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There's still no electricity in Iowa...sorry for the dark picture.

We had a great annual trek back "home" to Iowa. Every summer, typically in August, we spend a week at the Bailey house (my parents) and a week at the Bowers. They live about 2 hours apart. We are so blessed to have that quality time with both sets of parents/grandparents.

Summer is also a very nostalgic time in Iowa for some reason. Me and my hypersensitive nose can remember many moments from the 18 growing years I spent there, solely based on the scents in the air. The farm smells were so annoying while I was growing up, but now I can appreciate them!

On our way back to Ohio every year, Brent and I sift through our time in Iowa and discuss whether it's time to move "home." We don't feel God's calling this year, but we try to keep our hearts open for "the call."

This year we visited one of best kept secrets in Marshalltown, where I grew up. The Big Treehouse is one of the biggest tree houses in the world! A neat story surrounds it's construction and how a grandmother allowed her grandson's dream to come to fruition in her backyard. The Tree House consists of 12-levels, 55-feet high, with over 5,000 square feet of floor space, complete with music, electricity, telephone, microwave oven, refrigerator, running water, grill, 13 porch swings, and a Spiral Stairway, which was all built in stages around a maple tree. The grandmother actually gives you a guided tour, that infuses some history of the area into the tour. She emphasizes education and quizzes you during the tour also. So pay attention and don't get squirrelly or she'll fail ya!

The sprial staircase of the Treehouse

Grandma Bailey & the cousins being silly during our wait for the tour

The monkeys in the tree

It was so cool to see how massive the base of the tree was and also how the bark/branches of the tree have begun to grow around the wood of the treehouse. We were all amazed, inspired and somewhat fearful that we might lose a kid or 2 through the slats of the upper levels too!!

Well, that was the first of many adventures in Iowa, but being new at this blogging thing, it took me forever to post, so I'll wait for another post to share more adventures.

Hope you had some fun travels, making many memories this summer!