July has been a nice month so far, and we have hopes of it getting even better as we have our week at Crystal Lake to look forward to. After a rather slow start, summer has come to Wisconsin and we've had some rather warm, humid weather. It hasn't been too unbearable, though---today is the first day that we have had the AC on, and that is more for the humidity than the heat.
We had a rather uneventful 4th of July holiday. It's become our tradition to go downtown for the fireworks on July 3, and the display has always been awesome! When we got down there, Lew and JoAnne and Sue, Daniel and Steven had already staked out a good spot for viewing the fireworks. Sue and the boys had come over on the Lake Express that afternoon, so they came right downtown after getting off the boat. We had a nice time sitting around visiting while we waited for it to get dark enough for the fireworks. I think they started at about 9:30 and for about the first 5 or 10 minutes we could enjoy the fireworks, but they did not seem to be as bright or as loud as they usually are. As time went on, fog came rolling in off the lake and pretty much hid the fireworks from view. For a few more minutes we could see the ones that went really high in the air, but then it was like a curtain came down and we could not see any of them. We could hear lots of booms and could see flashes of light through the fog, but that was it. About 20 minutes into the hour-long show, there was pretty much a mass exodus from the lake front. We hung around for almost the whole hour, and gave the crowds a chance to thin out a bit. It was disappointing, because we always enjoy the fireworks so much. And really a shame to think of all the money that was spent on fireworks that could not be seen. :(
On the 4th we went to the Brookfield parade in the morning, and then to Panera for an iced coffee drink while we waited for the traffic to clear. Then it was a quiet day at home, until evening when we went to see the Elm Grove fireworks. We watched them from a school playground and had a great view. The Brassers and Sue and the boys joined us there too, after being in Sheboygan for the day.
Saturday, July 6, marked 39 years of marriage for us. I got a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, and we enjoyed dinner at Outback Steakhouse with Lew and JoAnne.
This past week-end we went to NW Iowa for my 50th high school reunion. We drove over on Thursday, got checked in to the EconoLodge in Sioux Center, and then had dinner with the Heynen cousins. We met at the restaurant that originally was the Holland House, then Family Table, and now it's the Sioux County Livestock Company. After dinner we went across the street to Culvers for dessert. We had a really nice visit, and I was so glad that they were all able to make it.
Friday was the reunion day, and it started with coffee and a social time on Dordt's Campus. They had arranged for several different tours/activities that you could take advantage of. We went to see a beautiful flower garden and then went to Le Mars to Wells Blue Bunny for some ice cream. This Heath sundae was my lunch for the day. :)
We went back to Dordt after "lunch" and there was more socializing there. We headed to Hull at about 3:00 and made a stop at the Foreign Candy Company, at their brand new location. And then it was on to Western for a tour of the school, a choir rehearsal with a group that sang at our dinner, and then we had our dinner. It was really a fun time (for me, anyway!) I saw classmates that I hadn't seen for so many years. We all had picture name tags with our senior picture on them---and the spouses also had the same picture on theirs so that people would know who they were with. That was very helpful for identifying people that you didn't recognize, but many people commented that they should have been a bit bigger. You had to get in pretty close to see the picture and read the names. :) We had a very good turn-out---there were just over 100 in my graduating class, 10 have passed away, and of the remaining 90 or so, there were 60 or 61 attending, along with spouses.
Of course, when I get back to Hull it's always fun to look at the two houses that I lived in. I thought it was kind of ironic that the "old" house looks absolutely beautiful, while the "new" house looks like it needs a make-over. It made me kind of sad to see it. But the "old" house has certainly been well cared for. It's probably one of the prettiest homes in Hull. From what I hear, there is a state senator living there now, Randy Feenstra.
The "old" house, which looks much nicer than I remember it.
The "new" house, which definitely looked much better when we lived there.
We had one other major event, but I have to take one more picture before I can post about that. So that will come soon.
