Kicking Off Summer!

The boys last day of school was Wednesday, May 24.  I may not have looked too hard but their day camps didn't start until after Memorial Day.  We opted to take a quick getaway before the crazy summer schedule starts.
 
We found out the American Truck Historical Society 2017 Truck Show - a traveling truck show - just happened to be in Des Moines on Thursday . . and Adventureland happened to be open on Friday.  Add in a hotel that we had stayed at previously that has a mini water park and we had the makings of a getaway.

We arrived at the truck show around noon.  The boys had fun entertaining themselves with their reflections in the chrome.

When you find a truck that says "Oh Henry" . . . you take a photo of Henry and the truck.

By 5 o'clock we have found the hotel - The Ramada Tropics.  We had first stayed at this hotel 2012 during a stay in Des Moines and again in 2013 as we were heading to Uncle Nick's.  By 5:30 we were poolside.  It was great to see the boys feel comfortable in the water to do their own thing and it was even better to see them go down the 150' tube slides multiple times.  We originally were just going to stay one night but changed the reservation to two nights.

On Friday we ventured to Adventureland.  The morning started out rainy but luckily by the time the park opened it had stopped raining and turned out to be a great day.

Ralph's 1st time driving a bumper car solo.

 Henry's all-time favorite ride (at least at Adventureland) - the Galleon.  He rode it five times - three of those times almost in a row.  I was fortunate enough to ride it with him four times.  I can't wait to see what he thinks when he rides it solo (or with a friend) when he is older and chooses a spot near their stern or bow.  He also rode the Outlaw again but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

The Himalaya.  The boys and I rode it twice . . . in a row.  I love a good action shot.  My look is due in part to being pushed up against the side of the car.

G-Force.  Mike took turns riding with both boys.  We tried to challenge the boys to try one new ride this year and this ended up being it.

I was "lucky" enough to be chosen as a "lovely assistant".  My job was to help the comedian by holding up the unicycle so he could get on.  He then proceeded to get out of the straight-jacket while pedaling the unicycle.

When we got back to the hotel the boys spent more time in the pool and going down the slides.

On Saturday morning we went to the Science Center of Iowa.   We spent some time in a "makers section".

Henry made a flying contraption.

Ralph made a stop motion animation video that including a message for Henry.

All in all, it was a good, quick trip.