Farm Power Show

The Farm Power Show comes to Des Moines every year. Seth doesn't get to go every year--last year there was a massive blizzard/ice storm on the 2nd and 3rd days of the show. And it's only a 3-day show. This year, Seth wanted me and the boys to go with him. I thought it sounded like a great time to be together. We made arrangements for the girls to go to my college roommate's house (Thanks, Julie!) to play with her daughter Emma.

We found the free parking at Sec Taylor Stadium without a problem. We were going to wait for the free shuttle that would take us 10 blocks north to Vets/Wells Fargo/Hy-Vee Hall. But that's just it--it was a wait! And a wait! And a wait. We knew that we wouldn't get on the first shuttle bus nor the second. The line was pretty long. So, we decided to hoof it. Yep, 10 blocks in February with no coat on and it was 50 degrees or warmer. Not bad. And this was coming just after we told the boys in line to stop bouncing around and wasting their energy--now we send them on a walk for a mile! Oops.

I'm not sure we gained any time by walking, but that's okay. We had to wait to get our tickets, too. Ugh. I guess the show is pretty popular when the weather lets farmers travel to it. At least we were able to be a blessing to the men behind us who didn't have coupons for $3 off and we had 2 extras. The boys were free so we didn't need 4 coupons.

Our next decision was to figure out where we were and how to get to where we wanted to go. I'm new to the Iowa Events Center so I wasn't familiar with all that there was and how many floors there were.

Here's a look from the skywalk into Hy-Vee Hall. This is where we went first. The boys thoroughly enjoyed all the big equipment.

And the small equipment, too!

The boys enjoyed wearing their competing sweatshirts to this event! After conquering Hy-Vee Hall, it was off to Vets Auditorium. Three floors of vendors--think Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fair with people shoulder to shoulder. Again, I was not prepared for the transformation that has taken place there. If you haven't been to Vets in a while, you won't recognize it.

At one point in here, Emmet starts to run in place and in a silly voice says "There, I wasted my energy!" It was pretty funny considering all the walking we had to do and all the walking we had already done.

We skipped lunch (I had packed a few snacks and we're too Dutch to pay high prices for a little bit of food) and kept walking around. It amazes me how you can be in a crowd of 10,000 people and still run into family, friends and neighbors. It was fun to visit with each one of them and then continue our tour.

The boys picked up a lot of brochures with pictures to look at, I picked up 5 cloth re-usable bags (sweet!), and Seth picked up some info he was actually interested in (mostly planter parts--no need to pick up a brochure for the more expensive items). And don't forget the pens and paper that we all came home with. It is nice to go to these events to see what's out there and stay on top of what's changing, even if you're not changing. It's also nice to take a few minutes to visit with our financial planner who specializes in succession farming.

We were also blessed by the booth for the Fellowship of Christian Farmers. The boys got walking sticks and so did I. They are hand carved and very nice. At the top is a leather band with the familiar beads that represent heaven, sin, the blood of Christ, forgiveness and spiritual growth. Pretty nice gift to take with us on our walks to the crick.

After "lunch" I left to go get the girls and then I stopped by to pick up the boys since they were exhausted from all the walking and looking. We went to Michael's for a few craft supplies and then to Target for a few essentials. Everyone wanted to ride in the cart and that worked for a little bit but this momma could hardly steer it with 200 pounds of kid in the cart!

Then we went to pick up Daddy since the show was closing--we were there from almost open to close! Then Seth said "Now where?" And that's when I said "Kohls, maybe?" And he said "Let's go." Sweet! And they all stayed in the car while I had 30 minutes to shop! I found two $44 skirts on sale for $8 each. Nice. Next stop: The Learning Post. A teacher store with EVERYTHING! I had a few coupons for there and we bought a few workbooks for the kids.

Our last stop of the night would be the Iowa Machine Shed. We were all very hungry after having skipped lunch. It was nice to sit down and enjoy a nice meal with the kids. They enjoyed it and they enjoyed their day. We're glad we could have the time spent together as a family! It may have been exhausting but it was priceless!