Friday night we started the weekend at Masen's Birthday pool party. This was right up Dylan's alley as he LOVES to swim! Daddy and Dylan splashed in the pool at the Longbranch while mommy and Danielle sat back and relaxed. We wanted to be able to celebrate with Masen, our god son, but we also wanted Dylan to be able to get a good nights sleep for the busy weekend ahead.
Saturday morning we finished up packing a few things and headed over to my cousins to meet the rest of the family that was venturing with us to Des Moines. We met Kim and Kris, and cousins Collin and Morgan and we were off. Dylan was SO excited to see Collin and Morgan and especially their new puppy Nix. Dylan hardly wanted to leave their house, he would have rather stayed and played with Buddy and Nix. He had NO idea what fun was ahead of him.Our first stop was the Blank Park Zoo. This is a wonderful zoo just outside Des Moines. We ate lunch at the Safari Grill and checked all of the wonderful exhibits. First was the reptiles and birds. We ventured thru the cave and peeked in the holes to view the huge snakes on the other side. The Peacocks were trailing along at our feet, and we stopped to view the Coral and unique Jelly Fish. We went along and checked out the monkeys doing all of their tricks. Dylan got a kick out of them swinging around and playing with each other. The Lions were taking a nap and the others were giving each other a bath. They were HUGE! We went thru the petting zoo and Dylan saw the goats, the Bull, horses and lots of fish. We made a pit stop at the play area. Collin and Morgan were following Dylan climbing all over and sending him down the slides. He had such a great time at the zoo!
We got all checked into our hotel and relaxed Saturday night. We ate pizza and swam in the pool. Dylan once again loved the water and swimming with daddy, Kris and the kids. Dylan loved watching daddy jump into the pool and make a big splash with his canon ball jump. Then Brad would throw Dylan and his swim seat up in the air and catch them in the water. Dylan laughed and laughed, and love making big splashed with daddy. Mommy and Danielle had many laughs with Kim and Aunt Ellie watching the kids be kids and the boys be boys! We got all tucked in after swimming and rested up for our super fun Sunday ahead. 
After breakfast we told Dylan that he was going to spend the day with us at Adventureland. He really had no clue.... He was just happy to be with the kids. We kept telling him he was going to go on rides and was going to go fast! He was excited but really still didn't understand. We arrived at Adventureland just before 11 and Kim had a great suggestion to start with the train ride, this way we could see what was in store for us. Dylan of course had a blast on the train, sitting with daddy and checking out the scenery around him. It was fun for the whole family and from there we knew where we wanted to venture to. Collin and Morgan had many great ideas in store for Dylan and the rides they knew he would LOVE!
We stopped at the Falling Star and Collin and Morgan broke Brad in right away with a thrilling ride. Dylan laughed and smiled as daddy was very 'high in the sky.' A tradition for Collin and Morgan continued with Dylan as they took Dylan for his first ride on the little semis. Dylan loved steering the wheel as he sat with Collin in the front of the cab leading the pack. Brad and Dylan went on another ride with Aunt Ellie, Kris and the Kids, the ventured over to The Underground. The ride is pitch black and 'underground'. Dylan didn't bat an eye and loved every minute of it! Then it was on to the Frog Hopper. This one Collin was able to go on with Dylan, thank goodness, because otherwise I think Dylan would have been a little scared. The Frog Hopper took them way up in the air and slowly bounced them up and down. Dylan grabbed onto Collin and had the most horrific look on his face, before cracking a smile, and eventually a few giggles. Thank you Collin for being such a trooper, Dylan loved it! Next, Brad really wanted to venture over to the Log Ride. So Daddy, Mommy, Dylan and Collin headed to get wet! It was a beautiful day and the sun was really warm. Getting a little bit wet was a perfect idea. Brad sat in front, followed by Collin, Dylan and I. Brad sure took the brunt of the BIG splash of water but we all got a little wet. It was really fun and Dylan once again loved being in the water, in the boat and especially he loves going up the big hill up and down the hill going 'fast'! Then we ventured to the Tornado, Dragon and eventually for some lunch before heading to Kokomo Kove.
We were at Adventureland on the perfect day. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Just about 80 degrees, hot in the sun and in the shade you could feel a nice breeze. Dylan was VERY excited to get in the water. He started taking off his shirt as soon as he knew he was going to be able to play. It was hilarious! He loved the little Kokomo Splash Pad. There were numerous water features and it was perfect for the adults to sit and watch and laugh while Dylan was having a great timem and the big kids went on for more rides. Eventually, that led to Brad and Kris getting more adventurous and they ventured on for more rides while the girls sat and relaxed. Dylan ended up falling asleep in mommy's arms and we made a little bed for him in the shade and he took a nap. It really could not have worked out any better because it would have been a really LONG day for everyone if this would not have happened ;) Danielle also took a snooze and the ladies soaked up the sun!
The daddy's and big kids returned, I managed to change Dylan's diaper, dress him and put him in the stroller without him even batting an eye. He was tuckered out! So he ended up sleeping in the stroller for another hour while the rest of us played some games, rode more rides and ate supper. He managed to wake up in an extremly good mood and very happy to see we were still at Adventureland.....this meant he could have hours more fun! He had pizza and french fries for supper and he was good to go. We went past the Side Winder and the Little Wagons before stopping for the big kids and daddy's to have another attempt at the Falling Star. Collin and Morgan wento back for a few more 2nd and 3rd times on rides and we headed for a funnel cake and trip to the Farris Wheel. Dylan enjoyed his first funnel cake. Yummy! We wound down our busy day at Adventureland with a ride on the BIG Farris Wheel. Dylan, Brad and Ellie went on the ride and the big kids found a few more rides and the rest of us relaxed. After the Farris Wheel Brad and Kris decided they needed to win a HUGE Herky the Hawk for the kids. Well they went and tried their best at the toss the ball into the metal jug game. Well Brad retured with a little Herky for Dylan and Kris retured with a HUGE Herky for Collin and Morgan. I don't think we would have had much room for the huge Herky on the car ride home. Kim and I then tried our attempts at a big Herky, no such luck for the mommy's. We got 2 more small Herky's for the kids as well. It was a really hard game and laughing the whole time probably didn't help our luck much ;) We headed back to the hotel shortly after 9 for some more swimming fun!
The pool area at the Marriott was perfect, the water was warm and the hot tub was very nice! Dylan once again loved swimming with his whole entire family. He was splashing and laughing and was very excited when he got to swim with Danielle. His eyes sure lit up when we took her in the water with him. It was very cute how protective of her he is already at such a young age, he always kept an eye on where she was in the water and who she was with. Such a good big brother. He wasn't allowed in the hot tub, just got to stick his feet in a few times when they were cold. He was perfectly content sitting on the side, just enjoying his family and taking in all of the laughs and laughs and laughs that were going on around him. 
Monday we woke and after breakfast headed off for our day of shopping! We ventured to Jordan Creek Mall and shopped at a couple choice stores that we don't have here. Dylan was getting a littl restless, totally understandable since boys usually don't like shopping much, but he was already hungry for lunch! After Jordan Creek we made a pit stop at the new Bass Pro Shop in Altoona. This store was HUGE! Not only was the store incredible but it also featured Uncle Buck's Fish Bowl and Restaurant. This place is amazing. They had Bowling lanes in the restaurant! The store had an archery range and the fishing area, all of it was incredible. We for sure could have spent the entire afternoon there! After lunch we made our trek closer to home. We stopped in Williamsburg and we did some major shopping for winter clothes for our family. The kids really made out like little champs. Not often you find HUGE Labor Day Sales like we found today and we took full advantage of it at our most favorite stores!
Dylan fell asleep just before we got home, of course, he doesn't sleep the whole was to Des Moines or home but falls asleep just before we get home. Well it was just before 6. We really hated to wake him but thought if he woke it would be okay. Well I put him in bed, changed his diaper, put his pj's on and he slept thru every minute. He is a tuckered out little man.
We had the BEST weekend with our family. We made many memories and we all cleared out the cobb webbs from laughing so hard. The kids really enjoyed spending the weekend with their cousins. Collin and Morgan are so good with them and tolerable also, when little ones are around sometimes they are on their own schedule, the big kids never complained at all for waiting or anything. It sure was a weekend of fun, we started another family tradition and we are very happy that we were able to be a part of the Aarhus family tradition with aunt Ellie as well. Thank you SO much to Kim, Kris, Collin, Morgan and Aunt Ellie for a fun filled family getaway. We are very excited to do it again next year and we can't wait to see what fun the kids will have once again.
Thank you lord for blessing our family on our Labor Day getaway. Thank you for keeping us safe and protecting us on our journey. We made some great memories and are very fortunate to have the opportunity to do so!~
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