We decided to spend the whole day on Friday showing Lucas and Ke'alohi around Des Moines, the city where our family took many of our vacations to visit my dad's family. Iowa holds a special place in my heart because so many of my childhood family memories took place there. A fun fact about Iowa is that Iowa ranks first in beef, pork, corn, soybean and grain production. In other words, Iowa is a happening place!
We showed Lucas and Ke'alohi the Iowa State Fair grounds, home of the largest state fair in the country. A few years back, my parents donated to the fair grounds and have a brick and bench with our names on it. We drove past A&E Dairy, who make the best milk, ice cream and chip dips! We stopped by Union Park, the park where my dad and grandma would take Kainoa and I to play and ride bikes in the summer. We even brought Ke'alohi out and took some pictures of her on the slide in the snow. She was such a trooper in her snowsuit and loved it when we played with her on the swing. Lastly we showed Lucas my grandma's house, and told Lucas and Ke'alohi stories of how it used to be when we were there growing up.
It was bittersweet seeing everything and knowing that none of our family live in Iowa anymore. I do hope that one day I can bring Lucas and Ke'alohi back to take them to the Iowa State Fair and show them why Iowa means so much to me and my family.
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