DesMoines vacation

 The last two summers we took large family vacations.  We decided we wanted to keep it small this year, so we planned a trip to Des Moines, IA.

On Day 1 we drove there.  

We took Huxley on vacation with us.  He just had to be in his kennel if he was in the hotel room by himself.  It worked out well.

We went to Top Golf that evening.  Zach is the only one of us who had been.  All of our kids enjoyed it and want to go back.

On Day 2 we went to Adventureland.

Zach and the kids rode this ride.  Zach said it was the most intense ride of the day, and they started with it.

Pierce and Zach rode this one.  Monroe and Graham were not willing to do that first drop.

These swings went 240 feet into the air!

Before and after a water ride

The two water rides were some of our favorites.

After getting wet, we went over to Adventure Bay, the water park.  

That night we ordered in Thai food to the hotel and the kids swam.

Day 3

We started at the Blank Park Zoo.  It was similar in size to the Lincoln Zoo, which was great for us.

The boys' only direction at the gift shop was no stuffed animals.

Of course, they got stuffed animals.

This burger place was recommended to us.  They had so many crazy choices!

Erin's - the banana was my favorite part!

Monroe's

Zach's

Then we went to do some back-to-school shopping. 

After shopping, we went to get Crumbl.

Our choices

Our selections

Our favorite was the chocolate chip cookie.

That night we ordered pizza and did some more swimming.

Day 4

We had planned to go tubing down a nearby river on our last day, but all of the rivers were too high because of recent rains.  We had to change plans.

The boys decided they were up for more shopping, so we went to an outlet mall in the morning.  

That afternoon, we went to an indoor mini golf place.  They had 27 completely different holes.  It was really cool.

They had the pool to themselves

We went to How to Train Your Dragon that evening.  Monroe loved all three movies and the Netflix series when she was younger. We thought they did a great job with this live action version.

It was great for our family to get away for vacation.  We would definitely recommend Des Moines for people looking for a smaller trip.