As soon as the Arctic air was out of Iowa, we continued on our quest to visit every State Park in Iowa (read about that here). This weekend, we woke up early and began our adventure at the Ankeny DOT, so I could renew my driver's license.
Funny story: Since we were headed to Beed's Lake and I had to go in that direction for the DOT, I decided that Matt and the minis should drop me off, grab breakfast, and then come back for me. Turns out, the DOT doesn't want people waiting long for appointments and I was done within five minutes. I had to ask to wait in the waiting area while they quickly ran through the McDonald's drive thru. Usually, this would be an hour or two ordeal, but it was the quickest appointment I've ever had!
From Ankeny, we drove the easy hour to Hampton, Iowa, up I35. Once we arrived at the Park, the dog was eager to hit trail. We started hiking on the path across the lake, but the wind was too much for the kids.
Walking on the frozen lake.
We decided to keep on the wooden trail to avoid the gusts of wind. This would have been great, except we realized about half-way through we were walking on the deer path in people's backyards and NOT on the actual trail. Oops! The dog was in heaven with all of the smells and the minis wound up hiking on the lake, so it didn't matter too much. We still managed to get a good walk in!
There were quite a few ice fishers on the lake that we managed to not disturb, but they must have made it look fun because the youngest requested we give ice fishing a try sometime.
On the way home, we stopped at Ben's Burgers in Ankeny. I would define it as locally owned fast food. The food was good, but the customer service was outstanding! Naturally, the dog assumed we were at a coffee shop drive thru. When our drinks come out, the dog went crazy looking for his pup cup (yeah, I know, he's spoiled). The worker at the window saw this and asked if he would like a pup cup. We approved and she then handed us a cup FULL of ice cream! Dog and humans were happy.
Windblown faces after the hiking, taking it easy. They decorated cupcakes for my birthday the following day. I love the above picture of my crowded table: dinner (a new antipasti recipe that we loved), a snack box from Ukraine, cupcake decorating items, books being read, pictures that have been colored, and what the picture can't capture, but something I'll remember, silence.
