Catching Up with Amity and Cousins Rumble

Since this was a pretty short trip back to the States, the kids and I weren't planning to be back in Illinois which is kind of tough when we want to see all of our friends along with family in Iowa. But this morning I got the best of both worlds,  I picked up my sister and Bo and we all drove to Iowa City where I got to meet up with my dear friend Amity.  I unfortunately forgot my camera so I could take a pic of me and my buddy, but she did happen to capture a merry-go-round picture of me and Addison.  We got to visit for about 3 hours or so while we walked about the mall and had to cut things short since we had three tired and cranky kiddos.  It was so great to catch up with her even if it was for a short time.  It's great to have someone you can just pick right back up with even after not seeing each other for a long time.

The kids were pretty tired and when we got back to Crystal's this was the scene we had.  We let the sleeping beauties rest while Crystal packed a bag for Bo.  You see it was her and Heath's 2 year wedding anniversary and my gift to them was to babysit the little one while they got to go out.  Last year they didn't get to do anything for their one year anniversary because Bo was still in the hospital. 

That night at mom and dad's a huge thunderstorm came through and it was blowin', and rainin' like there was no tomorrow.  Right after Addie took this picture out on the back porch the wind REALLY picked up and the rain was coming down sideways.  In England, we get a lot of rain but in little amounts over a long period of time.  In Iowa, it seems that we get loads of rain in a short amount of time.  In this rain along I think we got about 1 1/2 inches in about an hour.

The weather wasn't the only thing that was rumbling in the house.  The counsins were having a ball again and at these ages you really can't get them to sit still.  They were much more interested in motoring around than sitting on Grandma and Grandpa's laps.