Summer 2015---Visitors from California

Our summer fun started before it was actually summer on the calendar.  Matt, Cheryl, Josie and Evan arrived late in the evening on June 3.  It was probably early on June 4 by the time we got to our house and everyone was settled into bed. When we picked them up at the airport, we could hear Josie and Evan--giggling, squealing and clapping--before we actually saw them, and then they came racing into our arms.  No time for a picture of that--too busy getting hugs. :)

Because of their late arrival and the 2 hour time change, no one was up real early the next morning. So we had a pretty low-key day.  We spent some time at Wirth Park, had dinner at home, and then went to Kopp's for dessert! And how lucky could they be?  One of the flavors was mint chocolate chip which is a favorite of the CA people!  (except maybe Evan. I think he had vanilla.)

On Friday we took a ride up to Sheboygan to check out a place I had heard about, called "Bookworm Gardens."  It is a delightful place for kids (and adults) and all the displays are based on various children's books. Oh, and it's FREE, by the way!

First stop was the Visitor's Center, where they have 

a library filled with kids' books and some comfy chairs 

for people big and small.

Bath time for "Harry, the Dirty dog"

Ready for school

Maybe not quite ready for school

Doing some sweeping in the barn

Evan and Wilbur, from "Charlotte's Web"

Looking for Peter Rabbit in Mr. MacGregor's Garden

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"  (I think)

It's a bit dark, but that's Josie and Evan "Ingalls"

 on their way West in a covered wagon.

A Japanese Tea House 

(not sure what book this is from)

A pretty little spot where we had fun watching 

a mother duck and her family of ducklings. 

More duck and fish watching

Throughout the whole place there were all kinds of  fun places to sit and rest for a bit.  And they provide wonderful photo ops.  So here are a bunch of  "chair" pictures.

We ended our time at "Bookworm Gardens" with a picnic lunch, and then we headed over to "Above and Beyond," the Sheboygan Children's Museum. This was also a big hit with the kids.

A grocery store with a real, old-fashioned cash register

A full-sized fire engine and kid-sized uniforms

Building with magnets

Evan is doing some serious studying!

While the guys did some fishing..

...the girls made a craft.

"Rachel's Favorite" was one of our favorites, too. They 

had to crank the ball to the top, and then turn the wheel to make 

it go through the basketball hoop. 

But I think the Pin Screen was the favorite exhibit of all. (And I think it was one of Jeremiah's favorites when we took him here, too!) 

Such a handsome family!

I don't normally like to post pictures of my

backside, but I thought this was pretty funny. 

Matt had to get on his knees in order to get his upper

body in the screen. Kinda' creepy! :)

We finished off our time in Sheboygan with dinner with Bryce and Holly De Roos and their kids.  It was fun to see them again.  No picture of that, though. 

Josie and Evan enjoyed looking for the animals that come and eat the bird seed in Grandpa's feeder.  It's meant for the birds, but it is also very popular with the squirrels, rabbits, and even the deer.

Helping Grandpa refill the feeders

Saturday Matt and Cheryl and the kids went down to Chicago for part of the day to see some of Cheryl's family.  They were back in time for dinner at Blaze Pizza, one of our new favorite places.

Then on Sunday it was church, and after church Matt and Cheryl took the kids over to the playground at BCS for a bit. And in addition to all the playground equipment, they found something pretty special--Grandpa's bench!!

 Grandpa's special bench at BCS!

 We met the Brassers at Panera for lunch that day, and then we went home to pack up and drive down to the lake house in Illinois. 

 Stay tuned for Part 2---our time at the lake house!

May happenings

I thought I'd start my May post with a picture of one of my favorite things about May---lilacs! I didn't realize when we bought this house that there were lilac bushes, because we were here in June, after they had finished blooming. So the lilacs were a very nice surprise for our first spring in Wisconsin. There were two bushes here, and we just added a new white lilac bush last year.  It only gave us one pretty flower this year---hoping for more next year.

The first Saturday in May we went down to Chicago to help Abby and Neil move to a new apartment. We had also just purchased new furniture for the living room, and Ben had asked if he could have our old love seat. So we also delivered that to him on this trip.

Yes, you can get a love seat into the back

of a Ford Escape. Tight fit, though!

Abby and Neil moved to a new neighborhood, Logan Square, near where Abby lived her first year in Chicago. Their new apartment is much larger, and it is on a very nice street, within walking distance of a lot of stores and restaurants, etc. Here are just a couple of pictures of the new place, before all the boxes, etc. arrived.

This is about half of their very large living room.

After moving everything and unpacking a lot of boxes, we walked to a really neat restaurant for pizza.  When I saw this beverage on the menu, I had to have it:

A root beer with a fancy name. :)

The next Monday our new furniture arrived!  This is not a great picture--a bit dark, but you can get the idea. The couch and recliner look like leather, but they are not leather---micro-fiber fabric I think they called it. I see that the other chair just really looks like a dark blob.  You'll just have to come and see it, I guess. 

A bit of a change from the old plaid stuff

Speaking of the old plaid stuff, we still had the old couch to get rid of.  Since we couldn't find another home for it (even Goodwill and Salvation Army didn't want it), we had to just put it out with the trash.

Kinda sad to see it being hauled away

The second week-end of May, the Wissinks came to Wisconsin. They got here just in time for Panera with the Brassers.

 Hope and Aunt JoAnne

Jeremiah and Uncle Lew were playing a little

game, shooting something across the table.

 Rachel and I both think that this looks like Abby 

holding Hope. It's not--it's Rachel.

 The main reason for their visit was the "thirty-one" party that I hosted for Rachel on Saturday. I don't have any pictures of that, and it was a pretty small party, attendance-wise. Only one person came who wasn't a family member.  Abby drove up from Chicago for the party (or really to see Hope and Jeremiah) and JoAnne also came.  Rachel actually got several orders from people who weren't able to be at the party, so it really was a pretty successful party and I got lots of nice hostess specials. :) 

Jeremiah talked Auntie Abby into a little 

baseball after the party. 

We celebrated Mother's Day a day early with a great dinner at PF Chang's before Abby left for home.  And I was pretty spoiled for Mother's day.  Flowers delivered from Matt and Cheryl, a pretty hanging flower pot for outside from the Wissinks, a beautiful hydrangea from Abby and Neil, and a gift certificate for some yummy snacks from Ben. 

We hit Panera one more time, on Sunday for lunch.  We figured that it would be less busy than most other restaurants on Mother's Day, and I think we were right. 

 Happy Mother's Day to Rachel!

And Happy Grandma's Day to me!

We went to Michigan about 10 days later for Jeremiah's pre-school graduation. It was so much fun to be there for that, and to see him with his class.  They walked into the church waving streamers (Jeremiah was the most enthusiastic waver, I think!) and they sang some of his favorite songs.  He is great with all the songs and the motions, too.

On to Kindergarten!! 

(not sure his Mommy is ready for that!)

And a few pictures of Hope to show her accomplishments:

Look how well she is sitting up!

She's moving, too!

Got herself stuck!

"Maybe if I'm patient, someone will rescue me."

Bath time!

So....May brings lilacs (and other spring flowers), Mother's Day, and also my birthday.  This year was the big 7-0 for me!  Actually 70 doesn't feel much different from 69, though, so I can't complain.  For my birthday my kids gave me sort of a "plant of the month" deal---a different plant to be delivered every month for the next 6 months.  The first one arrived today--a miniature potted rose plant. It has three yellow roses blooming, with lots and lots of buds promising more.

Let the record show---it is only June 3, and I am caught up on my blog posts......for now.  Our family vacation is next week, so stay tuned for pictures from our time at the lake.

Time to say Good-bye! :(

The end of April marked the end of my babysitting for Shane and Jody Dooyema.  They are going to be moving to Sioux Falls, SD in June.  I have been taking care of Erin since she was about 3 or 4 months old, more than three years ago. Kate was born  last January, so we've had the two of them together for about a year. To say that we will miss them is a huge understatement! They have sort of been our substitute grandchildren, since our 4 don't live nearby. And knowing that I had one or two days of babysitting each week, sort of gave some structure to my week. And I really appreciated the fact that Shane and Jody were so willing to be flexible with me, so that we could also make our visits to our own grandchildren. It was a great situation for me, and I hope that it was for them as well.

Bob has been a big part of this whole babysitting thing, although Erin made it clear that Judy is the babysitter and Bob is the player.  What that means is that he did not do diapers or bottles, etc. but whenever he was around he was usually on the floor playing with the girls. And I'm not sure about Erin, but I know that "Bob" was one of Kate's very first words---maybe right after Daddy.

Just a few pictures from their last day at our house. Kate loved to carry a baby doll around, but another favorite thing for her was to grab one of my kitchen towels.  And sometimes she would put on on her head! :)

Bob read lots of stories to the girls.

And thanks to Shane for this picture when he picked them up the last day.

We will definitely miss this family, but we wish them all the best in this new venture---new job(s), new home, new church community,  AND pre-school for Erin!