Our Weekend-Not as We Planned

Well once again, our weekend did not go even close to how we planned.  We spent most of last week grocery shopping, packing, and making food as we prepared to go to a cabin in Wisconsin with some of my friends from high school.  We both took Friday off so we could leave early and head north and getting up there in the early afternoon.  Well, Thursday night when I got home from the Taylor Swift concert John told me he thought Elsie felt warm.  So I ended up getting her out of bed, changing her pajamas (I had laid out a set with pants) and taking her temp.  Sure enough she had a fever :-(.  This made me pretty bummed out.  I kept going through difference scenarios through my mind about how we could still end up going up to the cabin.  In the morning when she woke up we took her temp again and once again it was high.  She maintained a fever throughout the entire day on Friday which mean our weekend plans were officially spoiled.  SO SO SO bummed.  Especially because I don't get to see this group of friends as often as I would like.  Oh I did find out that a couple other kiddos at daycare were sick with fevers over the weekend something was going around.  

So this is pretty much what our Friday looked like.  Elsie slept and snuggled a lot!  We even took a nap together in my bed because she did not want to sleep in her crib-not like her at all!  Oh and we watched a lot of "Mouse" aka Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I was a little productive with the day though.  I sorted through all of Elsie's 2T clothes and washed up the fall/winter clothes and got them in her closet ready for the fall.  

Saturday was another day of cleaning and organizing. Because Elsie was feeling better and didn't have a fever we got out of the house a little in the morning and went to Hobby Lobby to get some supplies to make Piper's birthday banner and find some replacement glass for a frame I broke.  

The best day of the weekend was definitely Sunday.  All summer we have talked about biking on the High Trestle Trail.  We originally planned to bike it on Memorial Day but that is when we were all sick.  So we jumped on the opportunity of our newly cleared schedule.  We were out the door just shortly after 7:30 AM (the positives of having and early rise) and met John's parents for breakfast.  After breakfast we drove over to Madrid and caught the trail there.  It was such a beautiful morning.  We all stated out in long sleeves but peeled off a layer halfway through.  I was a little nervous to see how Elsie would do since the last time we biked didn't go well (at St. Croix State Park) but my fingers were crossed because this is a relatively new trail.  

This trail opened in April of 2011.  It is a 25 mile trail and is designed to hook up to other trails to create two 100 mile loops that goes through central Iowa.  It is built on a former railroad bed that was operated by Union Pacific.  The bridge that this trail was named for is a 1/2  mile  long bridge that crosses the Des Moines River Valley.  It is 13 stories high and is one of the highest trail bridges in the world!  Right here in Central Iowa :)

The bridge was about 2.5 miles from Madrid so we stopped and took a few photos. 

After our fist stop we continued on to Woodward which was another 2.6 miles.  Once in Woodward, we turned around and headed back towards Madrid.  We contemplated biking to the Creamery but it was another 2.5 miles each way and didn't want to press our luck with Elsie.  She was doing soooo good in the bike trailer.  On our way back we stopped before crossing back over the bridge at a little picnic area to have a snack and take some more pictures. 

Apparently, these two 42' tall towers are representative of the bands of coal found in the limestone in the area.  And the metal squares on the bridge represent the support cribs in the historic coal mines. 

The river is so low right now.  Barely tricking by under the bridge.  

We got back to the truck shortly before noon.  It was such a great morning!  So relaxing and the trail was beautiful!  

After biking I had planned to run down to Des Moines to do some returns and pick up Elsie's 18 month photos.  Well at the last minute we decided to go as a family which was a perfect choice.  We headed down to Jordan Creek, made our returns in the mall and then walked around the little "LAke".  Elsie loved looking at the ducks and geese.  We ended up eating a late lunch (2:30PM) at a yummy Italian place called "Bravo"  I had a delicious salad, soup, and a raspberry mojito which was delicious!!!  We sat outside on the patio and it was so relaxing.  Then we did a little more shopping, bought some new bedding for our bedroom and headed home.  It was just before 6:00 PM when we pulled in the drive-what a long, wonderful day out and about.  

Although I was bummed about the weekend and how our plans were spoiled, Sunday turned out to be perfect! :)