Vacation - Day 2

Sunday, June 15.  Oliver's baptismal day.  Barb's house wasn't too bad as far as heat was concerned.  We had all the windows open overnight and got up early enough to shower and dress before it got too hot.  Services were at 11:00 a.m. at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines.  Hope is a beautiful church.  I very much enjoy going to services there. 

The rest of the family was at the hotel and enjoyed some water time in the morning.  Barb and I went to the baptism and had dinner at the Pizza Ranch with Jim, Mandy and family.  The Sass Family and the Foels Family headed to the Science Center downtown Des Moines.  They had a great time.  Beth has some cool pictures on her blog of what the boys all did.

We got a call from Mark right after church saying they should be in Des Moines around 3:00 p.m.  Just as we were leaving the Pizza Ranch got another call from them and they were at the hotel.  They needed Barb with getting checked in so we headed for the hotel.  Got Mark & Sandie checked in and Barb left to go back to her place to pick up our luggage so we could check in.  Mark called Josh and Keely and they headed over to the hotel to enjoy the pool also!!! 

Barb and I had pizza for lunch and also for supper.  It was the easiest to order for the whole bunch of us.  No one really minded, we all love pizza.  We were so glad that Mandy and Jim were able to join us.  I think they relaxed a little bit after Oliver's big day. 

Jer decided to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Baade so was with us the majority of the rest of the weekend.  Jer and Jackson became the best of friends.  It was so cool that the cousins all got to know one another.  We're already talking about doing this again next year!!!

Oliver & his Daddy  just before baptism.  Love the cap!

The Jim Davis Family. 

I just like this picture.  Charlotte loves her baby brother! 

 Getting ready for the pool.

Jackson is ready for action!!! 

The Foels Family.  Pool night with the gang. 

Grandma even got into the pool and had some fun! 

 Jer and Jackson had a great time together in the water.

Josh and Griffin enjoying the pool. 

Karsten and Jackson coming down the BIG slide! 

Tristan coming down the slide out of the priate ship!!  Daddy helped! 

SPLASH!!!! 

Tristan loves the water!!! 

It's time to eat!  And we did a good job of it!!!  

After we were finished eating those of us that weren't in our

swimming suits changed and had a great time! 

The Foels family and Sass family spent the morning in the pool and the afternoon at the Science Center, downtown Des Moines.  They had a great time at both places! 

We talked Jim and Mandy and kids into joining us Sunday evening at the pool.  We all had a great time and it was a great place to cool off!  It was one hot weekend that we chose to take vacation together.  After going through my pictures (and everybody elses) I realized that I didn't take any of Barbie, Glee or Ron.  Believe me they were all there.  Couldn't have been at the hotel without Barb's discounts!!  Or at least they sure helped with the costs!!!  

Onto Day 3 . . . . .   



Vacation Day #1.5 (Saturday Night)

Beth beat me to putting all her pictures on her blog, but I'm old and a lot slower!!!  But here goes.  Day #1.5.  On Saturday night Barb and I (mostly Barb) planned a BBQ at her home in Ankeny.  The majority of the family was there, and of course, Barb's air conditioner gave up!  She wasn't a real happy camper, but our BBQ still worked out very well.  The kids had a great time together outdoors playing with bubble guns and balls.  Barb's service company also got a call from her regarding her air problem.  Actually we opened the windows and it wasn't too bad overnight.  And we were booked into the same hotel as the rest of the family for the rest of my time in the Des Moines area. 

 Charlotte and Jackson playing with the bubble guns and the 'big' blue ball.

When you play with bubbles and a ball, the ball gets a little sticky with bubbles!  Jackson and Charlotte worked hard to get the ball all clean and ready to go again! 

They went from a big ball to a little ball!  They sure played well together.  This was the first time for all of them being together to get to know one another. 

 Here's Oliver . . . that's my little honey bee.  Isn't he the cutest???!!

Oliver got into the act with bubbles too.  Mom and son out on the front porch! 

I love this picture of Ollie and Tristan.  They never met before but they sure got along okay. 

Where'd that one come from?  Must be the blogger . . . she gets confused sometimes.  It's Sandie and Oliver on Sunday night at the pool!!! 

Mandy and her little man!  He's so cute. 

The children.  That ball is almost bigger than the 3 of them, but they had fun with it!!

We had a great supper at Barb's.  Sweet corn!!  One of my favorite foods.  Check out Beth's blog (Foels Facts) and see how Tristan eats sweet corn!!! Glee amd Ron brought Edgewood locker brats and, as usual, they were delicious!!  Glee, Ron, Mike, Bets, Karsten, Jackson & Tristan got to meet Oliver for the first time.  They all got along great.  For me it was so much fun watching the little ones play together.  This is the beginning of a great vacation!!!

Vacation in the BIG city!

Vacation time is here . . . this is a family deal this year!  And I do mean family . . . we all were able to get together at the same time.  Glee & Ron and their family (Mike, Bets, Karsten & family), Mark & Sandie (Josh, Keely & boys), and me and my family (Barb, Jim & Mandy & their children).  We were missing one member of our family -- Nick.  Nick is stationed in/at Virginia Beach, VA in the Navy and unable to join us.  Next year Nick!!!


We decided in February or March that Des Moines would be the destination this year.  Barb lives in Ankeny, Jim & Mandy in Urbandale and Josh & Keely in Johnston.  The rest of us would travel to Des Moines.  Barb got us discount coupons on the Ramanda Inn in Des Moines (with a waterpark) and booked rooms for the majority of us there.  So . . . on Friday the 13th I traveled to Ankeny to get ready for our BIG vacation!


Barb and I met Glee, Ron & Mike and Beth, Karsten and boys in Boone.  There is a railroad destination there that everyone thought the boys would enjoy.  Jackson is really into Thomas the Train and anything with his trains!  We decided to meet for lunch at a place called "The Whistle Stop."  Barb and I got there first and checked the place out.  Thumbs down!!!  Too small and it closed already at 1:00 and it was already almost 12:30 when we got there.  After confering with Ron, Glee, Mike (& his GPS) we decided on the Colorado Grill.  Turned out to be a great place. 

One side of the table.  Waiting for our food!!!  Tristan found Grandma Glee and spent a lot of time next to her whether it was eating, walking, swimming, etc.  He's definitely her shadow!!! 

Bets and Ron debating on what to order!  Food was good! 

We found the train place (and for the life of me I can't remember the name of it) but everything we wanted to do we couldn't.  We had decided earlier to take a ride on the trolley only to find out it had broken that morning.  No trolley ride!  Bummer!  And this was one of those hot, sticky days!!  But we found some trains and train parts and took some pictures.  Barb and Jackson climbed up on the cowcatcher of an old engine.

None of the train cars were open to tour but we had the kids (Barb and Mike included) climb up on this car for a picture.  Don't they all look excited???? 

Since the train event didn't quite work out the way we wanted we decided to head to Ames and Reiman Gardens.  We toured the butterfly house.  What an intersting place to visit.  The butterflies are beautiful but so is all the flora and fauna!!  It was pretty cool checking all this out.  When we left we had to make sure we didn't have any hitchhikers on us (butterflies).

Ron, Glee and Mike exploring the butterfly house!

A really cool thing at the gardens in July is a LEGO show.  I think there were like 17 different LEGO projects throughout the Gardens.  Here's the first one we saw . . . a beautiful huge butterfly. 

Jackson and the world's largest LEGO Gnome!  He was really cool!!! 

And here we have a huge bee!  Wouldn't want that thing to sting me!!! 

One of my favorites was this LEGO rose.  There was a printout of each project that told how many hours it took, how many LEGOs, etc.  A very interesting show!  

We found some musical tiles to play on.  They really were pretty cool.  That's me, Jackson, Glee and Tristan trying out our musical talents!!  We'll never win any contest, but we sure had fun!!!

This was one of the most life-like LEGO displays we saw!  Just stick someone behind that handle and it looks like they're ready to mow!!!

It was very hot that day (hasn't July been that way the whole way through?) but we managed to see the majority of the things there.  I finally found a bench by the lily pond and waited while the rest of the family finished their tour.  Looked like rain part of the time and we were all hoping but nothing happened!

We said good-bye to Ames and head into Des Moines.  Barb left me off at her house and got the rest of them checked into the hotel in Des Moines.  Barb and I (actually Barb did the majority of the work) hosted a BBQ on Saturday night for the family.  Little did we know that the air conditioner would decide that was the day to poop out!  But we all survived. 

The continuing story of our vacation in the "BIG" city on the next blog!!!

Oliver's Baptism

 Daddy with his little boy.  Love the hat!!

 Oliver and Charlotte sitting still long enough to grab some beautiful candid shots!  Gotta love these two!!

Grandma Joy with her favorite grandson!  Oliver loved my beads. 

Oliver Norman Davis

Ollie's not ready for this picture!! 

 The Blessing.

Jim & his beautiful family. 

Charlotte loves her baby brother. 

The family with Oliver's sponsors - Misty & Tim Skudler. 

Another family shot. 

Oliver's piggy bank from Aunt Barb. 

Another sponsors and family shot.  Everybody cleans up real good!!! 

Grandpa H reading a book to Charlotte he gave her.

As usual, when I try and post something I can't get anything in any special order.  These are pictures from Oliver's Baptism.  Oliver was baptized on Sunday, July 15, 2012 at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines.  Services were at 11:00 a.m. with the baptismal service immediately after.  These are some of the pictures of what happened! 

It was an awful hot Sunday (100 degree weather in Des Moines) but a beautiful day whatever.  Oliver was so good during the services.  And Charlotte, as usual, was our beautiful princess.  When we left the church we headed out to the Pizza Ranch for lunch together.  Lots of pizza and chicken consumed by all.  Mandy and Jim ordered cheesecakes for dessert!  They tasted great.  I had the banana split one and it definitely tasked like bananas!!!  It was a memory we will always remember, and pictures help preserve the memory.