1. Watching my niece’s track meet

2. Watching my nephew play basketball

3. Seeing my mom for the first time since Christmas

4. Easter

5. Watching my niece play volleyball

6. Texas Roadhouse Family Packs

7. Audiobooks

8. Blueberry Muffin Cookie at Crumbl

9. Instax printer

10. Instax photo mat

11. IKEA frames

12. Ant bait

13. Family volleyball

14. Playing catch with Rooney

15. Walking to Target with Rooney

16. Walking to dinner with Rooney

17. A great massage

18. Watching Finch play baseball

19. Dinner Dispatch meal delivery

20. Playing frisbee with Finch

21. Playing catch with Finch

22. Amoxicillin

23. Scotch tape

24. Foam roller

25. Finch’s double play!

26. Shopping with Rooney

27. Rooney’s faith statement

28. Booking our Christmas trip

29. Pickle pizza

30. Lunch on the patio

31. Walmart thermals

For spring break this year, we drove six hours to St. Louis, Missouri. This spot had been on my travel list for a while, and I’m so glad we finally prioritized it and checked it off! St. Louis is very kid-friendly with lots of free family activities. Our itinerary was pretty solid thanks to other families sharing their experiences, so I’m going to list out what we did in order!

DAY 1

St. Louis is a six-hour drive from Des Moines. Hannibal, Missouri (home of Mark Twain), was situated right along our route and was a natural stopping point four hours into the drive. We arrived at the Mark Twain Cave around 1:30 pm and bought tickets for the 2:00 pm tour. The Mark Twain Cave is a National Natural Landmark and something Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote about in his classic book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” The tour is about an hour long and very well done. We wished it had been a more strenuous hike rather than a leisurely walk, but there was a lot of history shared, and it felt good to get some steps in. Our kids each picked out something from the gift shop, and then we were back on the road.

We completed the rest of the two-hour drive in the pouring rain and a tornado warning(!), then checked into Element St. Louis Midtown. I would recommend this hotel! It is centrally located, was close to everything on our itinerary, and offers a continental breakfast. Our room was spacious, and the kids also enjoyed swimming in the indoor pool.

For dinner, we walked across the street to the City Foundry, a food hall with more than a dozen restaurant options. It has a low-key vibe and is kid-friendly (our kids played giant chess while we waited for our pizza). I was really excited to eat there, but unfortunately, no one loved their meal. I would try it again but get something different next time.

Our kids saw The Escape Game while at the City Foundry and begged to do it! It was not on our agenda, but we ended up doing it and loving it! We chose Cosmic Crisis and escaped with less than a minute left! It was exhilarating! The escape room itself was really well done. Finch had never done an escape room before, and none of us had ever done one together. I was amazed at how well we worked together and how both kids solved puzzles that Eric and I struggled with. It felt like the next level of parenting that we can do this type of stuff with our kids.

Pro tip: Search for an online coupon or Groupon before you go!

DAY 2

On our first full day, we knew we wanted to check out the City Museum. This was the main attraction that made us pick St. Louis, and it’s quite an interesting place! I think the best way I’ve heard it described is an architectural playground. It would be very easy for kids to get lost, so you will want to stay with your kids, have a way to contact them, or stay in one place so they can come back to you when they’re done exploring. Our kids were almost too big for the small spaces and tunnels, so I would say it’s best for kids under 10 years of age.

Pro tips: Buy tickets and a parking pass online before you go, arrive right when they open, bring refillable water bottles, and have your kids wear knee pads and head lamps.

After six hours at the museum, we were ready to rest and swim at the hotel. Then we walked to Tacos 4 Life next door, which Rooney loved!

We loved the escape room so much the night before that we went back and did another one! This time we did Ruins, and we escaped again! I will definitely be looking for The Escape Game in other cities when we travel so we can try more of them!

DAY 3

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to the World Chess Hall of Fame. St. Louis is the chess capital of the world, with several chess tables scattered around the city and the World’s Largest Chess Piece. Finch loves chess, so we knew we had to make this a stop. We spent two hours at the museum learning fun facts and playing chess, including three- and four-person chess. If you’re a chess fan, you might like to eat at Kingside Diner!

Next, we did two things we like to do when we are in a big city: Shake Shack and IKEA. It was fun to get some new things for the house! It was at this point in our trip that I could tell we were waning. We tend to go hard for the first two days and then start to drag. So, we ate dinner at Tacos 4 Life (again), then grabbed popcorn from the movie theater across the street and snuggled in to watch a movie in our hotel room.

DAY 4

We saved the best for last! Gateway Arch National Park was definitely my favorite part of the trip! The arch is beautiful, and beneath it is a museum. The gift shop is also fantastic!

We all decided to take the tram ride up to the top. If you get motion sickness, you might want to take medicine beforehand. I wish I had brought my neck fan, as the air movement was minimal in the elevator.

We arrived at 9:30 am, and it was not busy. It sounds like it gets busier as the day goes on. In total, we were there for 1.5 hours. Then we drove six hours home!

RECAP

We had a great trip! I think three nights and four days was the perfect amount of time. I wish the weather had been warmer so we could have visited the (free!) zoo, but we tried to stay indoors. I also have noticed that we tend to go hard the first day or two of our trips and then we lose steam, so we need to be better about building in rest on the front end.

One big reason we took this trip was for family bonding. We often travel with extended family and our kids have cousins to entertain them. While cousins are amazing and I am so thankful for them, we also want our kids to grow closer together with each other and create memories as a family unit.

It’s always important to remember, when traveling with kids, to keep expectations low. The kids will fight with each other, complain about certain activities, or ask to do more (or less) than you had planned or budgeted for.

One fun thing we did for our road trip was create a shared Spotify playlist that we could all add songs to. We listened to it nonstop and have continued to do so since returning home. We are excited to take more trips as a family!

1. Rooney’s 14th birthday

2. Cookie cake

3. Avocado toast

4. Chiropractor adjustment

5. Eric’s birthday dinner with friends

6. Finally mounting our Frame TV

7. New media console

8. Salonpas patches

9. No line at the Walgreens pharmacy drive-thru

10. Express Pay

11. Jersey display case

12. Rooney passing her permit test

13. Finch’s first sleepover

14. Church retreat for Rooney

15. Catered lunch

16. Warm spring days

17. Book club dinner

18. Rooney’s honor choir concert

19. Closed storage

20. Asthma answers

21. Plato’s Closet find

22. Shopping with Rooney

23. “Reminders of Him” movie

24. The Escape Game

25. Spring break in St. Louis

26. March Madness

27. “Project Hail Mary” movie

28. Checkerboard jeans

29. Smokey D’s

30. Printed family photos

31. Italian Wedding Soup

32. Earwax removal drops

33. Wireless wall sconces

34. Dill pickle pizza

2025 has come and gone, and it was filled with many wonderful (and a few not-so-wonderful) things:

JANUARY

• Finch did a football camp, played basketball, and was in chess club

• Rooney was involved in PowerLife (church confirmation class), show choir, and volleyball

• Eric went on a guys’ trip to Okoboji

• We went roller skating with Finch’s school

• Eric and I played in a co-ed volleyball league

• We went to Okoboji for a late Christmas celebration and Winter Games

• We enjoyed a Living History Farms dinner with Eric’s co-workers

FEBRUARY

• Finch participated in Bricks 4 Kidz (LEGO club)

• I got COVID :(

• Rooney had a band concert (flute)

MARCH

• Rooney turned 13!!!!

• Eric turned 41

• Rooney got braces!

• We spent spring break in Okoboji

• Finch went to Magicamp

• Eric and I went to Topgolf with friends

• Finch joined the Robotics club at school

• Rooney started spring softball

APRIL

• Finch (and I) took the Third Grade Bible Class at church and received his first Bible

• Celebrated Easter

• Finch started baseball

MAY

• Rooney went to a school dance

• Our twin nieces graduated from high school, and I took them to get their colors done

• Rooney had a choir concert

• Rooney had her last ever band concert

• We went roller skating with Finch’s school

• Finch did a football camp at his school

• We had a third driveway slab and concrete patio installed

• Eric and I celebrated 22 years together

• We celebrated Memorial Day in Okoboji

• We took our annual time capsule photo

JUNE

• Finch broke Rooney’s pinky finger

• Finch turned 10

• Our niece Myah became our summer nanny

• Finch did weightlifting

• We went to an I-Cubs game

• Finch went to summer camp for a week in Okoboji

• We attempted to go to the horse races but got rained on as soon as we arrived

• Eric and I went to Topgolf with my co-workers

JULY

• Eric and I had a dinner and game night with our friends Kristin and Ryan

• We went to a family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells

• Finch played 7 v 7 football

• We went to July Jubilee

• Finch learned to backflip off the diving board

• Finch went to Magicamp

• We went swimming with Finch’s football team

• Two busy weeks of Vacation Bible School

• Eric and I had dinner with our friends, the Kregers

• We went to Taste of Hope (summer festival at church)

• Summer vacation in Okoboji

AUGUST

• Finch went to Magicamp

• Finch did football camp

• Rooney and I went to the Iowa State Fair

• We went to Adventureland as a family, and each kid brought a friend

• We went to Topgolf as a family

• We went to an I-Cubs game with Eric’s co-workers

• Rooney started 8th grade

• Rooney played school volleyball

• Finch started 4th grade

• Finch played tackle football

SEPTEMBER

• We went to high school football games

• Rooney started her second year of show choir

• We went to Topgolf with my family

• Rooney got her ears pierced (again)

• We went to the block party at Finch’s school

• I turned 42

OCTOBER

• Finch started therapy

• Eric and I went to the Taylor Swift movie

• Eric and I celebrated 19 years of marriage

• Eric and I went to the Brandon Lake concert

• Finch and I went to the Mom & Son Tailgate at church

• Finch started sports training

• Rooney and I went on a church retreat

• Finch performed in his school music concert

• I went to the Regretting You movie with friends

• We took fall family photos

• A fun night of trick-or-treating

NOVEMBER

• Rooney joined a club volleyball team

• Eric went to Denver for a work conference

• Eric went to a Hawkeye football game with friends

• Rooney got a bedroom makeover

• Rooney had a choir concert

• We volunteered as a family with Meals from the Heartland

• We celebrated Thanksgiving in Okoboji

DECEMBER

• Eric and I went to Cancùn — a trip he earned through work

• Eric and Finch went to Kansas City for the Chargers vs Chiefs football game

• Celebrated Christmas

• My dad, siblings, and our families spent a week in Cancùn to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2026

• Eric is the 2026 Urbandale Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Chair

• Rooney turns 14 in March and can get her driver’s permit!

• Rooney will confirm her faith at church

• Rooney will start high school 😱

• Rooney will (probably) get her braces off

• Finch will enter his last year of elementary school 😱

• Finch is excited to join his school band and learn to play an instrument

• Eric and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage, hopefully with a fun trip

• I hope to read at least 43 books

Big things ahead! Here we go!

Reading goal: 42 (my age)
Books read: 64 (my most ever!)

I currently have a 96-week Kindle streak! I also dabbled in Spotify audiobooks this year when I didn’t have any Libby holds ready. That made reading more than one book a week a lot easier. I give most books I read 3 stars, but I typically only recommend a book if I rate it 4 or 5 stars. Here are my recommendations from 2025:

FAVORITES ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• “It’s a Love Story” by Annabel Monaghan

• “Wreck” by Catherine Newman

TOP NOVELS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• “The Love of My Afterlife” by Kirsty Greenwood

• “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” by Sophie Cousens

• “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” by Rufi Thorpe

• “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry

• “Say You’ll Remember Me” by Abby Jimenez

TOP MEMOIRS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• “The Many Lives of Mama Love” by Lara Love Hardin

• “Talking as Fast as I Can” by Lauren Graham

• “Have I Told You This Already?” by Lauren Graham

TOP SHORT STORIES ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• “And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer” by Fredrik Backman

• “Two Women Walk into a Bar” by Cheryl Strayed

Best re-read: “The Giver” by Lois Lowry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Follow me on Goodreads to see all the books I read this year!

What books should I add to my list in 2026?

1. Volleyball carpool

2. Rooney’s club volleyball coach

3. Beanie weenie

4. Casa Zamora

5. Zicam

6. Silent disco

7. TSA PreCheck

8. An empty seat next to me on the plane

9. College volleyball tournament

10. A win for Finch’s first in-person Chargers game

11. Taylor Swift: The End of an Era docuseries

12. The warmth of the sun

13. Playing card games with Finch

14. Emails from Rooney when she’s at school

15. Family open gym

16. Church youth group Christmas party

17. The cutest new set

18. Geometry kitchen towels

19. Christmas Eve worship

20. A great book

21. Harry Potter movie marathon

22. Celebrating Christmas with our families

23. Christmas morning with the kids

24. Comfy navy set

25. Leopard sweatshirt

26. Cozy ankle boots

27. Clean perfume

28. Crepes

29. Guac by the beach

30. Double date

31. Lagoon swim

32. Cliff jumping

33. Family trip to Cancún

34. Room service

1. Alcohol based markers

2. Rooney getting an offer from the club volleyball team she wanted

3. Coloring books

4. Family coloring time

5. WartPEEL

6. Send Later text scheduling

7. Volleyball team cookie exchange

8. Middle school basketball game

9. The right to vote

10. Facebook Marketplace finds

11. Lunch date with a friend

12. Making cookies with Rooney

13. Free Crumbl cookies

14. Northern lights

15. Lego Masters Jr.

16. Rooney’s bedroom makeover

17. No cavities

18. Rooney’s choir concert

19. Inside jokes

20. Christmas tree lighting at church

21. Art Center date with Finch

22. The kids decorating our house for Christmas

23. Zootopia 2

24. Volunteering as a family

25. The promise of heaven

26. ChatGPT

27. Watching the DWTS finale as a family

28. Shutterfly app for easy calendar-making

29. “Wicked: For Good”

30. Black Friday deals

1. “The Life of a Showgirl” album (clean version)

2. In-school therapy

3. Hues and Cues

4. VPN

5. Family photos

6. “Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl“ movie with Eric

7. Mom’s Car podcast

8. Brandon Lake concert

9. A new planner

10. Cafe Hope peach smoothie

11. Starting Christmas shopping

12. A new volleyball

13. Lululemon set

14. Food trucks at work

15. Caramel apple with Heath

16. Cookie cake

17. Funfetti dip

18. Finch learning to tie his shoes

19. Roots volleyball clinic

20. Staying unified and strong as parents with our boundaries

21. 19 years married to Eric

22. Anniversary dinner

23. Pink skies

24. An answered prayer

25. Finch’s fourth grade chorus concert

26. Trick-or-treating with Finch

27. Church youth group retreat

28. Acceleration Iowa sports training

29. Midday medication

30. Mom & Son Tailgate with Finch

31. “Regretting You” movie night with the girls

32. “Nobody Wants This” season 2

33. Fall foliage

34. Eric passing his insurance tests

1. Watermelon on the patio

2. A great sermon

3. Rooney falling in love with volleyball

4. School pictures

5. Rooney auditioning for show choir

6. Catching the sunrise

7. A Friday night at home by myself

8. New barrel jeans (only $28!)

9. Quest crispy protein bars

10. Lemon poppyseed bread

11. New hoodie (an exact match to winter’s mole!)

12. Generous return policies

13. Healing

14. Topgolf with my fam

15. Hat rack

16. Sticking to my goals

17. My favorite fleece pullover in a new color

18. New office space at work

19. Violet

20. Homecoming

21. Church with friends

22. Watching my niece play volleyball

23. Rooney’s ear piercings healing well

24. Rooney’s small group at church

25. Brushing Finch’s hair

26. A friend keeping Finch company when I was late to pick him up

27. Shade at Finch’s football game

28. Finch’s school block party

29. Cheesecake Factory

30. Another trip around the sun

1. Morning walk to the beach

2. Skipping rocks with Finch

3. Bumping into friends—four hours from home

4. Lunch date by the lake

5. Pizookie from Topog

6. School supply shopping with the kids

7. Joyride candy taste test

8. Planning our Christmas trip

9. Finch’s third Magicamp

10. Rooney’s annual checkup

11. Back-to-school clothes shopping with Rooney

12. Chalk drawings on the driveway

13. A new mattress for Finch

14. Shock Doctor football mouthguards

15. Renting our lake home on Vrbo

16. Pips NYT Game

17. Iowa State Fair with Rooney

18. Rooney playing school volleyball

19. Playing pepper with Rooney in the street

20. Finch opening his teacher letter

21. Rooney’s school schedule

22. Adventureland with friends

23. Topgolf as a family

24. Surviving the first week of school

25. Being female

26. Women’s sports

27. Short book chapters

28. Allergy eye drops

29. Band-Aids

30. Going to the creek with Finch

31. Signed Mike Williams Chargers jersey gifted to Finch

1. New patio rug

2. YouTube TV

3. Janessa at Iowa Radiology

4. Savannah Bananas on TV

5. Express clinic

6. USA sweatshirt

7. Fresh haircuts for the kids

8. 10 years with Finch

9. Finch’s friend birthday party

10. Old Navy Super Cash

11. Khloud protein popcorn

12. Reusable water balloons

13. New shorts (I bought all three winter colors!)

14. Magnesium spray

15. Lose It! app

16. Finch having a great week at camp

17. IKEA day trip with Roo

18. Juneteenth

19. FB Marketplace find

20. ChocZero Keto Bark Dark Chocolate Sea Salt with Almonds (a fun way to get some fiber!)

21. My favorite sweatshirt in a new color

22. Finch loving weightlifting

23. Core Power protein shake

24. Sleeping in

25. Apple Cider Vinegar capsules

26. Ritual vitamins

27. Iowa Cubs game

28. Finch’s baseball team winning their league and getting trophies

29. Christmas trip booked

30. My kids playing nicely together

1. Bike basket

2. The Action Bible

3. Finch learning to swallow pills

4. Nature walk with family

5. Allergy meds

6. Caitlin Clark back in action

7. Deck time

8. Taking my nieces to get their colors done

9. Wallet wristlet

10. Sunset walks

11. Family bike rides

12. Rooney’s choir concert

13. Rooney’s last ever band concert

14. Patio umbrellas

15. Sunscreen

16. Working from the church patio

17. A restful weekend

18. Mother’s Day bike adventure

19. My favorite shorts in new colors

20. Softball game visitors

21. Rooney catching pop flies

22. After sun lotion

23. Oxiline scale

24. Witnessing the corpse plant bloom

25. Okoboji for Memorial Day weekend

26. Concrete patio & driveway project

27. Collagen

28. NCAA Softball World Series

29. Neighborhood kids making up games

30. Continuing our family time capsule photo tradition

31. Old Navy haul

32. Cousins playing softball in the yard

33. Sugar-free bacon

34. Poshmark finds

35. The smell of lilacs

36. Finally eating at Simon’s

Every year, we take a family picture in front of this wall at our church. When Eric and I snapped the first one for our 2010 Christmas card, we had no intention of making this a yearly thing. Then we found ourselves taking photos there shortly after Rooney was born, and the rest is history. We now have 15 photos in our collection, and it's a fun way to see how our family has changed over the years.

When I look at this year's photo, here's what I see:

• Rooney (13): got braces, is taller than mom?!, wants to be an interior designer, is officially in her last year of middle school

• Finch (9, almost 10): officially a fourth grader, received the National Math Star award (top 2% in the state in math!)

• Eric (41) and I (41) have been married 18+ years and are loving this season of parenthood!

1. Our pediatrician

2. How cute Finch looks in his baseball pants

3. New desk lamp

4. Walking to dinner with Eric

5. Bible class with Finch

6. Desk mat

7. Playing keepy uppy with Finch

8. Getting my nails done

9. Massage chairs

10. Minecraft movie

11. The King of Kings movie

12. Witnessing hundreds of students getting baptized

13. My kids hanging out together in the kitchen

14. Work walks

15. New book releases by my favorite authors

16. A new hat

17. Radon mitigation system

18. Easter

19. Date lunch with Eric

20. Landscaping projects

21. Sunbathing on the deck

22. Watching Rooney pitch

23. Watching Finch pitch

24. Rooney getting back into reading

25. A harmless prank

26. Watching Nate Bargatze specials with Finch

27. Biking to Finch’s baseball game

28. Car wash subscription

29. Flowering trees

30. Medication switch

31. Bubble braids

32. Biking with Finch to school