Tales from Mommy Merrill: Grandma Lori's ISU Birthday Surprise!

Back in June, Wendy had a great idea for me to come back to Ames and surprise mom for her birthday! It was the same day as the Iowa v Iowa State football so this trip was really a no-brainer! Surprise Grandma Lori AND take Drew to his first Cy-Hawk Challenge??? HELLO - we can't miss either of those two events!

We also were able to coordinate the trip with some of my Iowa State DZ friends - which made even more worth while! We flew in to Des Moines and stayed with good friends Kaki and Kent Kraeger on Thursday night...

However, when it comes to The Adventures of Mommy and Drew, there is never a dull moment. We got to the Des Moines airport (visualize me pushing Drew in the Bob with diaper bag dangling, carrying his empty car seat with base attached and pulling an overweight 52lb suitcase w) and headed to the rental car counter.

The Hertz lady said "is a compact OK?" -- "Sure - that should be fine" (pretty sure that is what I had ordered anyway). She hands me the keys and I 'regroup' all of our stuff and head for the rental car parking lot. And I kept walking... and walking ... and walking...

Then finally made it to the spot ..... to find this! A FIAT 500!

We had just trucked across the parking lot with all our stuff, my back hurt and I thought my left arm was going to go numb from carrying the car seat on it. I peaked around the stroller, and said "Drew - we got this!"

15 min. later we were cruisin' down the road. The Bob was jammed into the hatch (had a take a wheel off to get it to fit!) and the 52lb suitcase was in the passenger seat (had to put my hip into it to get the door to shut) and Drew's car seat was installed (he was practically in the front seat, though). Probably not going to get an award for "safest mom" this year!

That afternoon Drew got to meet some new buddies! Maddie and Ryan Kraeger! Ryan is about 16 mo and Maddie is almost 4. They were so good at sharing their toys and made Drew feel right at home!

Later on that evening, our friends Ashlee and Jason Daniel (Ash was also a DZ with me) and their two little boys Hunter and Ryder came over. (bummed that I didn't snag any pics!)

Kaks made a yummy dinner and Ashlee brought her famous Taco Dip, we all enjoyed hanging out with the kiddos! Crazy to think that 13 years ago we were probably somewhere on Welch Ave... enjoying FAC drinks!

Friday morning Drew and his new bud Ryan had a great time hangin' out...

"Hey Drew - let me help you get a little more bounce in this thing!"

Then Drew and his friends hit the park! It was Drew's first time being on a 'real' swing! He LOVED it!

This swingin' thing was EXHAUSTING!

After our trip to the park we were AMES BOUND! Drew and I had a nice little talk about Iowa State on the way... he decided he wanted to get a Campus Tour! Off to the Memorial Union! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was fun taking a stroll (literally) down memory lane.

I think I want to be an Engineer, mom!

We walked around central campus, then stopped for a photo opp in front of the Campanile.

We were also able to see Toni and Drew Scott (Toni is also a DZ friend) and their beautiful little girls, Emily and Nora! Nora is just a month younger than Drew (but about 7 lbs lighter!) They were staying at the MU so on our way back to the car we made a pit stop to meet more friends!


"Mommy...she's pretty cute, I think I'm gonna hold her hand"

Now it was time to head to the hotel and get ready for the BIG SURPRISE! The Webers were in route as well as Bri, Beau, Melissa and Kelby! Mom just thought it was going to be her and the Webers that night... little did she know what was about to hit her!

SURPRISE!

We all love you SOOO much, Grandma!

We got her pretty good - she had no idea it was coming!

We all went out for pizza at Old Chicago - then back to the hotel for some sleep before the big GAME DAY!

In the morning, we bummed around with cousin Luke! This might be one of my favorite pictures of all times. Reminds me of Wendy and I -- Drew looks like he is hiding something and Luke is covering for him. Like mommies like sons :-)

"What? I'm not hiding anything! Right Luke?" Luke: "Nope - we're just sitting here being good boys!

"This strap is SO cool...we could just lay here and pull on it all day" #whoneedstoys

Grandma Lori loves to tailgate before the games -- Frank mans the grill and mom mingles with her friends! We got down to the parking lot at about noon - game time was 5PM! I can't seem to find the milestone in the baby book that says "Baby's First Tailgate" -- but this was surly it, at 6 months and 5 days!

Drew and the DZ Ladies!

Baby carriers saved the day!

'Where's Drew???'

Take a close look at his shirt: 'I"m a Cyclone just like my Mom" - LOVE IT!

Snuggles with cousin Ethan and Grandma. So sweet.

Then is was time to head in to the game... we had hillside seats and it was PACKED! The first half we camped out on the Southeast corner and hung out with Aunt Renea and Uncle Steve. We couldn't really SEE the game since there were so many people there, but we made the best of it!


"I'm gettin' tired mom - but Aunt Renea is lots of fun!"

Wendy, Luke, Drew and I moved over to the northeast corner for the second half. If I had this all on video it would be PRICELESS. First of all, were were on a VERY steep incline... which didn't make it easy to keep track of toys and stuff because everything kept sliding. Drew got a little cranky so we had to bounce around and sing him some songs to calm him down:

He finally fell asleep.. and my back hurt so bad I just laid down on the hill with him on top of me. Wish we had a photo - I'm sure I looked pretty ridiculous. But not as ridiculous as changing his dirty diaper on the hill, which we also did during the second half!

After nap time and diaper change - we were HAPPY!