August Happenings

The first week-end of August we made a trip to Michigan. Matt was there for his class at Calvin and we were able to stay with him at Cheryl's Mom's condo.  And we also spent time with the Wissinks.  This also happened to be the time that all the Diekemas were gathered at Tony and Jeane's house, so they hosted one of their big Waanders gatherings.  The photo quality isn't great on these shots, but it's fun to remember what it's like when there are 70 to 80 people in their house!

Mindo.....hopeful

It was another wonderful family gathering with lots of great food and fantastic fellowship with some family members we don't get to see all that often. There were people from Washington, California, Maine, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and of course Michigan.

Another August event was one of our field trips with Roger and Sheryl.  On the 15th we went to the Field Museum in Chicago for the special exhibit of the Chicago World's Fair and we also had a bus tour of the area where the fair was held.  We had an early dinner after the tour at a great Italian restaurant and then went back to Roger and Sheryl's to see pictures and hear about their trip to the Netherlands.  A fun day!!

                                                  The Field Museum

Museum of Science and Industry, which

was part of our bus tour.

Just a few days later we took a little 2-day trip to Galena, Illinois.  Galena is a very old, and very interesting little town.  We were disappointed that we couldn't tour Grant's home, because it was closed on Mondays, but we found lots of other interesting things to see and do.  We took a trolley ride through the town, and we had a great driver/narrator who had lots of interesting things to share about the history of the town.

Bob and Ulysses S. Grant

Grant Park, not the one in Chicago

The old train station

The smaller building on the left is a great little

restaurant, Otto's Place, where we had lunch.

We spent Sunday afternoon and evening and Monday all day exploring Galena.  On Tuesday we went to Dubuque, and spent several hours at the National Mississippi River Museum.  That is a great museum---definitely worth a stop if you're in Dubuque. 

Bob got to pose with Grant, I got to share a bench with Mark Twain!

Our national bird

Bob fulfilling his lifelong dream of being the captain of a boat.

We ended our day with a boat ride on the Mississippi River---it was a beautiful afternoon and very enjoyable ride.

Yep, it was a paddle-wheeler.

When we would drive through Dubuque on our way to and from Ankeny, I would always wonder about that castle-like structure on the hill.  Well our boat captain/narrator informed us that it is not a castle, just someone's home.....a very large home!

So I think that about sums up our month of  August.  And I'm only about 20 days late in posting.  Will I ever get this done in a timely fashion???

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!