We finally made it to October break and we couldn't have been more excited. A couple months ago all the Flaherty siblings and spouses decided it would be fun to go and visit Tanner and Heidi in Iowa. We arranged it with the grandparents to watch all our kids while we were gone. Yesterday (Sunday Oct 6th) we boarded Allegiant Airlines for Iowa. We were teasing Tanner and Heidi that they would need a trailer to pick us and all our luggage up. We arrived safely and absolutely fell in love with Tanner and Heidi's gorgeous house. Here we are at the airport saying goodbye to our chauffeur, Bob:)
Today we had fun at the John Deere Pavilion, lunch at Granite City and then later hit up a Segway Tour along the Mississippi River. The Segways were a blast. I was a little nervous to ride one at first but it doesn't take long to get used to them. Technically I wasn't supposed to be riding a Segway pregnant but I didn't mention anything to our guide until we were almost done with the tour. I happen to say I was 6 months prego (which he couldn't believe) and he said good thing I didn't mention that before we started or I would have probably been sitting it out. Im glad I didn't miss out on all the fun. Today was definitely a great way to start our trip. Can't wait for more good times.
Of course the kids are having a blast at grandma and grandpa's house. I can't believe they have all 8 of them until tomorrow night...bless their hearts.
Grandma Terri had the kids make a laundry box for each family. This was Bradock and Raylee's artistically decorated box. Apparently the golf and hunting stickers were for Brett and the food was for me...they know us too well:)
Today (Oct 8th) we took off early and headed to Nauvoo, Illinois to do a session in the Nauvoo Temple. Kiley had the bright idea that we should all just squeeze in Tanner's little Chevy Impala. It was a tight squeeze but we made the 2hr trip. We first had lunch then went to the temple for the 1 o'clock session. Brett and I hadn't done a session in quite sometime (shame on us) so we had never seen the new video that is played. It was so good and so much more emotional and touching. After the session the temple president took is up to the bell tower. Apparently they don't usually take people up there, but he made an exception for us. Afterwards, we took a few pics outside the temple and then headed home. We met Tanner at the house and ordered food in. We were al pretty exhausted from our day but it was fun to go see Nauvoo again.
Well, today ended up being major dental day. Dr. Brett finally got to be the patient for once. He had to get 2 crowns and 6 fillings (mostly just replacing old amalgam fillings for composite). Poor Brett had to have like 20 shots to keep him numb while Tanner worked on patients in between him. Kiley was a trooper too since she was there helping assist. They sure make one heck of a dental team:)
My mom took this pic of the kids at McDonalds. They sure are having fun with all their grandparents and cousins this week.
Of course you can't have a night with the Flaherty's without playing some games. The game of choice most of the time is scum. Brett had gotten this goofy hat at the John Deere store for keeping his head warm while hunting, but apparently it became the President's seat hat. I ended up wearing it a lot:)
My sneaky little husband snapped this shot of me working out. Brett and I slept in the downstairs bedroom, so it made it convenient to work out in their open basement space. Too bad I had no one that wanted to work out with me.
Wednesday night Tanner was really excited to show us the Davenport Country Club golf course, where the guys would be playing the next day. It was a beautiful course with tons of greenery and trees. We then had dinner there after our little gold cart ride. The next day the guys played two rounds of golf on two different courses while us girls took a little trip to Galena. It was a cute little town with some fun boutique style shops.
The kids had a fun time going bowling. Thank goodness Terri had my mom and Aunt Diane there to help. 8 little ones + McKai are quite the handful.
The kids also joined Grandma Terri's N.E.O. (Not even once) club. They made a promise to not make bad choices, not even once. Such a fun and cute idea.
Friday morning we headed to Chicago for the weekend. We ended up renting a Town and Country Van so we could all fit and ride together. We stayed in the Sheraton right downtown, which was a great location to everything we wanted to do and see. The Navy Pier was one of our first destinations and we had a ton of fun.
Our absolute favorite is the architectural boat tour through Chicago. We actually headed out to Lake Michigan first where a lot of us for wet from the windy water blowing over. It was the only time I felt really cold in Chicago. Other than that the weather was great.
The Chicago view from our boat.
Of course we did lots of shopping and eating but another attraction we had to visit was the famous Bean. We got some pretty cool pictures there. That night we had dinner at Gino's pizza and did some more shopping. Mike and Kiley ended there trip in Chicago and flew back home Sunday morning. The rest of us drove back to Tanner and Heidi's house so we could fly back out of Moline. After a fun filled week I think we were all ready to get home to our kids and get back to our normal routine.
Goof troop.
While we were having fun in Chicago the kids were having a blast at Grady and Carson's football games. Mr. B was dying to wear Carson's gear. He sure makes one cute football player.
Here is the chaotic Flaherty family room with all the little boys' sleeping bags. The kids couldn't have had more fun.
Only my in-laws would be brave enough to take all 8 kids to their single adult ward. I guess the kids did pretty good though...thank goodness.
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