Christmas in California, Part 4--The gang's all here!

The rest of the family arrived in California during a period of a little more than 24 hours, from late on the 26th to late on the 27th.   They all flew into LAX, so Matt pretty much was running a taxi service between Redlands and LAX during that time. Ben was the first to arrive around midnight on the 26th.

Josie and Uncle Ben watching some football 

and waiting for the Wissinks to arrive

The Wissinks arrived in Redlands sometime late morning, after having a very early flight out of Chicago.  Jeremiah was pretty wiped out, after a short night and all the excitement of the flight and all.  So he was ready to sack out for a while.  The rest of us headed to Panera for lunch, while Adam stayed home with the sleeping boy. Sunday lunch at Panera, eating outdoors---who can top that?  I wish that I had gotten a picture of Hope, sitting next to Josie and helping herself to Josie's macaroni and cheese. :)  (another Grandma photo fail)  The rest of the day we just hung out at home.

 Cousins having fun with Play-Doh

Sunday night pizza

The Okuleys were the last to arrive, and they had some delays with their flight, so they got there very late on Sunday night, in fact it was probably actually Monday morning. 

On Monday morning Jeremiah and Evan discovered that they had matching shirts, and they even managed to find pants that were almost alike.

Cousin twins!

Monday evening was going to be our family Christmas Eve celebration.  And no matter when we celebrate Christmas Eve, our traditions remain the same.  So some of us were getting ready to head out to Sam's Club to do some shopping for our appetizer feast.  When it became known that there is an In 'n Out Burger right next to Sam's Club, it soon became a group outing. Actually it was kind of surprising that Ben waited this long for his first burger.  Evan and Cheryl missed out on this outing---Evan was napping, I think. 

Again, eating outside!

So that brings us to our Christmas Eve celebration---which will be the next post!

Christmas in California, Part 3---Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

On the 24th, Cheryl had to work, so the rest of us went downtown to finish up some shopping.  And what better way to start out the morning, than with some donuts!

Josie is wearing some of her new birthday clothes!

We all went to church for the Christmas Eve service, and then there were some presents to open.

Sands alive!  A very popular item with the kiddos!

They are very busy!

Josie is wearing more birthday clothes--

that girl loves sparkly things!

Evan explaining something to Grandpa--it

might have something to do with hockey.

We had a pretty relaxing Christmas Day.  We were all pretty laid back and lazy. Well, except for Cheryl, who made a really delicious brunch.  I spent a lot of time working on a jigsaw puzzle that Cheryl picked up on one of her shopping trips. She also bought a couple of craft kits for the kids--a castle for Josie and a train for Evan.  Well, they were supposed to be for the kids, but it turned out that they were a little too challenging for them.  

So here Cheryl is putting the castle together,

with a little help from Josie.

I wish that I had gotten a picture of Matt and Evan (well it was really just Matt) putting together the train.  Evan really lost interest pretty quickly, so it became Matt's project.  Both the castle and the train turned out really cute, though.

This Grandma was definitely falling down on the job when it came to taking pictures!  Things got a little better with that a couple days later when the rest of the Wiers family arrived on the scene.  

So stay tuned for the arrival of the rest of the family!!

Christmas in California, Part 2--Josie is 6!

December 22 is Josie's birthday---she turned 6!! Since Cheryl was working that day I said that I would make a cake for her.  We took the kids to the grocery store and let Josie pick out what kind of cake and frosting she wanted.  Lemon cake was her choice, and white frosting with sprinkles. 

Cute comment of the day:  The day before at Legoland I had been using my cane (as well as the wheel chair) because of my not quite healed foot.  So as we were walking into the grocery store, Josie asked (in a very concerned way), "Grandma, are you o.k. with your foot?  Are you sure you don't need your staff?"  :)  Such a sweetie.

So when we got home, Evan helped me bake the cake, and when it was cool, Josie helped to frost it.

The Schenkels came over for the birthday celebration.

"Happy Birthday to YOU!!"

Blowing out the candles!

And, of course, there were presents!

From the Wissinks

From Aunt Abby and Uncle Neil

From Grandpa and Grandma

Well, this post was short and sweet.  I wasn't doing a great job of taking pictures it seems.  

Next post will be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  And after that, the rest of the family will make their appearance.

Christmas in California, Part 1--Legoland

Let's see, does that title say "CHRISTMAS?"  And isn't it APRIL?  Yes, to both questions. And as I often do, I will start off making excuses. Soon after our California trip, we decided that it was time to get a new computer, so we bought a new laptop.  This, of course, is a major adjustment for us old folks, and I've been totally intimidated at the thought of putting my pictures on to the laptop and using that to do my blog posts.  So I kept putting off that whole process, until I finally decided that I was tired of having it hanging over my head (sort of like a paper that was due back in my student days).  So I decided that I would just go back to the old computer, which is still functioning, and catch up on the blog the old way.  And once I've caught up, I will try to learn how to do things on the laptop....maybe.

So, we drove out to California in December and had a great trip with no weather issues at all.  We left on the 16th, had 3 overnight stops, and arrived in Redlands on Saturday, the 19th.  It was great to see Matt, Cheryl, Josie and Evan again, and the weather was a nice treat, too.

On the first Monday of our visit, we went to Legoland. Some friends of Matt and Cheryl had given them free passes to get into the park and for a great parking spot. That was all much appreciated. I was thankful for the preferred parking spot, since I was still not doing great with walking after my foot surgery.  Because of that, I also swallowed my pride and we rented a wheel chair for getting around the park.

Legoland is a really fun place, and Josie and Evan were at perfect ages to enjoy it all.  And the big kids enjoyed it too!

There were lots of fun rides!

Horses to ride

Flying in planes

Cars to drive!

Where shall we go next?

Building with Legos

Pulling themselves up on the tower....

...and coming back down.

It was a very fun day, and we we topped it off with a stop at In 'n Out Burger on our way home.

More California fun to come.  Next up--Josie's 6th birthday!

November and Thanksgiving

I'll start out with a rather non-typical picture--at least if you're in Wisconsin in November.  We had some really nice warm weather, and I was really wanting to get out to enjoy it.  My wish would have been a walk on the lake front or in one of the area parks, but my foot was not allowing that yet.  So the best we could do was an outdoor lunch at First Watch on Nov. 3.

He really isn't as grumpy as he looks.

The sun was in his eyes.

On the 5th we had one of our outings with Roger and Sheryl.  They were lucky enough to get tickets for "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" so that was our event this time. We drove down to their house in the afternoon and had an early dinner there before heading downtown for the show. We opted for dinner in instead of out, due to the infamous foot situation---still hobbling in the boot that day.

This was great fun! Hope we can do it again sometime!

Another November event was Apple Pie Day at BCS on the 13th.  It was another grand success---I think they made about 4100 pies in about 13 hours. It's an amazing project.  I worked one shift and Bob went back for a second shift in the afternoon. (Blame the foot again.)

And of course Thanksgiving was the highlight of the month.  We were happy that all of the Midwest kids were able to come home. They all drove up on Thanksgiving morning. I decided to take the "easy" way out for dinner and ordered a complete turkey dinner from Metro Market. (Blame the foot again.) I did supplement with some additional veggie dishes, and made my own pies. It all turned out pretty well---I think the only thing in the dinner that got negative reviews was the cranberry relish.  

The 2 sons-in-law, ready to carve the turkey

and stirring the gravy.

The clean-up crew

I apologize for the quality of this next picture, but I had to provide evidence that Ben was here.  It's the only picture he is on.  Maybe he is camera-shy.

Jeremiah and 2 of his uncles

Thanksgiving Day was really pretty laid back---dinner, some football on TV, maybe a nap or two or three, Ben's puppy chow, garbage snack mix, etc. etc. Ben had to work again on Friday so he went back to Chicago in the evening.

Friday was the annual Cedarburg outing.  It was just the three of us this year, because JoAnne was still in Minneapolis, Neil had work to do for his class, and Hope stayed home with the guys. We also cut our shopping down considerably (blame the foot again).  Of course we had lunch at Cream and Crepe, and we hit the one shop right next door to the restaurant. Then we drove over to Amy's and got our chocolate and caramel apple fix and also checked out the toy store next door.  And then we headed home by way of West Bend so that we could pick up some food for Molly. Friday evening dinner was home made pizza--thanks to Abby and Neil. 

Saturday the Wissinks spent some time with the kids at an indoor play space. Good reports on that!  Jeremiah also talked Grandpa into doing a little yard work, since there was no snow covering the grass. 

In the afternoon we babysat for a few hours so that the rest of them could go see a movie.  While they were gone, Jeremiah started "wilting" a bit---spent most of the time on the couch with the iPad and was running a fever by the time they got home again.  Poor guy!  The Brassers joined us for dinner Saturday evening.

Sunday was church for most of us, but Adam took Jeremiah to a Children's Urgent Care while we were at church.  And we're so glad that he took him in--he was diagnosed with strep.   So they could get the anti-biotics started right away and get him back in good health to go back to school on Tuesday. We had lunch at Panera after church, and Abby and Neil left after lunch. 

The Wissinks were staying until Monday, and Jeremiah was starting to perk up as the day wore on Sunday.  So Sunday evening we drove out to Caledonia for a drive-through light display.  We had never been to this one before and we thought it was very good. 

These next 4 pictures sort of follow a theme---Hope eating!

Mac and cheese

(She is her mother's daughter!)

Grandpa's pancakes

Grandma's Butterhorns

Expressing her enthusiasm for Panera!

Hope hanging out with her BFF

 Abby taught Hope about rides in the laundry basket.

The girls

I feel like Jeremiah really got cheated on the picture-taking this week-end.  Can't blame the foot for that---we'll blame the strep.  I did get one of him on Sunday after he started feeling better. 

I love how he has Abby's picture right next to him. :)

Next BIG event for all of us is a trip to California!  So stay tuned for pictures of our adventures out west---hopefully having some fun in the sun!

October

The first really major outing for me, post-surgery, was Waandersfest at Bay Pointe Inn on Gun Lake in Michigan.  This was October 12-15. I was really hoping that by that time I would be walking like a normal person in shoes, but that was not to be.  I was still hobbling around in my boot, but at least I was able to be there!  And it only cramped my still a bit.

The place where we stayed was very nice--not real big, very nice rooms and lovely grounds.  Apparently it's a very popular wedding venue, and I can see why. They also have a very nice restaurant where we had our breakfast every morning.  We also had dinner there one night--it was a bit pricey for dinner, but the food was wonderful.

We all had rooms overlooking the lake, which was nice.

On Tuesday we all went to the Gilmore Car Museum.  Some of the group had been there before on a previous Waandersfest, but I had not. Those who had been there before were all looking forward to posing for pictures on a huge couch that was part of a movie set, I think.  Unfortunately, they had that roped off now, and you were not allowed to sit on the big couch.  Very disappointing!  So we had to make do with some pictures by the old fire chief's car.

Fire Chief Lew

. Pat even modeled the fireman's hat!

On the grounds of the museum there was an old railroad car that had been turned into a diner.  So that is where we had lunch.  No pictures of that. 

On Tuesday night we had our dinner at the hotel restaurant.  This was a celebration of Carl and Cora Mae's birthdays, which were both that week.  She turned 85 on the 12th, and he turned 87 on the 15th.  After dinner we enjoyed birthday cake.
 

 The birthday couple

Not a great picture, but this is the lobby, which was

our hang-out space. There weren't a lot of other 

people staying there.

We watched a lot of baseball and cheered for the Cubs.

On Wednesday some of the ladies went shopping at the new outlet mall.  I didn't think I was up to shopping yet, so we stayed around the hotel for the morning. Then we met the rest of the people for lunch in Byron Center. After lunch we drove to Holland, because we couldn't be that close without going to see Jeremiah and Hope!
  

I wish that I had gotten a picture of Jeremiah's face when we picked him up at school.  He didn't know that we were going to be there.  His eyes got very big!!

After a little time at their house we headed back to Gun Lake and met the rest of the siblings at the Gun Lake Casino for dinner.  No pictures of that either. The food was fine, but the noise level and the smoke level in the casino were a bit annoying.  I really could not imagine sitting there for hours on end putting money into a machine.  Oh well, to each his own, I guess. 

Thursday was our last day and we stayed around and visited until check-out time and then headed for home.  Another enjoyable Waandersfest in the books!

We made another trip to Michigan for Hope's birthday, which is on the 24th.

 The Birthday Girl!!

The first activity, after breakfast, was opening presents. Hope had a very willing helper in Jeremiah, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of ripping the paper off the packages. 

Of course, I couldn't resist getting her a first baby doll.  And I think she liked it!

Sharing the doll's pacifier!

Off to do some shopping!

At first she wasn't sure about this rocking horse. 

She wanted it to go somewhere, I think.

She has since started doing some trick-riding on it.

We went to Crane's for lunch, which is a very popular place in the fall because of the apple orchards. That made for a long wait, and the rain kept us from doing any apple-picking.  But the lunch was delicious!  Then it was back home for naps.

Birthday dinner at Crazy Horse

And then home for birthday cupcakes

What is this??

Mmm, it tastes good!

It REALLY tastes good!!

We stayed at Diekemas on this trip, and I got a couple of nice pictures.  It was a gorgeous day on Sunday.

We stayed until Monday---isn't retirement great??  We stopped over at Rachel's for a bit before heading back to Wisconsin.

One more random October event and picture.  We had gotten a card saying that Bob could get a free cell phone, so we went to check that out.  There were two different phones shown on the card, but the Verizon store only had one of those phones, so he really only had one option. It's quite different from the "hand-me-down" phone he's been using, so there has been a bit of a learning curve. 

 

The slide-out keyboard is a new feature for him, and he is still adjusting to the changes. If I call him he rarely answers--I just wait for him to call me back. :) Maybe we need to bite the bullet and get him an iPhone---that would probably be easier, since he is used to the iPad. 

So, that about sums it up for October!  Next up--November and Thanksgiving!