where one could test new river paths. Oh and I forgot the cave. The cave was cool. My stroller wouldn't fit in there, but John, Nathan and Zoe went through the cave a few times. (it was only a few feet long)

So, yes, it was a fun and exhausting trip. Incredibly tough to say goodbye though. We're hoping this turns into a yearly event- if the Moores are up for it :)

Oh and though none of us will admit it willingly- the minivan they rented was pretty sweet.