Trip to Iowa

I made a very quick overnight trip to Iowa this weekend, mostly to see my sweet niece...the only chance I'm likely to have between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, unfortunately. But it was worth it, and she is cute as ever, of course.





Fascinated with my bling. And my painted toenails. The girl has style sense already.




So big! Nine months old and catching up from a birth weight of less than 3 pounds.




Love that smirk.




This was the first time I'd been to my hometown of Vinton, Iowa, since they were hit by a big storm in mid-July. The winds were 100-130 miles per hour, and I've heard they knocked out about three-quarters of the city's trees. Naturally, it looks very different, and there is still much clean-up to do.