Children of the Corn

B and I had a very fun and relaxing trip back to The Heartland. We landed in Minnesota, headed down to Wisconsin, then finally made our way to Iowa. It was the triple threat of Midwestery.


Let me break down our travels into a Top Ten. It always works for my tall, luminous friend.

The Food

Oh, the food! We got to hit 2 back to back fairs--Clear Lake Days in Wisconsin, and then Sturgis Falls Days in Iowa. We ate inordinate amounts of sloppy joes, pie, fries, brats, pulled pork and things on sticks.



No trip to The Heartland would be complete without the requisite DQ stop. Peanut Buster parfait, please!

The Janky Rides at the Aforementioned Celebrations

I'm from a small town. I like small town fairs. And I like the possibility that a ride could kill me. I turn my nose up at permanent, well constructed rides. Luckily for B, I only took her on the carousel. She's not as risky as me.

Super Wal Mart

Super Wal Marts around every corner. They have food! They have camping gear! They have clothes! They have paper towels! They're heavenly. Our closest Wal Mart is in Mountain View, and everyone I know avoids it like the plague. It's poorly stocked--and good luck finding anyone to help you!

This was a good find. I took one in "extra chunky" and wheeled her home.

Picnics in Parks and Military bands

We got to just chill at the park, nosh on delicious food on sticks, and listen to the old-fashioned military bands. It's very Music Man.

The Space

Acres, and acres of space. Huge house. Room to roam and roll around. Corn for miles. The Heartland is spacious!

Corn

Tractors



Family

Blakely especially loved my cousin Conner. At first, she wasn't totally convinced.

But she quickly became a fan, and they had a lot of fun getting to know one another

She especially liked that he let her pull his hair. I'm still trying to break her out of this habit.

Ducky Bath at Grandma's House

The best way to get clean!

Garage Sales

I totally cleaned up at the town garage sales. I got a bunch of Dr. Seuss and Berenstain Bear books for a quarter each. Score!

I also got this super cute vintage school house for the wall above Blake's toys in the living room.

I also found these handmade old-fashioned American Girl Doll outfits at the Sturgis Falls fair. The outfit on the left is a muslin nightgown, and the one on the right is an adorable eyelet dress with a bonnet. It's my first purchase for the secret collection, and it's fun to have something from my hometown.

That was my first time traveling with Blakely. She was such a good little traveler! I packed plenty of snacks, but she was fine as long as she had an audience. She's a TOTAL attention hog! One guy on the plane gave her a friendly smile, and she spent the rest of the flight trying to win him over.

When he ignored her, she threw her toys at him, smiling the whole time. He gave her a little wave, then tried ignoring her, but she wasn't having it. She reached out and hit him in the arm. Greeeaaattt. Just what I need--a little ham.

Pay attention to me!!

And that sums up our fun and wonderful trip to The Heartland. I shall not eat corn or brats for the next 5 years.