Halloween & Beggar's Night

It's been raining and cold this past week, therefore some of the places we wanted to visit for Halloween in Des Moines just didn't happen because they were outdoors. No big deal, we were warm and toasty in our 5th wheel trailer while the temperatures averaged below the 50's. It's times like these that I'm especially thankful to have a two bedroom trailer so everyone can have their own space.

Our warm fireplace.

Thursday we planned to trick or treat at the Jordan Creek Mall because it was indoors, but before we went my brother Troy wanted to try some local BBQ and it did not disappoint. Smokey D's BBQ, you were worth the stop!

Troy & Kate in front of Smokey D's

Look at this silly family

Troy & Kate ❤️

I attempted to catch this gorgeous sunset with my camera phone because it was mind blowing with deep purple and reds.

We arrived at the Jordan Creek Mall with the boys in costume. Daniel was Iron Man and Caiden was Spider-Man.

Daniel, I mean Iron Man striking an action pose...

Caiden/Spider-Man climbed up to daddy's shoulders.

We followed the crowd of dressed up children and their parents in a single-file type line that moved around the mall. There were so many people there but it was very well executed. We were able to trick or treat all of the stores around the top level in about an hour without any melt-downs or insidents, Win!

So much sugar, so little time...

Daniel was enamered with this beautiful princess. 

Here is a view of the trick or treating lines.

Ahhh, now for the allotted two pieces of candy.

The kids aren't quite ready for bed after two pieces of candy.

Eventually they fell asleep (9:30pm) and the next day was Beggar's Night here in Iowa, which is on October 30th. This is when the children of Iowa dress up and go door to door trick or treating. I researched why it doesn't take place on Halloween like most of the country and found out that sometime in the 1920's, the state of Iowa decided to discourage the law-breaking and vandalism that always seemed to take place on Halloween night by introducing a new tradition of trick or treating the night before. That totally makes sense so we decided to go for it. At about 5pm we dressed the kids up in their superhero outfits and headed over to Troy & Kate's to trick or treat in their quaint little neighborhood. Also, it is customary to tell a joke in exchange for some candy so the whole way there, Dan was going over a "why didn't the skeleton cross the road" joke with Daniel. It's because "he had no guts" by the way but Daniel wasn't having any part of that joke, lol.

The anticipating car ride

The boys were interested in the skeleton yelling "let me out!" right outside Troy & Kate's house.

First official trick or treating 

Daniel attempted the joke...

Pulling Daddy to the next house.

The people were so nice and the boys loved it.

We're starting to run out of steam and it's not even dark yet.

Enjoying the spoils of the evening (3 pieces)

Happiness is Beggar's Night!

It was truely a fun Halloween experience here in Iowa for Our family. For Kate and I, it's not over yet. We are running in the Halloween Hot Chocolate 5k on Sunday, wish us luck! 

Iowa Part 2

It's been two weeks since the last post but I never meant to wait so long, I guess time flies when you're having fun and we've been enjoying the great state of Iowa. 

First off, we visited Ledges State Park with my brother Troy and my sister-in-law Kate that's just about an hour outside of Des Moines. We drove through flat, treeless farmland for miles until this place popped up seemingly out of nowhere. Suddenly, there were lush trees surrounded by ledge like rock formations. We drove down a narrow winding road that lead to a rushing stream that you can drive through.

In the spirit of Iowa tradition, we looked for heart shaped rocks called "Indian Love Rocks" on the bank of the stream. Even though we didn't find any, there was a sense of adventure building in our spirits. We spotted stairs leading up...so we decided to see where they would lead.

Caiden kept reaching for Kate and saying "Kate, hold my hand"

Auntie Kate and the boys about half way up the stairs that seemed to go up forever!

Once we reached the top, we snapped a few pictures and made our way back down. The climb down was more tricky because there were no handrails and gravity was working against us, lol. Nevertheless, we made it down without incident or injury.

Here's a picture of the boys from the top.

We decided to climb another, somewhat less steep trail before leaving the park and the sun was just right for capturing the beauty of trees and their multiple colors.

A couple of days later, we met up with Troy, Kate and Kate's mom Sue at the Farmers Market located right in the middle of Downtown Des Moines. I wish we would have taken pictures of the Farmers Market but I guess we were just living in the moment.

Here is a picture of Downtown Des Moines

After the Farmers Market, we all hopped on our bikes and road around the city. Apparently everyone in Des Moines bike rides when the weather is good and there are dozens of bike trailed leading all around the city. Again, I have a problem taking pictures when I'm really enjoying myself so here are a couple random pictures from the ride.

Here is Daniel with his shark hat, so funny!

...and Caiden with Buzz Lightyear.

We stopped at a park on the outskirts of Downtown so the boys could play. 

The following week was fairly quiet as we enjoyed our serene campsite. The leaves began to fall heavily that week and then the wind picked up. I have never seen so many leaves blowing on the ground as well as from the trees themselves, it was as if it was raining leaves! I tried to catch a picture of it but I just couldn't quite get the magic in action.

Look at all those leaves.

This is what Fall looks like outside our front door!

That weekend we found out from a fellow camper that State Parks have a 14 day maximum...I swear when I heard that my heart sank, we were on day number 12. After speaking to a park ranger, our fears were confirmed but my persuasive husband somehow bought us a couple of extra days to figure out out next move. We researched our options and decided on an RV park about 20 minutes outside of Downtown Des Moines, not too far away but further than we wanted. Most state and county parks were already closed this time of year so we had to take what we could get.

I had fallen in love with Walnuts Woods Campground and I just wasn't ready to leave but it's important to stay flexible and optimistic when traveling so I took extra care to really enjoy our final days there. As luck would have it, a nice family showed up the last few day we were camping with a five year old little boy and a one year old little girl. Our kids were inseparable until the moment we drove away, it was pretty cute. 

Caiden bonded with this sweet little girl and they road bikes together...

She was fast for a one year old!

Daniel is getting his new friend to help him put his bike helmet on.

This was taken right before Caiden leaned over and kissed her! 

It was last Wednesday that we left Walnut Woods State Park and drove a short distance to Griffs Valley View RV Park. The new park was pretty, well maintained and filled with trees, green grass and a decorative pond. We went from living within 22 campsites to 144 campsites and we could feel the lack of privacy...however this new park has two laundry facilities and a gym so it's kind of a trade off. 

Nice man made lake in the middle of the park.

Here is our new site.

Daniel is biking around our little cul de sac.

Finally, we decided to venture out of Des Moines yeasterday and visit a small town about an hour away called Oskaloosa. It was featured on the news as one of the top small towns to live in the US. 

All the trash cans have old photos from the towns history on them, neat!

We parked in the town center and walked to a coffee shop called Smokey Row Coffee for lunch. There was a cozy warm feeling about this place where everyone was greeted by name and niegbors seemed to really know each other. That's the beauty of a small town, and it definitely appealed to us. We ordered our lunch ate amongst the easygoing vibe of the coffee shop.

The view from our seat.

The view from the upstairs loft.

Our lunch soup, salad, spaghettos and hot dog.

Cheeseburger Chowder...Delicious!

Next stop was the town library, but first we checked out a bookstore that used to be a bank. It was a long narrow space adorned in marble and brass features. The old vaults were turned into specially book sections which added to the overall charm of the store and give it its name The Book Vault. We picked out a couple of books for the boys and headed to the register. The owner checked us out and chatted with us about where we were from and what we are doing. There was an inclusive atmosphere about everyone in this town that was making us feel as if we already belonged here. Another customer came up and easily joined in our conversation and we left in high spirits.

The beautiful old storefront for The Book Vault

The store's entryway, look at those ceilings!

After we got our books we went to look for more books at library. It's such a beautiful building, everything here is old and charming.

The entrance to the library 

Before we left Oscaloosa, we were drawn into the town center to a gazebo playing the song "Earth Angel" by Marvin Berry and The Starlighters. Apparently they play old music all day which is a little bit surreal and the song they were currently playing reminded me of Back To The Future. I took pictures of the buildings from every angle to show how remarkable all the old buildings are.

Dan ans Caiden walking up to the gazebo.

North view...

West view...

South view...

East view...

This was just a pretty tree :)

Here is a picture of an empty building in town that Dan fell in love with. If we move here, he will set up a woodworking shop and sell his creations.

The next couple of weeks are going to be filled with Holloween activities and adventures, there's plenty to do here in Iowa at this time of year. We are all looking forward to the fun! Hopefully I can get another blog in before the big day (I mean Holloween of course).