Visitors from California

(A note here---my original post about this somehow got deleted, so I sort of re-did it.  May not be quite the same, but pretty similar.  But that means this post and the next one are out of order.  I am a very frustrated computer user right now.  Sometimes I think I ought to never touch the thing again!!)

 All my regular readers (all 3 of them) are probably wondering if I am EVER going to post anything about our eventful summer.  And yes, I am.  It's going to take several installments, but here goes with the first one.

On June 4, Matt, Cheryl, Josie and Evan arrived in Milwaukee.  Their plane was a wee bit late, so we were waiting impatiently for them to come down that L-O-N-G hallway. One benefit of having such a tall son is that we can usually spot him pretty quickly.  And once we've spotted the adults, of course, our eyes are trained a bit lower to look for the 2 little people.  There is nothing quite like the sight of those two as they come running to meet us!  Priceless!!  They were all hungry for dinner, so the Culver's near the airport was our first stop.

This was Wednesday evening and they were going to be at our house until Saturday.  On Thursday we headed downtown and went to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum.  This was my first time there, and we all thought it was a great place.

Started off with a Harley ride.

(Sweatshirts in June? That's what our summer has been like.)

I don't really know how to explain these next few pictures, but I'll try. In one area of the museum a large part of the floor is like a big screen.  And it looks like a pond, with all kinds of things swimming around, etc.  As the kids step on it or crawl around things move and change.  At one point the "pond" was covered with leaves.  Josie was fascinated!

Trying to catch a fish......

...or maybe a frog.

Just sitting there looking cute

Next we went to the Bug area on the balcony. 

Evan scaling a beehive

Josie moving a bug through a huge maze

The view from the balcony--Milwaukee looking its best

We had packed a lunch so we enjoyed a picnic outside in front of the museum.

Back inside Josie showed off some dance moves.

Our last stop was at the Sendik's Market, which was a big hit!  And fortunately it was not too busy, so the kids could really have fun.

Evan did some serious grocery shopping!

The newest check-out girl at Sendik's

Isn't she cute??

After s slow trip home due to some traffic issues, we headed over to Brassers for dinner.

Drumsticks with Uncle Lew

It was a good thing that we had our fun outing on Thursday, because on Friday we had a sick little girl.  We did spend some time at Wirth Park, but Josie just wasn't herself.  After we got home we found out why---she had the stomach flu.  So that was the end of the fun for her for the day.  

The plan was for all of us to go to MI on Saturday---us to help Rachel and Adam with their move, and Matt's family to join the Vanderkamps at a cottage.  We set off in the morning, and Matt and Cheryl waited a bit to see how Josie was feeling.  And when she seemed to be feeling better they set off, too.  We got to Holland after all the big stuff had been moved in, but we were able to help a bit with unpacking. Matt and Cheryl also stopped by there, to see the Wissinks and their new place. 

These three were very happy to see each other!

After the kids had a little time to play, Matt's family headed to the cottage.  The rest of us went to Grand Haven where we met John and Judy for dinner.  Then we helped Adam and Rachel unload their extra stuff into John's storage unit.  So thankful for that storage unit---they really filled it up!

Next up---Chicago!!!   Wedding!!!

(Scroll down for the next installment of our summer adventures--Fun in Chicago!)

Fun in Chicago

Of course the big event of the summer, and the reason we were having our family vacation in Chicago this year, was Abby and Neil's wedding!!  Since the time before and after the wedding was going to be our only chance for getting the whole family together, I started looking for a place to rent for a week or so, rather than spending all that time in a hotel.  After some searching on VRBO we ended up renting a duplex that was close to Abby's old apartment, to Abby and Neil's new apartment, and also to the church.  It worked out really well for us---3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, cable TV (when it worked), wireless internet, air conditioning, and kitchen (not set up for a lot of cooking, and the freezer barely kept popsicles frozen, but we managed.)  The cable situation was a bit frustrating at times, especially since it was World Cup time.  But, we survived that, too. Oh, and one other thing---we were VERY close to the EL tracks.  I think that by the end of our time there most of us were sleeping through the night in spite of the train. But if you were outside when a train came by, it pretty much made conversation impossible.  And Evan would drop whatever he was holding so that he could cover his ears until the train was gone.  They do go by quite frequently---especially during early morning and late afternoon hours.

We checked into our place on Monday afternoon and got settled.  We met Abby and Neil at Chipotle for dinner, and the Wissinks arrived just as we were getting back from dinner. Matt and Cheryl's family arrived Tuesday, around noon I think. As I think back on our time there, I have trouble remembering just what we did each day.  So I'll just post the pictures I have, and maybe it will come back to me when I post them.  There was a nice playground just a few blocks from our place, and we took advantage of that quite often.

I think it was Wednesday morning that we went to a different playground in Lincoln Park. This one had a splash area which was great.....but our time there was cut short because of a storm that sent us dashing (a few blocks) to our cars. I only got one picture there.

Wednesday seemed to be our day for getting caught in the rain.  We met Abby and her friends Lauren and Ashly for dinner at Art of Chicken.  We had asked Abby to suggest restaurants that were kid-friendly and within walking distance. (Yeah, the whole parking thing in Chicago is a pain!) So, it was definitely kid-friendly and the chicken was great.  And it was not very far to walk, but it was pouring rain when we had to walk home.

On Thursday we decided to take a ride on that noisy train that ran right by our place, so we took the EL downtown and went to Millennium Park.  Of course we had to get some pictures by the Bean.

                                                  Evan is so strong!!

We just happened upon an orchestra rehearsal going on, so we sat down to enjoy that for a while and also had some snacks.

The music inspired Josie to do some dancing.

And the boys even joined in.

This is one of my favorite shots!

Buckingham fountain

Friday morning started out with Dad's pancakes.  That is usually a Sunday thing, but the bride had put in a special request to have them on Friday.  So he obliged, in spite of  having very little in the way of kitchen equipment.  There wasn't even a spatula---he had to flip the pancakes with a fork! But the pancakes were as good as ever.

Friday's outing was to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Can't beat a free zoo!  Carousel rides were not free, but Grandma took care of that. :)

We found a great spot for some photos with the skyline in the background.

                              A pair of little farmers at the Farm at the Zoo.

Just a few random pictures to finish off this post.

Popsicles on the front steps.

Two little boys in their Iowa shirts and a

 little girl who didn't want to be left out of the picture. :)

I think this post takes us through Friday afternoon. Next up we'll get into the pre-wedding and wedding festivities.