Girls Weekend - Saturday

Saturday morning kicked off with a walk, games and breakfast.  

We took some groceries along to make our own breakfast and grabbed donuts from the local bakery to share.  

A picture on the front porch of our airbnb before heading out for the day.  

We browsed around the shops downtown, which is something I always enjoy doing on days like this.  

Mom and I visited the Quilt Museum.  The current exhibit was called "Twisted."  It incorporated discarded vintage blocks and made them into new modern quits. Each quilt collided the old textiles with modern aesthetics to design interesting and rule breaking quilt tops. 

We enjoyed seeing all the creativity on display and picking out our favorite designs. 

Ang and Greta walked around town and took some pictures "on location" while we looked at the quilts.  

Winterset is the county seat for Madison County.  It's a lovely little small town.  

A group photo before leaving town.  

We found the Hogback Covered Bridge and stopped to explore.  

Ivy was very eager for our arrival home.  Roy said she had probably asked 50 times when we would be there for "spa time."  We soaked feet and painted nails.  

Ivy was thrilled to join in on the girls fun too.  

Beautiful!  

Hudson prepared dinner for us.  

Our evening event was The Des Moines Symphony concert at the Civic Center.  

It was a show like no other!  

Professional opera singers and a choir joined in for the last piece.  I have never heard anything like it.  

We wrapped up our night with birthday cake made by Ang.  

 

Girls Weekend - Friday

My mom turned 70 in November.  Our birthday gift to her came 5 months later in the form of a Girls Weekend.  My sister flew in on Thursday and we had 3 days of fun and adventure planned.  We kicked things off with lunch on Friday at our house and then headed to Winterset for a tour of the Covered Bridges of Madison County.  

Our first stop was the Roseman Bridge.  

This is the bridge they used in filming the movie The Bridges of Madison County.  It is probably the most iconic bridge.  Interestingly enough, it is thought to be haunted.  

The inside of the bridge included lots of graffiti and bat droppings.  

It was a picture perfect spring afternoon to be outside exploring in the country.  

What a blessing to have this time together celebrating my mom and the wonderful lady she is.  

Greta never pulled her nose up for a picture.  She enjoyed the extra attention being the only kid along for the Girls Getaway.  

Our 2nd stop was the Cutler-Donahoe Bridge.  Our tour guide was very informative and was full of stories, keeping us interested and entertained.  

Oprah once filmed on location at this bridge.  

Then we headed to Clark Tower.  It's a castle-like limestone tower located in Winterset City Park. It was erected in 1926, on the eightieth anniversary of the founding of Madison County, in memory of Caleb Clark, a stonemason who was the first white settler of Madison County. The tower stands at a height of 25 feet tall.  It provided lots of neat picture spots.  

The view from the top of the tower was lovely.  

We stayed at a cute little air bnb in town.  It worked out perfectly.  

We fixed this puzzle together and it didn't take us long.