I woke up on Tuesday morning and was getting ready to start my day with Dana and Miss Kendall when this text message comes through from one of my co-workers. Let me just insert here that I blatantly told everyone not to be calling me from work...about work...and I didn't care if that place was on fire, I wasn't stepping foot on the property! So, if it did burn down, they could find me across the street with a bottle of water and a hot dog on a stick. They were welcome to call or text me otherwise but I needed a break from that place. And then this message came through "...but I'm glad our county has someone like you in that chair at night..."
And I sat there and cried. And I cried some more. She can never know how much those words meant to me. What most of you don't realize is the struggle that I have been having, deciding if this is where I am supposed to be. So many positives in my workplace and so many not-so-positives. Just like anyplace else I suppose but still...questioning myself and my future. I was really hoping that this time away would give me a fresh new take on which direction life should take.
So, back to our day! We head to Des Moines where we had decided we wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens. Dana hadn't been there since she was young and I had never been there. Kendall, well she had never been there either so it was quite amazing for the two of us!!! Between Dana and I, we took A LOT of pictures and we asked A LOT of questions...to each other; as if we knew any of the answers hahahahahaha. Why don't they put labels on these plants so we know what we are looking at? I mean, how much does it mean to you if I say I REALLY liked that purple flower on that long green stem. Seriously! So if you have any botanical connections, they need labels!!!
When we were going through the first area, a worker said to Dana "Is it a boy? He's sure cute!" Uhhhh, excuse me Miss but while some people MAY put a giant pink flower headband on their little baby boys, MOST people do not!! I'm pretty sure my eyeballs about popped out and I wasn't sure what to think about this place. A little while later, another gal came and about gunned us down just to say she was sorry if they ran us off but wanted us to know that they were switching things around for the season. What in the hell is going on this crazy place??? We didn't run away. We didn't even act confused, scared or indifferent! All we did was look at the pretty label-less flowers and plants!!! I would give this place a thumbs up though just because it was so beautiful and bright and there was so much to look at. Even when we walked down a quiet hallway and Miss Kendall decided to crap her pants. LOUDLY. That girl has quite a gift! Glad I didn't have to clean that up!!!
While we were enjoying the outside water plants, I may or may not have gotten a snapchat from someone else telling me to come back to work now. Good thing for sunglasses to hide the tears that I couldn't hold back. So many emotions on this crazy day!
Downtown we go! We took a walk around the PapaJohn Sculpture Park. I'm not even sure that I remember many of the sculptures that were there but I will tell you what I do remember! There was a food truck on the side street when we took our walk and when we came back by from the artsy-fartsy school...IT WAS NOW AN ICE CREAM TRUCK!!! Do you know that I have wanted some ice cream for about 2 weeks now and haven't let myself give in! God works in mysterious ways but I'm sure this time he was grinning from ear to ear and letting out a big ole belly laugh!
About that artsy-fartsy school. Yeah, I can't remember what it was called but when we got there, we decided it looked way too "school-ish" for our liking so we were content with driving through the parking lot and gazing at the building. And the building wasn't even cool! Yeah, we are party animals like that. We can talk ourselves out of our decisions faster than anybody I've ever seen. "Let's do this...no, let's don't do this!" And we laugh and laugh and laugh! Dana did get a little lesson in sign-reading on the way to this place. I'm pretty sure she didn't know before this day that there were words on metal sticks on the sides of the roads that tell you which way to go and where things are at! I bet she knows now!!
Lunch time! Not just for us but for Miss Kendall as well. Dana parks in this "out-of-the-way" spot where there are no people so she can get in the backseat and feed the baby and we chat the whole time. She gets out of the car and I hear her say "Well, how long have THEY been standing there?" Two guys just standing by their car talking it up. Hahahaha I guess that parking space...you know, the one that was 6 miles from HuHot...wasn't so out-of-the-way after all!!!
Now...the next place we wanted to visit was the Iowa Historical Museum. It was on the drive here we noticed that stupid ice cream truck! It's just BS if you ask me! Anyway, If you haven't ever been to this museum, you should go. It was extraordinary!!! I can't believe I never knew this place existed. I have driven right by it a hundred times if I've driven by it once. It's free to visit and I'll tell you why...the parking SUCKS!!! We like to walk so it worked out in our favor...eventually. -_- Kathy, we are definitely going to this soon!
So, here we are, driving up and down the streets looking for a place to park that wasn't going to eat all the quarters that we didn't prepare ourselves to bring. And if that wasn't fun enough, the one-way streets were amazing! I think we saw three cars that intentionally went down the one-way street in front of the Capitol building just to get to a two-lane road! Lazy jerks! As we meet one...yep, we were going the right way and they were going the wrong way...Dana says to me "Isn't this our road?" Ha, well you know me! I'm willing to take possession of a roadway without cause so I said "Of course it's ours!" Hahaha what she meant was "Why is this A-Hole driving toward me when there isn't even a lane for them???""
While looking for a parking place, we found the specialty surgery center in case we needed to pass a kidney stone while we were in town. We also found that huge funeral home in case the surgery didn't go well. Or someone drove the wrong way on the wrong road and someone just wasn't meant to make the trip! At one point, Dana tried to park us in a State Employees Parking Only garage. It's a good thing I can read those sign thingys!!!
We make it safely to this museum and our attention was caught immediately. It was amazing to see all the items kept back from the wars; the articles from newspapers; the history. I'm not one that usually enjoys spending my free time in museums but I think my sister has rubbed off on me a little bit in that way. It was neat to see what Henry Agard Wallace (I had no idea that was his middle name) looked like. They had a couple of interactive maps about different areas of the state. Heck, I don't remember knowing there was an astronaut from Ringgold County! This is what I get for not watching the news my whole life, huh???
We jumped onto the elevator to go up to level two because well....taking a stroller up a bunch of crazy steps wasn't on our list of extra-curricular activities. So, we get on this elevator and both of us turn around and start looking at the map on the wall. I noticed the elevator is moving and neither of us has pushed a button. Dana turns around and pushes 2 and before we know it, we are on level 3!!! That was one quick elevator and then there was that whole "Come on in, we wanted level 2" but were too dumb to push a button when we got in!!! For the record, the nice man that got in the elevator on level 3, knew Miss Kendall was a girl!
Dana had only been thirsty for about an hour so when we came across some water fountains, we were both a little relieved! I got a drink first and luckily for me I did because otherwise we both would have been parched and we can't have that! When I got done, Dana goes over and uses the fountain next to the one I used and as she bent down to get a drink, she pushes the button and I swear that thing meant to quench the thirst of someone in the back of that building and around the corner! That water spout was crazy big and it would have made my day so much better if she would have gotten her face down just another inch or two before pushing that button! Let's just say that Dana did not get a drink. For a long time after that!
After a while, Miss Kendall decided she needed to get out of her stroller and be carried and Aunt Shellie was more than willing to hold her and talk to her. Well.......it wasn't a walk and a talk she was looking for!!! She needed the boob and she needed it now! Sorry kid, Aunt Shellie is no help to you now. Luckily, mom comes to the rescue with a bottle. Let me tell you, this happy baby can wail and when you're in a quiet museum, it's about 10 times louder!! She sucked that little supplement thingy down faster than any baby I have ever seen take a bottle and before we knew it, I was shoving another one in her tiny little mouth. That seemed to hit the spot and take care of the problem. I even got her to burp for me without puking all over me. Maybe Aunt Shellie hasn't lost her touch, after all!
If you have never been to this museum and you decide to go, let me give you a couple of pointers.
First: when you go through the little "hut" or whatever it was, there is a very small incline or step on both sides and if you walk backward, to say...take pictures or something...be careful because you could fall on your arse. I heard that from a friend!
Second: It is really, really easy to get turned around in this place! Just because you go in one door, doesn't mean you're coming out that same door or any door that leads you to anything familiar so you may find yourself back tracking to finish looking at the displays that you started with!!!
Third: DO THE GREEN SCREEN!!! We totally ran out of time and didn't get to do it! Looked so fun!
We made it home with no scrapes, tears, or accidents and we were able to just talk and hang out. We did finally get a drink, in case you were concerned. Thank God for Kum N Go! I hope I didn't leave anything out and if I did, I hope it wasn't funny! Thank you Dana, for a fantastic day away. I can't wait for our next trip! Why didn't we have someone take some pics of the three of us??? <3
I'm going to end with this picture because the story behind it...and I'm not at libery to say...is so funny!!! We will call this pic "Face Plant!"
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