Our Vacation to Duluth!

This year we decided to take our vacation to my hometown, Duluth! The summer after I met Brett my parents moved to Iowa and I was not able to make it back to Duluth as often as I would like. So, this year was exciting for me to be able to take our vacation to the place I grew up and take Ayden and Brett to the places I loved to be when I was little!

We started our vacation at 5:45 am on Saturday and headed to Armstrong Iowa to Brett's family reunion on his Mom's side. Ayden did not sleep the whole 3 hours! I was glad we had the DVD player and Elmo! :)



After the reunion we headed to the cities. So 2.5 more hours in the car! Luckily Ayden did nap during that drive! After we checked into our hotel and Brett found an indoor park close by. We really wanted to find a place where Ayden could play. This was sooo cool! They had a really cool area for big kids to play. Brett wishes he was young enough to play :) There was also a part for kids 3 and under. This was PERFECT for Ayden! For the most part Brett and I were able to sit and watch him as he played. Everything was made for his age! It was great!!!



On Sunday, we woke up found a church to go to and headed north!





When we got to Duluth we checked into our hotel and again wanted a place to let Ayden play. I suggested that we go to a park that was built when I was young. It is called Play Front Park! I remembered a HUGE wooden play ground with lots of places to run and play. The picture above is what we found. They rebuilt Play Front in the past year. Ayden still enjoyed the park. After playing we went out to eat with two of my friends from high school. It was great to see Ali and Tammy again and I was so excited for Tammy to meet Ayden!



On Monday, we went to the zoo! I used to love the Duluth Zoo! Its not a huge Zoo but it does have some fun animals to see. We also were able to go with my friend Tammy, her mom and her niece Elsa! Elsa is about 7 months older than Ayden and it was fun for him to have a friend! We did pick the hottest day so we all were wore out after!

That night we had dinner with the family I used to babysit for. I started babysitting for them just before Josh's first birthday and now the boys are 17, almost 15 and 10. It was really fun to see them again and for them to get to see Ayden again! It was really funny. Ayden was sitting on the youngest boy, Tate's lap and Ayden farted and Tate jumped up as fast as he could and ran across the room! :)



On Tuesday morning we went down to the canal and hung out. We walked on the lake walk. We threw rocks and walked on the lighthouse. Ayden loved throwing rocks (he loves throwing anything) but fell asleep as soon as he got to the stroller. Then we went out to lunch with one of my brothers, Uncle Tom!



After lunch, we headed back to the cities. We decided to stay in the cities to break up the trip for Ayden. When we got back to the cities we went over to my oldest brother, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jen's house. Ayden then was able to play with his cousin Jacob who just turned 2! The next day we stopped on the way out of town at a really cool city park. Brett was able to play disc golf and Ayden and I went for a walk, played at the playground and hung out at the beach!

This was a great vacation! There was LOTS of great family time and some time where I was able to see family and some old friends! Brett was so sweet and let me go out both night to see friends after Ayden was in bed. The first night Tammy and I just walked on the lake walk. One of our favorite things to do! It was so great to catch up!!! I love that we can catch up right where we left off! The next night I just went over to a friends house and about 6 of us got together and just chatted. It would have been even better if Brett could have joined us but maybe next time I will find one of the kids I used to baby sit and see if they will come watch Ayden :)

Monkeys Jumping On The Bed!

A few weeks ago Madi was over playing while Emily was out for a little bit. We were playing in Ayden's room and Madi kept wanting to get in his crib. So we put her and Ayden in the crib and this is what they did!!!

Packing For Duluth!

Today, I am getting ready for our mini vacation to Duluth! Duluth is where I grew up! The year Brett and I started dating my parents moved from Duluth to Roland, Iowa. Soooo we don't find much time to get up to Duluth any more. Brett and I used to go up every Christmas to snowboard but have not been able to do that the past few years. But this year we decided it would be a great way to end the summer!

I am so excited to show Brett and Ayden my hometown in the summer! Brett has been up to Duluth in the winter a few times and he came on the junior high trip a while ago! I think I was in High School at the time...and he was a leader! Did any one know we were 5 years apart :) So I want to show them the town I grew up in and show them all the places I remember going when I was young and the places I would take the kids I babysat!

Here is one of our engagement pictures that my friend Ashley took. Right after we got engaged we drove up for one day to get our pictures taken. It was a way for me to have Duluth be part of the wedding since we got married in Cedar Falls. I can't wait to come up over the hill again and see the bridge and the lake! Its amazing how I took these little things for granted when I live there!

To say I am excited for our trip is an understatement! I can't wait to blog about our trip when we get back!!!! But until then here is a picture of what we will be seeing in the next few days to come!! :)

Water Park!!!

This summer we have really enjoyed going to the water park here in town! I was so excited to bring Ayden to the pool and so ready to get our passes! On one of the first nice days we went and got our pass and headed to the water park! Well...Ayden was not a fan! He clung to me so tight I couldn't put him down. I was really bummed and was not excited that I just spend that much money for a family pass. After a few more trips and Brett making him get used to the water he started to enjoy it a little. NOW when we drive in the parking lot he starts to wave his hands like he is splashing! He loves to run around and walk as far as he can into the water! His other favorite parts of the water park is the fountains that come up from the cement, the hippos, the lazy river and just this week we explored the thing in the middle that holds to bucket! He loved it!!! It is so much more fun now that he enjoys himself and I don't have to try to make him like it!

Here are some pictures of Ayden and his buddy Kyler at the water park! They both had a blast and Kyler did great with this being the first time he came to the water park!



Yay!!!



The Boys!



Splash, Splash!!

Back to being Mrs. Williams :)

I have been thinking about writing this post since May. As some of you may know I accepted a part time job at Edison Elementary in Waterloo for this coming school year. I will be a part time Title 1 Math Teacher. If I had to work this would be my 'dream job'!

I have always been excited about working with kids on math. I love math and I love helping student feel more confident in their abilities to do math. So many people hate math and its because at one point in their education a teacher who probably didn't like math herself gave them a negative feeling to math. My goal is to give students the skills and strategies they need to help them better understand what is being asked of them in a way that makes sense to them. My favorite thing about math is that there is always only one answer but many different ways to come to the answer!

As you can probably tell I love math and I love kids! I have been praying for this position since I graduated from UNI. A lot of my friends from the math department went to Des Moines and were hired in this position, so that was when I first heard of it. At the time I was not ready to move away from CF because my boyfriend was here and was teaching. And now I am soooo happy I stayed!!! I was hired in Waterloo and right after the school year started Brett and I got engaged! Once I was pregnant I talked with my principal about the opportunity to go part time and there just wasn't a position available. We talked about the title 1 option (still not any of these positions in elementary in Waterloo). She was very interested in having a title 1 math but was not able to do it at the time. So I took a year leave and kept praying. Then when jobs started to be posted Brett and I talked about me getting a part time position and we felt that would be the best for our family. At that time there were 2 part time reading positions open. One at my old school and one at Edison with a principal I worked with my first year. I emailed both and they both were interested if I went back to school this summer. I went to an interview at Edison and when we sat down Melissa said "I haven't talked to either of you about this but what if we change it to a math position".(meaning I wouldn't have to go back to school) Well I was very excited and pretty sure you could read that all over my face :). I was not sure if I wanted to go back to school but went to the interview to see how I felt, well by the end of the interview I had accepted the job. Luckily Brett and I had talked a lot about me going back part time as a math teacher! After I had accepted the job my old school called and offered me the reading position. I truely feel that God opened this door for me and my family!

Now, being 2 weeks away from starting a new school year how am I feeling? Well, this summer has flown by but I am starting to get excited! I will be working from 8:15-11:45 every morning and while I am working Ayden will be with Brett's parents one day, our neighbor Natalie who is in college will have Ayden and our another neighbor Cadia two days a week and Brett will be with him two days a week. I love that Ayden will be home for most of it and will also be able to play with another child his age. We have really missed having Jordann here everyday so that will give him his time with a buddy to play with! I also love that I will be home by noon everyday! I will have the rest of the day with only Ayden. At that time I can play with him getting groceries and other things done around the house and anything else we need or want to do! I am a little sad to not to be at home full time. You hear a lot of people say I would love to do that but I just couldn't for any number or reasons. Well, I could! I loved staying home! I do feel that this is a okay balance and like I said before this is my dream job! So after a year I can re evaluate what works for our family. I just will continue to pray that the Lord will help me to balance part time work and full time mom and wife. So I will let you know how it all is going! :)