Iowa Pictures

-
There were so many - I have to break them into various albums and be selective! Our summer '09 vacation started in Little Amana, Iowa. Nothing exciting by name, but we stayed in a hotel that has an in-door water park (two slides). The kids loved it, more than four hours of fun and they wanted to go back. Here is a large sampling of the pictures from the water park.

The next morning we did a quick, rolling tour of the Amana Colonies. This was the culture part of the vacation! Along the way we found an amazing copper art house, some fantastic chocolate, fudge, and wine, the famed Amana Meat Shoppe, and various other neat little stores. These are some pictures of the copper art and around the streets there.

Separately, amid the Amana Colonies, there is a natural, shallow lake bed that is completely filled shore to shore with lilies. August is a little late in the season, but we still managed some good shots.

The trip rounded out with a stop at Uncle Randy's and the Iowa State Fair - the best fair in the nation! Here are the pictures from there, including, of course, the highlights of the butter cow and the kid who eats ice cream via his sunglasses! While at Randy's we reunited with our pal CJ (the bulldog) and he had two new friends who had so many names, I hesitate to put them here as I'll use the wrong name. Of course, there are dog pictures.

On the way home, we stumbled into a impromptu Stangl Reunion. No pictures, but all the bald heads were there! Great trip, fun end to the summer, now school resumes! :o)