Adventures in Iowa

When we moved out here Michael had never been to Iowa in his life and I had only driven though once years ago. We literally had no idea what we were getting in to. But everyone we talked to told us two things about Iowa. 1) The weather is terrible! and 2) The people are the nicest people you'll ever meet.

The weather... it is humid and we've had a few really hot days. If that went on for a month straight I could see how people would call it terrible. And it rains way more than I expected. Oh and the bugs! Oh my the bugs. Since we've moved here I feel like I need a bug atlas. This place goes way beyond fly, worm, spider, rolly polly, bee, ant, and earwig. There are so many more types of bugs than I ever knew existed! The girls are constantly asking me, "What's that bug?" and I never know. It's funny because both of them are pretty afraid of bugs, but they sure are curious about them. Despite the bugs and humidity everything here is beautiful and so, so green. I love it!

As for the people.... We have been surrounded by the nicest people. Everyone is friendly including strangers. Our realtor, Kelli (who is also in our new ward), is simply one of the kindest, most giving people I've ever met. She showed us house over Skype, provided an interpreter for Michael without us even asking, found us a rental to live in until we close on our house (yes, a house!!!!), and is currently letting us come to her home every week to do laundry. Who does that for total strangers!?! We feel so blessed! And we meet nice people everywhere we go. Michael's co-workers have been wonderful.  Two of them sent emails to me about fun things in Ames. Strangers in the store help me with the kids whenever it seems I need an extra hand. Our neighbors have taken out our trash can for us. There are just truly some amazing people here!

Now for some of our adventures. First up was hunting for fireflies. I was the only one who has seen a firefly before we arrived and the girls were so excited to find one. We took a Friday night and hit up a park on our hunt. For the girls it was like fairies come to life. It was a magical evening for them and they loved it!

Walking around until dusk. 

They've got one! 

Next up we found Hazel Avenue!

We've also been hunting Cy birds. The city currently has about 25 statues of the ISU mascot placed all over town. The girls have loved searching for new ones as we're driving. 

Last Saturday we headed over to the football stadium to check out some of the pre-game festivities. Wow, tailgating is a HUGE thing here. We headed over early on family day while things were still nice and family friendly:) It was fun. The girls got free face painting and we got free lunch!

So far Iowa is treating us well! One last story... My mind is still blown away about how things grow here. No one has sprinkler systems because you don't need to water your grass. And all the corn and soy bean fields have no sprinklers or irrigation systems! It is so foreign to me that things would grow without being watered! I know, natives laugh away:)