October, so far...

I'm starting this October post with a picture that was probably taken in September. This tree is probably my favorite thing in our yard--it gives us such an awesome display every fall. It stayed this pretty for quite a while, but a few days ago it lost about half of its leaves, so not so pretty anymore.

On Friday, Oct. 3, we had one of our field trips with Roger and Sheryl.  This time we went to Racine and took in some tours that are offered by the SC Johnson Company. (Johnson Wax)   Frank Lloyd Wright designed some of the buildings on their main campus, and also designed a home in the 1930's for the Johnson who was then the head of the company.  That home is now used as a conference center,  and they just recently opened it up for tours.  It was very interesting!  It is called "Wingspread."  It is designed with a center area and four separate "wings."  We were only able to tour the center area and two of the wings, but we also watched a video that told a lot about what the house was like when the Johnson family lived there.

Wingspread--not a great picture of it, though.

The above picture shows a couple of the unique things in the house that turned out to be rather impractical. That's a fireplace that is built so that it can burn long birch logs (they were probably about 5-6 feet long).  Apparently Mr. Wright didn't think about the fact that those logs would burn from the bottom, and then the logs would fall right into the room.  I think the guide said they only did that once. :)  Also the windows that you can see (clerestery windows, I think?) had a real problem with leaking when it rained.  We heard a story about how Mr. Johnson was having a dinner party and was having rain drip down on his head.

That spiral staircase is right next to the fireplace, and it goes up into a little place called the "Crow's Nest."  This was put in as a fun feature for the two kids in the family.  We did all venture up the stairs into the Crow's Nest, but it sort of  tested my dislike of heights and tight spaces.  That's Roger making his way down the stairs.

This tour was in the morning, and we had some time before the next part of the tour, so we made a stop at Bendtsen's Bakery, my very favorite bakery from our days in Racine. We had coffee and a pastry there and bought kringle and their "seven sisters" rolls to take home. A stop at Bendtsen's is really a MUST if you are in Racine. For me it was one of the best thing about my time living in Racine.  (The very best things, of course, were meeting Bob and giving birth to Matt.)

In the afternoon we had a tour of the Research Tower and the Administrative Offices, both of which were also designed by Wright. We also watched a couple of short films in the Golden Rondelle Theater.  It was all very interesting, and all the tours are free! I have no pictures of that part of the tour.  Indoor photography is not allowed in those buildings, and it was too cold and windy to stand around and take pictures outside.  We finished our day with an early dinner at a restaurant right on the lakefront.

Before I close out this post, I'll add one more picture just to show that we still do get pretty regular visits from Bambi and friends.  These two were really close to our house on this particular day--I thought the one was going to just come up to the window and stare back at me.  They really do not show much fear.

Well, that's it for the first couple weeks of October.  We'll see what the rest of the month brings! :) 

September, Part 2

I spent a few days in Michigan with Rachel and Jeremiah, from the 21st to the 24th.  Adam had to be in Minneapolis for meetings, and Rachel didn't feel comfortable being on her own with her due date less than 4 weeks away.  So I was happy to be there, and also very happy that Baby Wissink did not decide to put in an early appearance at that point.

It was a special treat for me to be able to see Jeremiah's pre-school classroom and to meet his teacher.  I got in on drop-off and pick-up on Monday and Wednesday.  I was glad that I could do that so that I know the routine, etc. in case we will be in charge of that when the baby comes.

We had dinner on Monday at Diekemas along with John and Judy, so that was nice. Jeanie tried out something new for dinner (pork loin from Omaha Steaks) and it was delicious!  Later Jeremiah was talking about that yummy steak we had at Aunt Jeanie's house. He also was a huge fan of the cashews that she had sitting out in a bowl. :) 

On Tuesday we went to Rivertown Crossing for some shopping (well, mostly just looking).  Jeremiah had fun in the play area and also had a ride on the Carousel. And the main reason for going there was because I was really craving a smoothie from Surf City Squeeze.  And the peach/pineapple smoothie was just as good as I remembered it.  Oh, a little bonus on that trip---we ran into Sue and Scott there and had a nice chat with them.

So yummy! I can't understand why there is no

Surf City Squeeze in Milwaukee!

Later that afternoon, after a "rest time"  we went to the downtown area of Holland.  I really like their downtown!  There are so many nice shops and lots of places to eat.  After walking around a while, we decided to have dinner at the City Delicatessen.  Really good sandwiches, and it was warm enough to sit outside. We also had to check out the statues of the children, and ended up at Orange Leaf for some yogurt with lots of toppings.

Wednesday was another pre-school morning for Jeremiah.  Rachel had a doctor's appointment, and I went along with her to that.  I was prepared to go pick up Jeremiah in case her doctor was running late.  But she got out right on time, so we went together to pick him up.  We went to Russ' for lunch, and then I headed back to Wisconsin.  Adam came home later that afternoon.

I just realized that this post makes it sound like all we did was eat and shop.  Well, I guess that's pretty accurate. :)

One more event in September---on the 29th I met my friend Phyl in Long Grove for a day of shopping, coffee, lunch and more coffee.  Of course, along with all of that was lots and lots of chatting.  It was a gorgeous fall day and a great time with a good friend.

October report coming up!

September, Part 1

I guess I'm actually starting this post with the last couple days of August, because I'm starting with Labor Day week-end.  Abby came to spend the Friday night of that week-end with us because Neil was gone for the whole week-end for a bachelor party in Ohio.  She also brought another guest with her---Molly, who was going to spend the week-end with us while her family went back to Iowa to visit friends. Abby met up with the Wissinks for lunch near I-80 and Molly happily jumped into Abby's car to come to Wisconsin with her. Abby said that Molly sat on her lap the entire time as they drove.

And obviously that continued after they got here. 

And after Abby left, she found another lap. 

The day after Labor Day it was time to head to Shipshewana for Waandersfest. Dad had decided that he should go a day later because he had an Elders' meeting that evening, and Lew decided to stay behind and drive with him the next day. So it was JoAnne and me driving over on Tuesday, and we brought Molly with us and made a little side trip to meet up with Rachel and Jeremiah at Sherman's. 

JoAnne and Molly at the Oasis where we made a potty stop.

For a while we worried that Abby might have brought some other uninvited guests when she came that week-end.  She mentioned that she had some bites on her legs, but didn't know where she had gotten them.  A few days later she called and said that they discovered that they had bedbugs in their apartment.  So, being the paranoid person that I am, I was kind of freaked out that they might have hitch-hiked along with Abby and all her laundry.  So after worrying about it for a while, I decided to pay the big bucks and have the house checked.  The Batzner guy came with his bedbug-sniffing beagle (yes, beagle!) and they checked the entire house.  No bedbugs!!! Yippee!

So.....it was another great Waandersfest in Shipshewana, Indiana!  We had a great place to stay and enjoyed being in Amish country once again. We all had rooms in the same wing on the first floor and all of us except the Sinkes had a little patio off our rooms. (The handicap-accessible room didn't have a patio.)

Reading and looking at everyone's family pictures are favorite activities.

Wednesday was Flea Market Day so the ladies all headed over there. We could walk from our hotel, but it was a bit more of a walk than we thought it might be. And we had to walk in the buggy lane on the side of the road, so we had to watch our step!  It was lots of fun looking at all the stuff they had for sale there, but obviously some of us were more die-hard shoppers than others. 

Cora Mae, JoAnne and Pat found this glider to be a 

relaxing alternative to shopping. :)

The guys all walked over to a Car Museum that was right next door to our hotel. They all enjoyed that a lot!!

Bill titled this pic "1928 models"

(But John informed me that he's a 1929 model.)

We also did some shopping in the downtown area of Shipshewana.  We had lunch at the same little bakery/cafe where our family enjoyed some baked goodies a few years ago. 

I tried to get a good picture of an Amish buggy, but I had a little trouble with that.  I know that you are not supposed to be obvious about taking pictures of the Amish people, so I tried to observe that little rule.

I got this one when we were walking to the Flea Market.

(caught JoAnne as well)

This was a place where you could get buggy rides.

You can't really see the buggy, but you can almost see the horse. :)

One great feature of this hotel was the ice cream shop that was right in the hotel!! So we hit that every evening.  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of that. Another great feature was the free breakfast, which was the best free hotel breakfast I've ever had, I think.  Several varieties of waffles, 2 or 3 other hot items, and made-to-order omelets. And the breakfast room was very spacious, so we never had  a problem finding a place to sit, even with our large group. 

The last evening we went to a Blue Grass Concert, which we all really enjoyed. And we had dinner at this place, too---a delicious family-style meal. No pictures of that, though. 

One last picture that Bill took.  He was obviously out and about a bit earlier in the morning than I was.

This is sunrise, not sunset.

So that's it for September, part 1.  Part 2 will be coming soon!