i actually did start this post before we left for wisconsin. . . promise

as always, the fact that we're now getting ready for our next trip probably means that it's time to update the blog re: our last trip. man, this summer is crazy.

despite being a lot of driving, the trip to iowa was a good one. we made it safely to jason and kendra's on the first day - not forgetting, of course, that we gained an hour driving from east to west. we spent a little bit of time in downtown iowa city and then met up with jason and kendra for dinner. i feel very lucky to have friends like jason, who i only see occasionally (once a year when i'm home for one of the holidays, if i'm lucky), but picking up and spending time together involves no extra effort.

and he always picks out good places to eat, so that doesn't hurt either. the morning we left iowa city it was POURING rain. matt and i devised a clever scheme involving umbrellas, sprints through puddles, propping open and locking and unlocking doors to get into my car and on our way without getting completely drenched. it seemed humorous at the time, but turned out to be quite indicative of what we were to encounter throughout the trip. so, as i go through the rest of the days, let's just say it pretty much rained any time we weren't playing golf, k?

WEDNESDAY: okay, so the first day back, then, was our only sunny day. we played about 13 holes of golf (some of us played better than others. . . neither of us played really admirably) before it was too late/dark and we headed home. we went out and checked out the proceedings of the north iowa softball/baseball teams and then went home to nurse our sunburns.

THURSDAY: the weather foiled our "second day of golf" plans, so we headed to albert lea, mn (which you may now recognize because they had a zillion tornadoes come through about a week and a half ago). then we came back and had dinner with my friend kristi in buffalo center. no pictures, sorry.

FRIDAY - SATURDAY: matt's first trip to minneapolis! word has it that he had a good time, although neither he nor karen made a purchase at ragstock even after finding these sweet shades. karen gave an excellent tour of the city, taking us by the new target field as well as through the university, downtown, midtown, and uptown regions. we spent most of our time in uptown, because it's close to karen's place and (quite frankly) it's my favorite. a trip back at some point to see a twins game at the new field while it's not raining is definitely in the works. so, yay. success on the minneapolis-loving task.

SUNDAY: The last day was spent at the family reunion, as promised. pictures show that matt and i actually did our fair share of prepping to get things ready. . .

. . . and were pretty much tuckered out when things were over. though not too tired, it should be noted, to play nine (if you're me) or eighteen (if you're matt or my dad) more holes of golf.

MONDAY: our traveling times ensued on monday, as we got up early to head again to iowa city. why all of this time in iowa city, you ask? well, it just happens to be one of the most fantastic places in the whole state, in my opinion. it is, of course, the home of the university of iowa

WAIT!!

That makes me realize that you need to be listening to the fight song as you read about iowa city. so, here you go:

phew. that would've been unfortunate. okay. . . read on. . .

you already saw the sweet restaurant that we visited with jason and kendra, but you should also know that on this day, we met miss kara and the teeniest little ivy for lunch. note that miss ivy, despite being adorable, was not really feeling up for a photo shoot. the place that we ate, atlas, was really cute. it used all local, organic products, and most of the food items come disguised as a fancy-pants type of burrito. we all liked this, because - well - it's awesome.

i realize that you might not be sold on the city yet and we didn't have time to do a TON more, so let me just show you this, which is actually from our first stop in iowa city, as matt and i sat on the pedestrian mall downtown and had a drink while we waited for jason and kendra to finish their work days.

yep, that's a guy balancing an empty pop bottle in a fountain stream even though he had to work a while to balance the bottle's center of gravity in a stream of water that runs diagonally. kind of blows your mind, doesn't it? 

okay, since i'm so late in posting this (i.e., we just got back from our milwaukee trip and i am now uploading those photos), that will be it and you can expect another installment of our summer travels very soon.