California trip--February

We really were not planning to make a trip to California again this soon, but Cheryl's diagnosis sort of changed that.  And at first I was sort of waiting to find out if her Mom was going to make a trip out there, but I found out that she was going to go in March so that she could be there when Matt took his trip to D.C. with his students. So when I found that out, and when I found out that Grandparents' Day at Redlands Christian was going to be on Feb. 12, I got busy checking on air fares.

Cheryl had her first (of 6) chemo treatments on Feb. 1, and I flew out on  Saturday the 6th and came back on the 13th.  By the time I got there, Cheryl was getting past the nausea that came with the chemo, but she was still feeling pretty wiped out.  She also had picked up a bad cough from the kids, and also dealt with a headache that lasted a few days.  So she was not feeling really great the first few days I was there.  So I was happy that I was there to get the kids to and from school, and to spend time with Evan when he wasn't in school.

That Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, and I went with Matt and the kids to a party with a bunch of their friends. (Cheryl decided to stay home and rest, and I think she enjoyed her quiet day.) The party was in Palm Springs at a home where their friend's parents were spending the winter. The pool was a much bigger attraction than the game for the kids, so I spent a lot of time sitting out by the pool watching the kids.

Josie, with Maddie and Kenzie

Evan with Katelyn

Of course there was lots of good food at the party, and once the kids were done swimming they found things to do in the house.  Evan was pretty outnumbered by the girls in this group, so while all the girls were playing "girl stuff" in one room, he found something to entertain himself in another room. 

He thought this keyboard was pretty cool.

He was checking out all the different buttons

for the different rhythms and beats. 

I really didn't do a very good job of documenting this visit in pictures.  I should have gotten at least one of Evan on his bike, because that was one of his favorite things to do. I did catch him doing some work with his tool bench, though.

Putting on his safety goggles

Hard at work

While I was sitting outside one day, I noticed a hummingbird flitting around near their empty feeder, so Evan and I decided that we'd better take care of that situation. So we made some hummingbird food and filled the feeder. 

Cooking up some sugar water for the hummers

One nice warm day we met Matt after school at a place that sells Icy treats.  Now I know this place has a name, and if I had done this more promptly I maybe would have remembered the name of it.  But......no such luck.  It was a nice treat on a warm day. I think Josie and Evan's lips and tongues showed the color of their treat for quite a while.

The parasols are a cute touch :)

By the middle of the week, Cheryl was feeling a lot better and was up to getting out and doing some things.  On that Wednesday we all drove down to Temecula to meet up with Matt's friend Aaron, who was in San Diego for a conference. We met him for lunch and then spent some time at a park.  We had brought cupcakes along, because it just happened to be Aaron's birthday. (no picture of Aaron, though.)

The cupcakes were pretty amazing!

Friday was Grandparents' Day at Redlands Christian.  Evan doesn't go to school on Fridays, so it was just a Grandma and Josie thing. 

School was dismissed at noon that day so that grandparents could take their grandkids out for lunch.  So I took Josie and Evan to one of their favorite places--Chick fil A.  Seems like it must be a favorite of a lot of kids, because there were lots of grandparents and kids there.

Oops, I almost forgot to post this last picture. Evan sometimes naps in the afternoon, and sometimes he doesn't. When he doesn't nap, he sometimes has trouble lasting through dinner time.  I think this picture was taken on a no-nap day.

 Evan and Puppy--all worn out

And that was my week!  I had an early flight back to Milwaukee on Saturday morning. 

Next post:  February birthdays

January, 2016

I obviously needed a bit of a break after all those blog posts about our time in California.  But I'd better get back on task here, and get caught up before summer!

We arrived home from California on January 7, with 3 overnight stops on our drive again.  Our last day was a shorter day and included a stop in Chicago at Roger and Sheryl's for a little visit. And we also picked up our Honda which had been parked at their house for a couple of weeks after Ben was finished using it.

We adjusted to the cold weather and got back into the swing of things with our normal activities--Bob's tutoring at Cross Trainers Academy, his church meetings, my MOPS nursery volunteering, some work in the BCS library, and for both  of us our Friday morning coffee with the senior group from church and Friday evening dinner at Panera with the Brassers.  We are definitely creatures of habit!!

We also got a couple of difficult phone calls to receive in January.  On the 20th we got a call from Laura Szotko informing us that Carl had passed away.  This was pretty much unexpected---in spite of the health issues he has dealt with over the past few years, he really had been doing quite well and was recovering from his most recent bout in the hospital. So that was very sad news to get. It made us very thankful for the wonderful time we had with him and Cora Mae at our last Waanderfest, celebrating his 87th and Cora Mae's 85th birthdays.

Then a few days later, on the 23rd, we got a call from Matt telling us about Cheryl's diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.  That was really difficult news to get--at that point they really had no information except for that diagnosis and they were both pretty much devastated.  We got that call about an hour before we were leaving to go to Michigan for Carl's funeral and the visitation.  So that was a pretty hard week-end.  But it was wonderful to be with all our family as we celebrated Carl's life, and it was also helpful to share the news about Cheryl with everyone, and to be assured of everyone's prayers for her.

There was one more event in January---Derek Buikema's wedding in Chicago on the 29th..  We drove down that morning and picked Abby up at school at noon, had lunch with her and then went to Orland Park for the wedding. Neil joined Abby after the ceremony, and we all attended the reception.  Then we spent the night with Abby and Neil at their apartment.  On Saturday morning we had breakfast at a restaurant near their apartment, and Ben joined us there.  Then we spent a couple hours at the Garfield Park Conservatory with Abby and Neil before heading for home.

That pretty much covers January, and I don't have a single picture to share.

Next up:  My trip to California in February

Christmas in California, Part 10--Good-byes are hard!

New Year's Day---that means the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game.  The Okuleys, the Wissinks, and Matt and Josie braved the crowds in Pasadena to watch the Rose Parade.  I was a bit jealous, because I LOVE the Rose Parade, but I knew that my foot would never handle all the walking and standing that would be required.  So I had to be content with watching it on TV, just like I do every year.  The parade-goers had a great time, and really enjoyed it. (Even Neil, who had been asking, "What's the big deal?  It's just a parade!")

Abby and Neil had a late afternoon flight back to Chicago that day, so Matt took them to LAX directly from Pasadena, with a stop somewhere for lunch.  The Wissinks brought Josie home, after finding a place for lunch as well.  So our group was gradually getting smaller.  We still had the Wissinks with us until Sunday, so here are some pictures of the last couple of days together.

On Saturday morning we went to a "jumping place" where the kids had lots of fun. I know the place has a real name, but I can't remember it, and they just referred to it as the "jumping place."

I know, pretty blurry pictures.  My photography skills are limited--don't really know how to catch those kids in motion.  And I have no idea why Jeremiah doesn't appear in any of these pictures.  Maybe he was just moving too fast.

On our way home we stopped for lunch---eating outdoors of course. I think these two were watching some birds or something.

I just love seeing these two together.

They are such good buddies!!

Puzzle time

Movie and popcorn

The Wissinks still had part of Sunday with us before they had to head to the airport.  Jeremiah and Hope had a chance to enjoy the California weather for a bit before heading back to frigid Michigan. 

All too soon it was time to say good-bye.  It had been a wonderful week, but it went by much too quickly. 

A cousin hug

Our original plan had been to stay in Redlands until Wednesday, the 6th, and then make it back to Wisconsin by the week-end.  We had been watching the weather forecast quite closely--we had been so fortunate with the weather on our trip out, but it didn't look as promising for the trip back. So we had already been thinking that maybe we should leave on Tuesday instead. Bob was watching the Today Show on Monday morning, and Al Roker was talking about 10 inches of snow in Flagstaff, AZ on Tuesday.  So we made a rather quick decision to pack up and head out on Monday and try to get ahead of the snow.  And that turned out to be a very good decision---when we drove through the Flagstaff area on Monday afternoon, it was already snowing.  We drove on to Holbrook to spend the night, and when we got up the next morning we saw on TV that all the schools in Flagstaff were closed.  

I had picked up the cold (or whatever it was that was going around in the family) and I was coughing a lot and feeling pretty miserable by Monday night.  So it was just as well that we had left, and it was only Bob who had to put up with my annoying cough and all my germs. A little note about Holbrook---there is not a lot in that town besides motels and gas stations and fast food places.  I asked the girl who waited on us at Burger King where I could find a Walgreens or other drug store so that I could get some cold meds.  She said, "Well, it think there is a drug store in town, but it's not open this late.  (This was probably about 7 p.m.) But there is a Walgreens in Show Low."  Yeah, I looked the map and it looked like that was about 40 miles away or so.  Fortunately we found a Dollar General Store that had what I needed. The rest of the trip home went well, except for the fact that it kept getting colder and colder. :(

And this concludes the saga of the Wiers family's time in California! 

Christmas in California, Part 9--Knott's Berry Farm

We had decided that Knott's Berry Farm was going to be our one "big" outing for our group, as opposed to Disneyland, Legoland, Sea World, San Diego Zoo or WAP, etc.  So that was our activity for Thursday, Dec. 31.  It was a very busy day there, probably because a lot of people had come for the New Year's Eve Fireworks, etc.  So the parking lots were very full, and we were directed to an auxiliary lot  (more on that later) way behind the landscape department and the stables, which made for quite a long walk just to get to the entrance of the park.  This was very poor planning on my part.  I should have asked to be dropped off at the entrance and saved my foot for walking inside the park.  Oh well, hindsight is always 20-20, right? When my foot was hurting quite soon, we checked into getting a wheel chair, like we had done at Legoland.  But, no luck there---they had none available. So I just did as much walking as I could manage, and also spent a lot of time looking for places to sit. But I did do 2 rides (ferris wheel and the train) and had fun watching the kids enjoy themselves. Oh, and most of us enjoyed funnel cakes, too.  Yum!!

This was also one of those times when I did not take many pictures, partly because sometimes it was hard to get through the crowds of people to get a good view of the kids on the rides.  Also, because of my foot, I was often sitting too far away. So here are the few that I got, and I think some of them are pretty dark.  :(

As far as I could tell, Hope's main ride was in the stroller.  I think she was a little too young for most of the rides.

Enjoying a Wedeking's cookie--

like mother, like daughter

Unfortunately, Evan was still a bit under the weather, so he spent a lot of time in the stroller, as well.  But he did perk up from time to time and got to enjoy some of the rides.  But I didn't happen to catch any of those rides in pictures.

Looking rather peaked, but all cozy
with his blanket.

We stayed at the park until about dinner time, and we had considered eating at the chicken restaurant right there---until we found out how long the wait would be.  Instead we drove to a Portillo's nearby and ate there instead.  All except for Cheryl and Evan---Evan was pretty worn out, and so they just headed back to Redlands. When we were leaving the area, we were just a couple blocks from getting on the freeway, when we had a flat tire on the Escape. I'm pretty sure that we can thank our "auxiliary" parking lot at Knott's for that. AAA came to the rescue pretty quickly and got us on our way again.

Just a note here about the general health of our group that week:  Jeremiah and Hope had both been sick with bad colds, etc. the week before they came. Rachel started coming down with a bad cold, etc. on Christmas Eve.  Josie had the stomach flu the day before everyone started arriving. Evan and Cheryl both had colds and coughs while we were all together.  Neil got up one morning with a stiff neck, and dealt with that for a few days. If I remember correctly there were 3 visits to Urgent Care--Rachel, Evan (who had strep, I think) and Cheryl. We were relieved that no one else caught the stomach flu, because it would have been miserable to have that run through the whole family!!  Bob and I didn't catch any of this until just before we left California.  So we sort of coughed our way across the country on our way home.  I was glad that we were driving and not sitting on a plane. 

I think that one more post will finish off this saga! 

Christmas in California, Part 8--Hanging out at home

We had lots of good times just hanging out at Matt and Cheryl's house together.  The kids really enjoyed their time playing together.  There was lots of  "playing school" going on, with Miss Josie as the teacher most of the time.  And her two students, Jeremiah and Evan, were not always the most obedient.  Occasionally they even needed to have notes sent home!  There was lots of outdoor time, too, which was really a treat for the two Michigan kids!

These pictures were taken over the course of the week, but I think a lot of them were taken on Thursday, which was Ben's last day there.  He made one last trip to In 'n Out Burger to pick up his lunch, which he even shared with Hope.

Uncle Ben and Hope--Buddies!

Matt and the boys decided to harvest the fruit from the lemon trees on Thursday. Jeremiah was quite impressed with the whole process of picking the lemons, and then juicing them.  And  they even made some lemonade!

That's a lot of lemons!

The juicing crew

Working hard!

Father and son doing some dishes
 

This little girl LOVED playing outside!

Playing frisbee with Uncle Ben

Evan getting some love from his uncle and aunt

One more pic of these two

We had a great dinner Thursday night---we had steak grilled by Adam and some really yummy roasted potatoes.  After dinner we had a fire in the back yard and made s'mores.  This picture is probably too dark, but I'll give it a try.

That's Neil and Abby, barely visible

Story time with Uncle Ben, "Dragons love

Tacos" of course. 

Then it was time to say good-bye to Ben--he had a red-eye flight back to Chicago that night.  It was said to see our time all together coming to a close.

Next post:  Knotts Berry Farm

Christmas in California, Part 7--Escondido!

After our Christmas morning activities on Tuesday, we started to discuss plans for the rest of the day.  One person in the family really wanted to go to Escondido in order to get some favorite Wedeking's cookies.  Others felt that would be a pretty long drive, JUST to get cookies, even though they are very yummy!  So Matt came up with a couple of other things we could do in the Escondido area, so we set off.

Our first stop was Wedeking's Bakery, and we were pleased to see that they still have pretty much all the same delicious treats that we remembered.  So we all enjoyed some baked treats, and reminisced about the good old days when a Wedeking's visit was the usual reward for surviving things like dental appointments, shots, etc. etc. I also bought a couple of their coffee cakes for the next day's breakfast. (Grandma fail---no pictures of this stop.)

Our next stop was Bates Nut Farm, which was a favorite place for outings when the kids were little.  We have had many picnics there, spent time feeding the animals, picked out pumpkins in the fall, and of course always enjoyed the store.  The outdoor area really has not changed very much.  There were still lots of animals to feed.  Things in the store had changed a bit---it had been enlarged a bit and some new things had been added.  (Like a fudge counter!)  They still had a lot of the same nuts, candies, and other treats that we remembered.  But we did miss the containers that they used to have for sampling.

Jeremiah got the "flat hand" technique down pretty well.

Josie got a bird's eye view of the place.

She got into the feeding, too.

Hope did lots of running around.

Wissink family shot

I don't think this was planned, but Ben and 

Neil were sort of dressed like twins that day. 

One of the kiddos was missing from these pictures---Evan was not feeling very well that day, and I think he was sleeping in the car when these pictures were taken. Poor Evan! :(

The next stop was Stone Brewery.  This place was new since we had lived there. At least we were not aware of it, if it was there. In addition to the brewery and restaurant, they have some beautiful outdoor areas.  While some of the group did some sampling, others enjoyed the garden areas.  Oh, and I think Evan and Cheryl spent that whole time in the car, as well, as Evan was sleeping. Poor Evan and poor Cheryl! :(  And this time the lack of pictures was a tech failure.  My phone died, so no pictures.  It was a beautiful spot, though. 

We topped off the day with dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, Cenote Grill. I had seen this place mentioned by some of my Escondido friends on Facebook, so we decided to give it a try.  And it was actually very close to our San Marcos house, right in the little strip mall by the 7-11 that we used to walk to.  Memories!

I think I'm down to about 2 or 3 more Christmas posts to go.  Next one will just be some pictures of our time hanging out at Matt and Cheryl's house.