Goodbye Drew and Kayley

I drove to Peoria on Friday to spend the week-end with my daughter and my grandchildren and to say goodbye for awhile. I will be leaving for AZ in a couple of weeks and this was the only week-end they had open so I took advantage of that. We had a great time! We went out for dinner Friday night to a place called the Fire... something. :-) Here's a picture of the outside!


It looked a little bit (lot!) like a dive! :-) It actually had pretty good food and it had a beautiful view of the Illinois River.

Saturday morning Megan and Andy shopped for granite while I watched Drew and Kayley. That evening Andy grilled delicious marinated chicken breasts, followed by the Iowa-Penn State game. We won easily so it was a fun game to watch, nothing to get nervous about!

Megan bought Kayley a Super Girl outfit for Halloween and she is hoping that Drew will wear his Thomas the Train costume from last year that he refused to wear! Drew is not "in to" wearing costumes so I am betting he refuses, but I hope not.




Sunday afternoon we went to Tanner Orchard. This place was unbelievable! When we arrived there was a LONG line waiting just to enter their market. It was well over an hour wait. Thankfully we just wanted to take Drew and Kayley to their playground so that was a quick entrance. The playground cost $7 to enter, even the adults that are just going in to watch their children. They have quite a "racket" going on there. Fortunately old people 55 and over were free. I do believe that is the first time my age has worked well financially for me. :-) It really was a fun time for the kids but Drew would have been happy if we only visited the pedal tractor area the entire time. He does love riding those. We had a very good time and we were glad we took them.

Monday morning it was back to work and daycare so I said goodbye and headed back to Iowa. It was a melancholy trip. The longest I have ever been separated from them is two weeks and now it will be seven weeks before I see them at Thanksgiving. :-(

Two videos from my week-end:

Catching up

Mark started combining beans this week, the weather is cooperating and all is well in farm country...for now anyway! You know what they say about Iowa's weather!

I have been winterizing my flower beds and decided this year to chop everything to the ground. We will see how that strategy works out next spring! I am totally done with everything outdoors but I might mow one more time. I sprayed both lawns for weeds, twice, so there better not be one dandelion next summer. :-)

Since I have nothing left to do I may head down to AZ pretty soon. I am going to Peoria this week-end to say good-bye to Drew and Kayley. That should about kill me off! Thank god for Skype. I know I will never make it the entire winter without seeing them so already have a ticket back here for Thanksgiving and I am sure I will fly to see them in January and probably March! They are at the age where changes occur too rapidly and I don't want to miss out.

I won't have any pics or video until this week-end so I will re-post a couple of old ones. Drew looks so little in them!


This video shows Drew starting to get very mobile!

Great visit in Des Moines

I drove to Des Moines this morning to visit my good friend Sue who babysits three days a week for her 3 month old granddaughter Lily. We had such a good time and laughed a lot like days from our past! Her daughter Karen and husband Gabe came home during lunch so I was able to see them, too. Karen, Gabe and Lily make a beautiful family and they have a great home with a big beautiful back yard. I am glad I took the time for this visit! Below are pics of grandma and Lily and one of Karen and her daughter.

The weather has been rather crappy these past few days. Zero sunshine and rainy with wind. These are the kind of days I recall hating about Iowa weather. The lack of sunshine is the worst for me. The rain, of course, is not helping Mark get into the field for harvest. I do believe this state has had more than it's share of moisture this summer so it can quit now...

Pics from DM:

Drew finally rides Thomas the Train!

I spent last week in Peoria painting the inside of Megan and Andy's home. I can definitely say they have a huge home after painting there! :-) Friday night when they got home from work we all took off for the farm and arrived around 10:30 p.m. We had to wake grandpa up and tell him hello!

Saturday morning we had tickets to ride Thomas the Train in Boone. The day was wet and very cool but Drew was thrilled to finally see the "real" Thomas and more thrilled to ride on his train. They had many activities to do besides the train ride but the weather did not cooperate one bit. The weather got even worse in the afternoon when Megan and Andy were to golf in a charity event at the Boone golf course (Cedar Pointe). They didn't get to play many holes unfortunately. They returned to the farm in the late afternoon to get Drew and Kayley and returned to the country club for the dinner and dance that evening. Drew and Kayley had a ball dancing....sure wish I would have been there to capture that on video! Late last night we started watching the Iowa game. I was tired and not impressed with Iowa's play and went to bed at halftime. I was sad to hear they roared back the second half only to lose it in the end.

They left a bit before noon to head back to Peoria. It is so quiet when they leave. Too quiet. I have been spending the afternoon going through my clothes and deciding what I want to take to AZ for the winter and bagging items for Goodwill. This weather makes AZ look very inviting right now. I hope it returns to some sunny days as the clouds and misty rain are rather depressing. Guess I am too used to non-stop sunny Phoenix days! Have a good week everyone.

Happy Birthday Megan!

In honor of Megan's birthday I bought Drew and Kayley bicycles! (I couldn't think of anything for her but knew the kids would like bikes!) We did go out this evening for dinner at Peoria Pizza Works, though. They even had a small band playing which reminded all of us of Fatso's in Phoenix which we loved. Kayley and Drew really got into their groove listening to the music. (Video below...of course!)

I am spending the week with them and helping them paint the inside of their home. I thought I had a big house on the farm....ha! This place never ends. Miles and miles of trimming. :-) It is a good thing I like to paint!

Video of Drew on his new red bicycle:


Peoria has a fabulous bicycle park for kids complete with roads, signs, working stop lights, etc. It is really awesome and I know Megan, Andy and the kids will spend some hours here. Very safe environment for riders and very educational. I can think of some adult drivers that would benefit from learning what all these road signs mean!



Kayley enjoying the live music at Peoria Pizza Works:

Back in Peoria, Illinois

Mark and I left Friday morning for Megan and Andy's home. They were lucky enough to get tickets to the Iowa/Iowa State game so we agreed to babysit for them. What a great game it was...if you were an Iowa fan! I am staying here through the week to help them do some painting. The weather is beautiful so cannot complain a bit! Not a lot of news on this end. Just busy playing grandma and grandpa and having fun!

I had a good laugh over the following video. I have "tried" to put Kayley in time out if I thought the action warranted it, but have never had much luck with Kayley and time out. Drew, on the other hand, had NO problem! Grandma just had to shake her head and laugh!!!

What a FUN week-end!!!

Lake Okoboji...what a great way to end the summer!!! Megan, Drew and Kayley came to the farm late Thursday night. We left the next morning for Jim and Nancy's home on Lake Okoboji. It was so great to see them after several years. They were gracious hosts for our family and I thank them immensely! Matt arrived from Omaha about the same time we arrived at the lake. Jim, Mark and Matt put Jim's fishing boat back in the water and the guys fished all afternoon. We all had Casey's pizza for dinner that first night. Saturday was a gorgeous day. The men fished some more and Rick and Nadine and Nancy took Megan, the kids and me for a boat tour around the lake. Rick cranked up the power several times, much to the delight of Drew and Kayley. I think this was their first time in a boat and they were so good for the full two hours we were out there cruising. Jim and Nancy served us a delicious dinner that night. Chops, potatoes, sweet corn, bread...no one left the table hungry! I had almost forgotten how much fun and how beautiful Lake Okoboji can be. I am going more often next summer...if they will have us! :-) Of course we did the Arnold's Park thing and the kids loved that, too. Thanks again to The Houchins for a wonderful time!

We left the lake Sunday afternoon and headed back to the farm. Megan and Kayley drove to Ames last night to visit an old friend while Drew stayed with us and drove his tractor in the garage. This morning we went to Kevin and Julie's for a Bloody Mary and biscuits and gravy before the parade. This was Drew and Kayley's first parade and they filled their bags full of candy and I am thinking they like parades! They left for Peoria around 12:30 so it is very quiet in the house right now after such a fun-filled week-end! I hope you had a great holiday week-end, too! Several videos below of our week-end.

Video at the playground in Arnold's Park...they loved that "free" area!



Some more fun at the park:



The roller coaster...both Drew and Kayley hopped in, Drew immediately hopped off leaving Kayley by herself. Megan and I were crying/laughing at this simultaneously! We felt awful for putting her on it as she seemed too small once we saw it in action! She never cried but let's just say she did not beg to ride it again! :-) I will say she is a tough little gal.



If you missed the Dayton Parade this morning, this is a must see video. Ha!




A little bit of everything:

Busy in Omaha

Mark and I arrived at Matt's early yesterday afternoon. In the evening he took us to a Royals/Cub game which was a thriller and included awesome fireworks! Today Mark and I took in the Henry Doorly Zoo. Mark has never been there and I hadn't been there in years and couldn't believe how much it has changed. One of the better zoos in the U.S. would be my guess. If you haven't been we recommend it to everyone. Fun and beautiful!

Tonight we are taking him out for a steak dinner in honor of his birthday which was actually yesterday. Been a fun week-end so far in Omaha!

Just for fun

Acting squirrely....(Forgive my gruff voice...fighting a cold or sinus infection!)

Babysitting in Peoria

Mark and I left Wednesday for Peoria. Drew and Kayley's day care was closed Thursday and Friday so we babysat and had a great time with them. We stayed through the week-end and returned to the farm last night.

They had lots of over grown bushes around their deck so I cut them WAY down, probably too far down, and Mark bundled them for pick up. It was so hot and humid that even grandma was wishing for a crisp fall day!

Megan and Andy took advantage of having Mark's truck there and went shopping for patio furniture and a recliner for Andy on Saturday. They also spent some time looking for granite counter top but didn't find anything yet. Mark thought their home was big and very nice. I think it will be a great home for their family. Drew certainly loves his new house!

I finally got front and back yard pictures of their home and naturally some pics of my two favorite grand kids.

Big house for Drew and Kayley

Megan and Andy moved into their new home this past week-end. I arrived Sunday morning to help her clean before all the stuff in storage arrived on Monday. Monday and Tuesday we spent unpacking a gazillion boxes, doing load after load of laundry and load after load in the dishwasher. At the end of the day on Tuesday we had it pretty livable and the only stuff left to do is hang all the pictures, etc. Andy has a lot of trimming to do in the yard. Wish I could have stayed to help him do that because I love that sort of thing, more so than cleaning showers and toilets. Ha!

They have a lovely and big home. The kids were so excited to be in all that space after two months in a hotel room! They came home from day care on Monday and just ran all around the house.

I took a few pictures and one video but failed to take any outside pictures. Duh. I know they have some so maybe they will send them to me to post. Hint, hint....

Also put up two pictures of Kayley after she was bitten on BOTH cheeks at day care. Life with grandma was never that rough! :-) She was fine and the marks disappeared quickly. Kayley has been known to bite Drew once in awhile so I think Megan was relieved to hear that it wasn't her doing the biting at school. :-)

They have a really nice kitchen with "soon to be new" counter top and appliances coming. Lots of cupboard space, too. There's also a picture of Drew in his new big boy bed that has Thomas the train bedding. :-) He loves his new bed!

Airplane for Drew

Drew loves airplanes, almost as much as trains! Too bad he wasn't on the farm this morning to see one up close. We have a fungus in our corn from too much rain and had to have a crop duster come in and try to kill it. This was very expensive entertainment for Drew, but he is worth it! :-)

Another week-end with the grandchildren!

Megan, Drew and Kayley arrived late Friday night for a quick week-end visit to our farm. This should be their last week in the extended stay hotel so they won't be coming as often anymore. :-( They are very excited to move into their new home next week-end and I can't say that I blame them. Hotel living is great on a vacation but not much fun with two toddlers for the long term!

Yesterday Megan and the kids drove to Fort Dodge to have lunch with Grandpa Butch who was in town to attend a wedding in Gowrie. He came back to the farm with them until it was time to head to the wedding. After Butch left Megan and I took the kids to Ogden Fun Days because we read they had a model train set up in the middle school. We knew Drew would love seeing that. We were right. We walked around the park for awhile but not much to really do there. No carnival rides this year! Also, it was so hot and humid it just made it most unpleasant to be there for very long.

Last night we grilled chops and had MORE sweet corn and bathed the kids and got them to bed very early.

Next Sunday I will go to Peoria to help Megan start unboxing all the moving stuff. She will take a couple days off from work so between the two of us we can hopefully make their home livable in a short time! I am anxious to see the home. It looks very nice. The kids will be thrilled to have more space, for sure!

Fun-filled family week-end

Megan, Andy and the kids drove here Friday night from Peoria and Matt arrived about the same time from Omaha. We had a fun few days! Saturday Matt and Andy golfed at Honey Creek near The Ledges. Megan and I took Kayley to a baby shower for Karen Swanson hosted at Barb Peterson's home. It was fun to see everyone there. Grandpa and Drew stayed at the farm and played. Saturday evening we grilled steaks and had good old Iowa sweet corn. Delicious despite the field being attacked by raccoons a few days earlier. Mark always puts up electric fence to keep those critters at bay but all the storms left debris on the wire, shorting it out and the coons made hay in no time. Have I ever mentioned how much I despise raccoons? It is up and running again so hopefully no more damage from them!

Kevin and Julie and Dan and Katie stopped down for a bit last night, too. Was fun to see them.

Drew played all week-end on the peddle tractor that has seen a few generations on its seat! Everyone left this afternoon after Megan, Andy and Mark returned from golfing at Don Williams today. I fixed a brunch and they left shortly after that. It is really quiet here once again. :-(

We had WAY too much rain lately but this week-end stayed dry. Hope that trend contines!

A video of Kayley enjoying the farm:


Drew and his "new" toy:

Sunday, a day of WORK

We must have had a very bad storm last night but Mark and I didn't know it! Not until we got up this morning, that is, and found the lawn littered with branches and a zillion little broken sticks everywhere. Such fun! The worst was a huge part of a tree that fell on the road by our lane and blocked all traffic. Mark pulled it out of the roadway and worked on dismantling it in our driveway. I spent 3 sweaty hours picking up sticks. My back is a little stiff now! Some good came out of the storm...a dead raccoon in the tree that fell on the road. :-) I actually felt "sort of" sorry for the critter! Mark noticed skid marks on the gravel road going right up to the tree and saw the tree was moved about two feet from the impact of whatever poor soul hit it last night. I am not certain how you miss a tree this size laying across the road but someone saw it too late!

Megan and her family had a Thiel reunion in LeMars this week-end. She said their golf outing on Saturday was scorching hot but they had a great time. Now, the long drive back to Peoria today for them. She said they plan to come to the farm next week-end so I cannot wait for that. The sweet corn will be ready by then and the rest of my garden is producing so we won't starve. I think I have convinced Matt to drive out here, too. Looking forward to seeing them all again so soon. I could get used to this..

Some pics of our mess and also a picture of Andy, Drew and Kayley which I stole from Jenny Thiel's FB page! Thanks Jenny! I liked that picture. :-) I am trying to figure out what it is that has all three of them staring downward?!?!?!

Sunday in Peoria

Sunday morning Megan and I took Drew and Kayley to the mall play area that had all Caterpillar toys, go figure! Also stopped at a park that is very close to the home they are considering buying. We had a fun morning then met Andy for lunch at a drive in for chili dogs. I left for Iowa as soon as Megan put the kids down for their afternoon nap. Drove non-stop from Peoria to the farm in 4 hours and 20 minutes, knocking off 25 minutes by not needing to fill up. I was going to stay until Monday morning but I figured that would make getting them to daycare go less smoothly if I were around. They are still in the "adjusting" mode so I didn't want to make it worse by being there. Megan said they went bowling at school yesterday and had a great time so that was news I wanted to hear! They are going to be loving it in no time!

First time in Peoria

I got up early this morning and headed out to Peoria to see where my daughter and family are now calling home. Took me 4 hours and 45 minutes, all interstate so it was an easy drive. It was great to see them, even though I had just seen them over the 4th. I have been anxious to visit in Peoria and see the city they had chosen for their new home. It was much bigger than I had anticipated, around 185,000. For some reason I thought Peoria was a smaller town! Megan and the kids drove me all around and I saw where Drew and Kayley attend "school" and where Megan and Andy work for Caterpillar. She also took me around to look at the homes they have been looking at as possibilities. Hopefully they will get to move into a home soon. They are living in an extended stay hotel until that day. Tight quarters for four people. I am thinking they didn't need another body in here but I will be gone tomorrow! :-) I can see many trips to Peoria visiting Drew and Kayley in our future!

More reunion videos and pics