RAGBRAI in Hull!!!

When I found out that Hull was on the RAGBRAI route this year, I thought that it would really be fun to go out there and get in on all the excitement. (without doing any actual biking!) Bob couldn't make the trip with me because he had to be in our church on that Sunday to be installed as an elder. So I talked JoAnne into going with me.  And since Bill, Laura, Karen, Jeane, and Dan were going to be doing at least that part of the ride with Pat, Tony and Mark as support,  and since John and Judy also decided to go out there, it had all the makings of a mini-Waandersfest!  Since we were able to get together with three of our Heynen cousins, maybe I should call it a mini-Heynenfest.

JoAnne and I left fairly early on Saturday morning and had a good trip, in spite of most of the rest areas in Minnesota being closed.  Could hardly believe it, but at our lunch stop we were eating our lunch at a picnic table when a family pulled up to the next table, and it turned out to be a family that I knew from KinderCare.  I had taken care of both of their boys (who are now about 10 and 12) as babies. Small world!

We got to Hull by mid-afternoon and our first stop was at the Foreign Candy Company.  We also drove around Hull, and I pointed out to JoAnne all the houses where I had babysat as a teen-ager. We also drove to Sioux Center and met up with Bill's family on Dordt's campus, where they were staying. Then back to Hull, with a stop at the Drug Store to pick up a RAGBRAI t-shirt, and then we went to Pete and Helen Soodsma's house, where we were all going to have supper. (We were in Iowa---it was supper, not dinner.)

Waanders siblings

The whole Waanders group

Cousins

The whole gang!

Sporting our Hull RAGBRAI shirts

"Start of a Sweet Ride"

We had a great meal at Pete and Helen's---chicken from Pizza Ranch and lots of other delicious food prepared by Helen, Nancy and Edie. Bill's family stayed on Dordt's campus, John and Judy had a hotel in Minnesota,and the rest of us were put up in Hull, Diekems at Soodsmas and  JoAnne and I at George and Nancy's.

Sunday the ride started in Rock Valley,  and Hull was the first town that they came through.  So it was a popular place to stop for breakfast. There were lots of different food options. Helen's granddaughters were selling cinnamon rolls--I think they had 650 to start with and they were all gone by about 9:30.  We were all up quite early in order to get over to Main Street to see all the bikers come by. It's a pretty unbelievable sight!

Cinnamon Rolls!  No set price, just a jar for donations.

I think they did quite well!

Helen's granddaughter played her accordion all morning. This must have been early in the morning, because later someone told her to open up her case, and when she did that she was getting lots of money thrown into the case! 

The Hull Public Library

It's come a long way from it's humble beginnings in a room in the back of the Community Building, off the alley. 

And just two doors south of the library--the house where we grew up

Pancakes in the Hull Park

Laura and Karen fueling up for the ride

And the biggest surprise of the day---running into Marge Faber on Main Street in Hull!  She's a good friend from Escondido and just happened to be visiting her sister who lives in Hull.  What a fun surprise!

Just managed to get this one picture of the two of us, and then my camera died. So no pictures of the rest of the week-end---a stop in Sheldon for more RAGBRAI fun, a stop near Okoboji, and then dinner in Spencer with the Waanders and Diekemas.  And then JoAnne and I left for home---a couple of hours of driving, and overnight in Minnesota, and the rest of the way the next day.

It was such a fun week-end and I'm so glad that JoAnne was willing to go with me, because I don't think I would have gone by myself.

A Visit from the Wissinks

Adam, Rachel and Jeremiah (oh, and Molly, too) came for a visit the 2nd week-end of July.  They came on Thursday evening, so we had a few days for some fun outings. We started out with a visit to the Milwaukee County Zoo on Friday.

Jeremiah with his favorite animals

In the Children's Zoo/Farm area, Jeremiah was more interested in the vehicles that he could "drive" than he was in the animals. He had no interest in feeding the goats--I think that may be due to his Mother's influence. :)

As we walked through the zoo and as we ate our picnic lunch, every time we would hear or see the zoo train, Jeremiah would ask, "When are we going to ride the train?"  Finally it was time--our last stop, and probably the highlight of the day for Jeremiah.

Friday evening we went to an outdoor concert at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center. We had picked up sandwiches at Cousins and had a little picnic with the Brassers while listening to some "oldies" music.  There was also a classic car show going on there---I think certain people in our group were more interested in the cars than in the music. :)

On Saturday we went to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum, another fun place to visit in Milwaukee. 

Let's see, I think he's a postal worker here.....

                                                ....and a roofer here....

....and an automobile mechanic here.

I think this was his favorite area.

The newest Sports Reporter on Fox News

How about a ride on a Harley?

The last area we visited was the Sendik's Market.  It was very busy that day, and so he never got a chance to man the checkout counter.  But he found a spot in the bakery area and he made sure that it was well-stocked with fresh goodies.

Saturday evening Adam and Rachel went out for dinner to celebrate their 7th wedding anniversary.  So that meant McDonald's for the rest of us.

Sunday morning was church, where Jeremiah went to Children's Worship. Of course I loved hearing from the people in charge how well-behaved and how cute he was. :) (Especially when they told me that he asked about singing his favorite song, and then proceeded to sing it for them.) After church we had lunch at Panera and then went to Foxbrook Park for a couple hours of beach time. 

And then it was time for them to head back to Michigan.  Time for one last

picture while Adam and Rachel were packing the car. 

  That is Jeremiah's latest addition to his giraffe collection, from the Milwaukee Zoo.  When I bought that for him, he said, "Grandma, you really brightened my day!"   And that really brightened mine!

Last Day in Chicago

Tuesday was our last day in Chicago.  We had to pack up and move out of the place that had been our home-away-from-home for the past week. The day got off to a great start with a donut delivery by Ben. He went to two different places--there was a great selection of yummy donuts!

How do you eat a donut with frosting and sprinkles?

From the top, of course!

While the rest of us were packing up and cleaning up, Ben found a way to keep the kids occupied.

He had something very interesting on his phone!

Time to say good-bye to Abby, Neil and Ben

We had a few hours before Matt and Cheryl had to be at the airport, and Roger and Sheryl had graciously invited us to spend that time at their house.  She had some lunch ready for us, and the kids had a chance to play with Will and Charlie again. 

Josie found the dress-up clothes again.

They introduced us to rocket balloons!  Fun!!

Evan preferred to watch the action from 

the safety of the steps, with Mom close by.

Looks like Josie is running for cover!

Evan was happy when the last balloon had been launched.

Then it was time for the Wissinks to head to Michigan (yes, Michigan, not Iowa) and for the rest of us to head to Midway Airport to drop off Matt and Cheryl and the kids. So.....more good-byes. :(

And one last shot at the airport before  they went through security and headed to their gate. 

Arrivals are so much nicer than departures!!

Miss these smiling faces...and one sleepy face. :)

More Chicago Fun

Sunday morning (the day after the wedding) everyone was moving rather slowly in the house on Moffat St.  Dad and I decided to drive over to the Springhill Suites where most of my family was staying.  The breakfast room was right off the lobby, so we got a chance to see most everyone when they came down for breakfast and we enjoyed several cups of coffee. 

In the afternoon there was an outing to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center.  I decided to stay home, because I wasn't up for a lot of walking around (still recuperating from the big day). Since I didn't go on this outing, I don't have any pictures of it, but I heard good reports about it.  I think they saw butterflies for one thing, and I guess other things that you would find at a nature center.

Later in the afternoon Abby and Neil came over for a while and they opened the gifts that we had brought back from the reception.  There were some very eager helpers with the gift-opening!

We decided that pizza sounded really good for dinner that evening, and we just happen to know someone who works at Piece.  So Matt and Cheryl did some texting with Ben, and he delivered  LOTS of pizza for us---on the house! :)  We had several different kinds, which all were great.  And we had enough left over for lunch the next day.

These guys approve!

Monday the weather was kind of "iffy" with some rain in the morning. So there was a search for an indoor activity for the kids, and they came up with a place called the Purple Monkey Playroom---an indoor play space just a few blocks from our place.  So the kids and parents spent some time there.  We popped in for a few minutes when we were out running some errands.

In the afternoon we all went over to Roger and Sheryl's house for a while.  They have recently completely renovated their basement into a kid's dream playroom.  The kids could have spent the whole day there---they are probably a little jealous of Roger and Sheryl's grandkids, who get to play there a lot.

Josie loved all the dress-up clothes!

We all went over to Adam and Jessica's house for dinner---great burgers!  The only ones missing were Aaron and Candice and their girls. They had been in town for the wedding but had gone back to Charlevoix.  I'm not sure who enjoyed it more---the big cousins or the little cousins!

Charlotte and Josie, the only two girls (with 5 boys) 

in the five-and-under group.

We are almost at the end of our Chicago time---one more post to come.