October--part 1

I think that ArtPrize has been going on in Grand Rapids for about 8 years or so, and I have often thought that it would be fun to see what that's all about.  So this year I finally decided to do it.  Bob couldn't go, so I went by myself and had a nice visit with Jeane and Tony.  Marilyn joined Jeane and me for our day at ArtPrize.  It exceeded all my expectations, and I intend to go back next year, hopefully with Bob.

Here are some pictures of some of my favorite exhibits.  Some of them were finalists, and one was actually the Grand Prize winner in the public vote.

These first two were HUGE---pretty much took up a whole wall!

This was out on the sidewalk, and the artist was

actually living inside it during ArtPrize.

Fish mosaic--there was obviously a reason for

the ropes keeping people at least arm's distance away. 

Wounded Warrior wheel chair, made

entirely of little plastic toy soldiers

This was one of the most unique--a video of two men

sweeping trash on a street to form the hands of a clock, 

keeping perfect time. A Dutch artist. :)

Beautiful life-size carvings of the Magi

These last two are of the Grand Prize winner in the 

Public voting--Wounded Warrior Dogs.

After all that exposure to art, back in Wisconsin we had a field trip with Roger and Sheryl to the Linden Sculpture Gardens. It was a beautiful day for walking the grounds and looking at all the sculptures.  But no pictures of the sculptures--only the pond. 

October also brought Waandersfest, this year at a Bed and Breakfast in Spirit Lake, Iowa.  It was a trip back to our roots, including a visit to Hull to see our Heynen cousins.

Our cousins had arranged a tour of our Alma Mater, 

Western Christian High. Wow! That place has 

really changed since 1963!!

Group picture of the siblings and cousins

Since it was mid-October, the weather wasn't real

warm, but we did enjoy some time on the patio.

At these gatherings we spend a lot of time looking at 

old family pictures and reading family history stuff, etc. 

This year in particular there was a lot of picture-trading

going on. I think we were all trying to get rid of pictures and 

ended up taking home as many as we had brought. 

This B&B served a really nice breakfast! 

Next up--October, Part 2, which will mostly be about visits to Clinton.

September

Well, guess who is playing "blog post catch-up" again!  Of course, it's me. Here goes with the first catch-up post. September--that was only 4 months ago, right? :(

One beautiful September day we took a drive to Port Washington for a little outing. Port Washington has become one of our favorite spots--it's a picturesque little town right on Lake Michigan. There's a cute little deli where we like to eat lunch and we can sit outside and watch the boats. We usually take a walk along the harbor, too.

A couple days after that outing, we were surprised to get a call from Tony Bons, a friend from our Escondido days.  He and Dicky were on an extended trip in their motor home, and they were traveling through our area.  So they stopped at our house, took us out for dinner, and then spent the night in their motor home on our driveway.  A nice change from a Walmart parking lot, they said. :)  It was so nice to re-connect with them. We caught up on each other's families, and just had a nice time visiting. One of Bob's favorite memories in his kayaking adventure with Tony in the San Diego Harbor.

A few days later we took a drive down to Clinton, just for the day.  We wanted to bring one of Hope's birthday gifts down a little early, so that she could enjoy it outdoors while the weather was still nice. Before giving her the gift, we had to go pick up Jeremiah from school. Jeremiah didn't know that we were coming, so it was fun to surprise him when he came out. Hope likes a chance to play on the playground while waiting for Jeremiah. .

Whee! She loves the slide!

When we got back home, we brought out her present--the Cozy Coupe, or as she calls it, "my tar."   It was fun to see her reaction when she saw it--her face just lit up, and she quickly opened the door and climbed in.   

Hope discovered that with her new car, watching TV is almost like being at a drive-in movie.

                               Blankie is conveniently placed on top of the car

and Yammie (Lambie) is in the back seat.

Only thing missing is the pop corn. :)

And we can't forget Hope's big brother!!  Jeremiah was excited to show us his new scooter, and to demonstrate his scooter skills.  Pretty cool!

Stay tuned for October!

California trip--August and September

We flew out to California on the 27th of August in order to help out with the kids when Cheryl had her final chemo treatment. We arrived on Saturday evening and enjoyed Chick-fil-a for dinner on the way home from the airport.  Sunday was church in the morning and Panera for lunch.  It's always good to stick with the favorites for meals!  :)

We had a few days to kind of learn the routines for school, lunches, homework, etc. before Cheryl went into the hospital for her treatment.  I went with her to her oncology appointment on Tuesday, the 30th, and right after her appointment she was admitted to the hospital. After school the kids and Matt had soccer practice, and we had a quick dinner and then went to visit Cheryl in the hospital.

Bedtime stories with Mom

As we were leaving the hospital that evening, one of the gift shops had all their stuffed animals on a table outside of the shop and they were all on sale. Of course the kids wanted to take a look at them. And when I saw that Matt was softening on the idea of adding 2 more animals to their collection, I went into Grandma mode and we came home with a whale and a dolphin. 

Who could resist those faces?

Things went very well with the kids while we were on our own with them. I had worried needlessly about having to do Josie's hair in the mornings--she does it herself now!  We had one night when Matt was gone on a middle school retreat, so we were completely on our own for that night. Grandma was a softie once again, and let Josie sleep on the couch when she was feeling sad and missing her Mom and Dad. Everyone was happy when the family was back together again on Friday. 

I did some shopping with a good Kohl's coupon and got some things for the kids. I was surprised that Evan gets just as excited about new clothes as Josie does. So cute!

Modeling their new duds to show Cheryl

Matt and Cheryl had put together surprise bags for the kids to open when they were gone.  One of the fun things inside was---mustaches!

I could only get one to pose with the mustache. :)

Josie ready for "Game Day"  at school

Two very silly kids!!

The second Sunday of my visit, we branched out from the usual Panera lunch and went to Taco Shack.  It was a good choice!!

Silly family

A group of their friends organized a Sunday evening pizza party in the park to celebrate Cheryl being finished with her chemo treatments.

Lots of kids in this group of friends!

Cheryl and the kids baked cookies one day. They were yummy!

The kids both have soccer practice at the same time, and Matt coaches Josie's team. One day Josie was sick and couldn't go, so I went along to be with Evan for his praictice. It's so much fun to watch him--he's quite the little athlete!

One evening we went out for ice cream.

This was a blast from the past!

On Friday evening we went to the high school football game. Josie's class could run through the banner before the team came out.

I was really happy that I could get to both the kids' soccer games before I had to leave on Saturday, Sept. 10.  It was really hot that day---it was nice that the games were early.

Josie ready for the game to start

It was pretty hot the whole time we were there, and sometimes the heat got to Amos, too.

I found him lying like this several times.

(This trip started out as a joint trip, but Bob went home after one week, and I stayed for two weeks.)