June Happenings

I can hardly believe that June is almost over, and next week will be the 4th of July!!  It seems like summer was very slow in coming this year--I still can hardly believe this but we actually had the HEAT on at one point in JUNE!!  It really went against all my principles, but when Dad was sitting in his chair with a fleece on, hood up, and a blanket around him.....well, I figured I'd better give in. We are having summer temps now, but we are still getting an amazing amount of rain.  I heard on TV yesterday that in Chicago they have already had more rain this year than they had all of last year.  And the year is only half over.  And in spite of all the rain, our basement has stayed dry, for which we are VERY thankful!!

The first week or so of the month we had some school-related events.  We had a couple of graduation parties to attend the first week-end, then on the 5th we went to Chicago to attend the retirement dinner for Uncle Roger.  That was a very nice evening, and we were so happy to be included.  All three of the Wiers guys and their wives were there---no grandkids, though. Uncle Roger was "roasted" by one of his colleagues and that was very entertaining. There were 2 other retirees who were honored that evening as well.

June 7 was graduation at BCS, and Dad was the graduation speaker.  He did a great job, and I think it was very nice for the 8th graders, one in particular, who felt that he had sort of deserted them just before their final year of school.  Uncle John and Aunt Judy were there for Maddy's graduation, so it was nice to have a chance to see them. 

On June 14 we hit the road for a trip to Michigan for an Open House for Justin and Hilary Brasser.  But we took a bit of a side trip, to Geneseo, IL, where we met up with the Wissinks so that we could take Molly with us and take care of her while they were gone to Disney World.  We each had about a 3 hour drive to get to Geneseo, and we found it to be a very nice little town.  We picked up some sandwiches at Subway and then found a park, where we ate our lunch.  And Jeremiah and Molly had a chance to run around a bit before getting back in the car.

At the Geneseo City Park

So Molly accompanied us on our trip to Michigan---it was about a 5 hour drive to get to Diekemas, where we were staying for the week-end.  Aunt Jeanie graciously welcomed Molly along with us.  We got to their house in time to join them for pizza at Fricano's, which was a treat. 

Saturday was the Open House at Bob and Lynda's house.  There were quite a few Waanders relatives there, as well as some of Lynda's family and a lot of their friends. Abby and Neil drove up from Chicago for the Open House, too, and they also stayed out at the Diekemas' house Saturday night. I took a few random pictures at the Open House, so I'll post those.

They had a tent set up, because the weather forecast was a bit 'iffy' but no rain dampened this party.

I really did a bad job as photographer--I didn't even get a good picture of the guests of honor. But they are on this picture--barely recognizable between Uncle Tony and Paul.

And Jane took this pic of the 4 Waanders sisters. You can tell we're sisters because we all have the same hair. :)

We all went to church with Diekemas on Sunday morning, and then had a delicious Father's Day lunch before we headed home.  We left at the same time as Neil and Abby, and we joined them at Sherman's for some ice cream! We hadn't been there for a long time.  The ice cream is still just as good and the servings are just as big, if not bigger! I ordered a baby-size cone, and there must have been 3 big scoops of ice cream on it.  I could barely eat it all before it melted!

Molly was a very good little traveler for us--she only barked once or twice when she felt the need to scare a couple of motorcyclists off the road. And her time with us went very well.  We did have one little unexpected adventure---we had to give her a bath after she rolled around in a some deer poop in the yard.  That was on Monday, and after that we were much more careful about where we took her in the yard. 

Of course, this was her favorite spot to hang out, so that she could warn us about any dangers in the neighborhood. 

Last Saturday, the 22nd, we went down to Ravinia, near Chicago, for the Prairie Home Companion live radio broadcast.  I think this was maybe the 5th time that we have seen this at Ravinia, and we love it every time. The Brassers went with us again this year--last year was the first time for them.  And Uncle Bill and Aunt Pat also joined us again.  We picked them up at their hotel on our way, and all rode together to Ravinia.  It's a real advantage to have Uncle Lew with us, because he has a permit for handicap parking!  (and no, that's not the only reason we like to have him with us!)  After the show, we went back to the hotel where Bill and Pat were staying and had dinner at the restaurant there.  Karen drove up and joined us for dinner, too, which was nice.

The only picture I took on this outing. Uncle Bill and Aunt Pat had seats in a different area because they decided later to join us.

And now....it's been a quiet week in Brookfield. I'm not babysitting at all because the Dooyemas are on vacation this week. Dad has been fighting a cold, but I think it's getting a bit better.  I had a dental appointment yesterday, and had to bid farewell to Dr. Theis who is retiring---yesterday was his last day. And I've been pulling a lot of weeds---boy oh boy, those weeds really grow fast with all the rain we've had!

That's about it for the month of June!  Looking forward to some fun times in July!

Botany 101....or The Lilac Bush adventure....or Bob the Lumberman

One of my favorite things about spring in Wisconsin (and I use the term "spring" very loosely) is enjoying all the trees and bushes that blossom. And among those, lilacs are probably my very favorite.

It seemed like all the blossoming trees were especially pretty this year, or maybe it was just because we waited so long for them.  Our lilac bushes were also very pretty, but I noticed something kind of strange about our larger lilac bush. Almost all the blossoms were around the lower edge with a few way at the top.  But the whole middle section was just green--no lilacs.  On closer inspection, we discovered that there was a totally different bush or tree growing up right in the middle of the lilac bush and pretty much crowding the lilac bush out.  So we figured that we needed to do something about that....but as we were checking things out we discovered this:

It doesn't show up real well on the picture, but there is a mama robin sitting on a nest, and she was not at all happy that we were poking around in her tree.  So we left the tree alone until the eggs had hatched and the babies had left the next.

Then began the project of trying to get the invading tree out of  there.  It was no small project--and Dad did all the grunt work while I supervised. :) The leaves of the 2 different trees were not all that different, and some of the branches were twisting around each other, so it wasn't real easy to tell which branches needed to be removed. And unfortunately  we did lose a few lilac branches by mistake.

The good news is that there were no injuries sustained during this project, and we were still on speaking terms when it was finished. The last picture shows Dad contemplating the last part of the job---the trunk of the invading tree, which was probably about 8 feet tall and about 4 inches in diameter. All his years of experience cutting down Christmas trees certainly helped here, although I think a better saw would have been even more helpful.

The bad news is that we now have a very strange looking lilac bush.

We're waiting for another nice day to do some final trimming of the tall branches. And we're hoping that there will be some new growth by next spring to fill in the bare spots. 

Happy Birthday, Abby!

It's time for another trip down Memory Lane, this time remembering Abby's early years.  I've been thinking a lot today about that day 28 years ago when Abby was born.  Two things kind of stand out in my memory--that car accident that I had the day before (which is not a good memory) and then the memory of picking Dad up at school and heading to the hospital for a C-section. This was quite different from our previous birth experiences--they had all involved  middle-of-the-night drives to the hospital while in labor.

Just home from the hospital at 6 days of age, with her adoring siblings. 

Baptism, about 6 weeks old

About 3 months old

Right around the time of her 1st birthday

She always did think that her Dad was hilarious. :)

(Doesn't he look young there??)

At Grandpa and Grandma's apartment in Grand Rapids, sitting in Grandpa's old chair. And I think that's "Marlo" with her. 

Her favorite feature of her new kitchen---the phone!

One of my very favorite pictures! 

You can't really talk about Abby's early childhood without talking about her blankie.  Or maybe I should say blankies.  She had a bit of an obsession with silky-feeling  fabrics. (Actually she called it "sucky" since she liked to feel the fabric while sucking her thumb.) I think the first blanket she adopted was the green one that she stole from Matt. Then I got a new pink one for her that even had a silky pillow with it. And then there was the bunny blanket that had ears and binding that were silky.  The pink blanket and pillow were both loved to shreds, literally, and the green one ended up being cut in small pieces, a few of which still remain.  And the bunny blanket is also still with us, somewhere. :) 

She never liked it when the blanket had to be washed. She would sometimes stand out by the clothesline with one hand on the blanket and her thumb in her mouth. :)

Abby, Bunny Blanket, and Snickers

Flower girl for Maria and Kevin's wedding

And I had to include a few pictures from the "short hair" era.  I'm sure that I will forever be blamed for the fact that Abby was once given the boy toy at McDonald's because of her short hair.  Oh well, she was cute even in short hair, and it sure was a lot easier.  And the way I remember it is that she requested a short haircut. 

I always like those "missing-tooth" smiles.

I could go on to the years of glasses and braces, but I think I'll stop with this one. 

Happy Birthday, Abby!  You were the best 40th birthday present in the world!

Mother's Day Week-end

We went to Iowa for Mother's Day week-end. The main reason for going was for Adam's graduation from William Penn University. But it was an added benefit to be able to spend Mother's Day (or part of the day anyway) with the Wissinks. We drove down on Friday after having coffee with the Senior group at Panera. We got to Ankeny shortly before Rachel and Jeremiah came home from the Mother's Day Tea at Jeremiah's daycare.

If it's Friday evening, you will generally find us at Panera and we kept that tradition going.  For dessert we went for ice cream at Van Dee's. I had a butterscotch dipped cone---Wow! That was a blast from the past!

Adam's graduation ceremony was at 10 a.m. on Saturday. It was a bit of a drive to Oskaloosa, so we were out the door by about 8:15.  It was a very nice ceremony, and we were really happy that we could be there.  Adam's parents were there, too.

The happy graduate and his two of  his proud supporters.

We stopped in Pella on our way back to Ankeny and had lunch at Applebees.  We also got to see some of the tulip beds in Pella, which were beautiful.  I think they may have had Tulip Time a week too early this year---Rachel said that the week before a lot of the tulips hadn't opened up yet.  They were gorgeous when we saw them!

We didn't spend too much time outdoors on Saturday because it was extremely windy and quite chilly. The graduates had to hang on to their caps and gowns when they were walking around outside after the ceremony. :) 

Sunday morning there were Mother's Day cards and gifts and then we were off to church.  After church it was time for some pictures.

Jeremiah and his Mommy

Jeremiah with his Mommy and his Grandma

Jeremiah showed us how good he is at hitting the ball off the tee.  He's developed a new interest in this from watching his Daddy play softball. 

Adam grilled up some delicious steaks for lunch.

It was even warm enough to eat out on the deck. (well, some people did wear sweatshirts.)

One last picture of Jeremiah with Grandpa, or "Gramps" as he likes to call him. :)

After lunch we packed up and left for home again. We filled up with some of that cheap Iowa gas before leaving town.  Why does the gas in Brookfield have to be 40 cents more per gallon?!? :(  We had a good trip home, and the time went very quickly for me because I received phone calls from the rest of my kids while we were driving. :)

And I must share some pictures of my Mother's Day Flowers!  I've been spoiled!

I got this fuchsia from the Wissinks.

The little flowers are so pretty--purple on the inside, and deep pink/red on the outside. Now my challenge is to keep it alive!

And these tulips arrived from the Californians!  The buds were tightly closed when I first put them in water, but by the next morning most of them had opened up. They are beautiful!

Thanks to all my kids for making my Mother's Day special!  I love you all more than words can tell!

Springtime (???) in Wisconsin

When we were driving back from Florida in March, we were really hoping that we would find that Spring had arrived in Wisconsin while we were gone.  Alas, our hopes were dashed!  We still had some winter weather to endure in March, and even into April. 

This picture was taken on April 4, and this "ice pond" didn't go away until almost the first of May. 

And then on April 14, we got another dusting of snow. 

The only good thing about snow is April is that it usually doesn't last long. 

Of course, April also brings Dad's birthday. Abby drove up to spend the day with us. I took the lazy way out and bought this little cake at Metro Market instead of baking one. 

We had dinner with Abby and Neil at a restaurant on Lake Cook Road. We drove down, and Neil drove up and met us after his track meet. 

A BCS Dad (who works for Miller Brewing Co.) had given Dad tickets for the Brewer game on the 21st. So that was sort of like a little extended birthday celebration for Dad.  We had good seats on the Club Level  with some nicer amenities than you get in the rest of the park.

For the Sunday games, they have the "mini-sausages" do part of the race---it's kind of a relay race.  That was cute to see.

Bernie was happy---the Brewers won!

A couple weeks later (I think maybe it was May 1) we were given free tickets again. Very good seats again---this time in the Diamond Box, right below the broadcast booths.

I feel like we've been a bit spoiled with these free tickets and nice seats. Oh, and we also had passes for preferred parking for both of those games. That was nice!

One final picture to show that we are seeing signs of spring. I was very happy when the daffodils finally started blooming.  There are also tulips in bloom now and the trees are starting to get their leaves. The plants in front of the house are very slow in coming---it seems like everything is about a month later than it was last year.  Of course, last year everything was unusually early and this year it's unusually late.  One thing about springtime in Wisconsin---it's very unpredictable!