Summer ended on a good note! We spent Labor Day week-end in Okoboji and we had lots of company! I went up on Thursday so I could be there when Matt and Janelle and her parents arrived on Friday. It was our first time meeting Matt's future in-laws and they are just lovely people! I look forward to seeing them this winter in Laughlin if it works out! Mark, Megan, Kayley and Ryan joined us on Saturday. We had a great time and made many memories!
I woke up to this beautiful dawn at Okoboji.
We took a boat ride and stopped at the Barefoot Bar for a drink. Even the kids were glad we stopped!
Summer Houchins and Ryan on the train
Building sand structures
Kayley finally got to jump after a very long wait
Fun on the lily pad
Matt and Levi outside their cabin
Matt and Janelle enjoying the fire at the boat house
Ryan and Kayley are enjoying Rick's boat ride!
I went to Peoria on September 14, which just happened to be Megan's birthday. The kids and I baked her a cake and we went to Double A's for pizza. I stayed through the following Tuesday, so had a nice long visit with my grandkids.
Kayley and her friends experimenting with makeup!
Drew playing catch with his little brother
These two entertained grandma dancing to many songs
I see it has been 4 months since my last post...basically my entire time spent in Iowa! I have no excuse for that and will sum up my summer in few words as possible! :-)
I have travelled to Peoria a few times to see my grandchildren, that is a given! The grandkids have been to the farm for two weeks. (Drew only one week because of BB). It was such fun having them with us in Iowa and I do believe they enjoyed it, too. A highlight was spending the entire day at Adventure Land. They had an awesome time.
Ready for a day at Adventureland
Lunch on the golf cart is always a must!
Riding the Ferris Wheel with grandpa
These two were glad we haven't installed a deck yet!
I have also been to Lake Okoboji three times this summer. Twice to stay with Jim and Nancy and once to visit Pam Ferris. Jim passed away after our first visit with them. It was so sad to go a second time, knowing he was gone....We all plan on going again over Labor Day week-end. Matt and his fiance Janelle, along with her CA parents are coming. That will be our first introduction to Matt's future in-laws! I am looking forward to meeting them. Megan and her family are also coming so it should be a fun-filled weekend!
With Laura Houchins Mendez and an unidentified bagpiper..
We had such a great time when Megan, Andy and our grandchildren visited during their spring break! They arrived last Friday and returned to Illinois this past Saturday. Grandpa and I planned some special treats for their visit and I think they were winners with everyone.
We celebrated Easter at our home. The Easter Bunny found the kids in the desert, so they were happy about that! On Monday, we packed the rental van and traveled north to Sedona. Following a great lunch, we headed for our Pink Jeep tour. It was beautiful, rough and tumble and great fun! After checking into our Sedona hotel, we had a great steak dinner at the Cowboy Club.
Tuesday we drove to Williams, AZ. We had a train waiting for us, the Grand Canyon Railway. It took about 2 hours to get to the Grand Canyon but the time flew by.....thanks to Bloody Marys. Hahah! The kids loved the train. It was bitterly cold at the canyon, our one downer! But, we survived and 4 out of 7 people saw the beautiful Grand Canyon for the first time. The train ride back was great fun, including a train robbery. That scared Ryan but he survived the robber scare. :-)
Mark and I were so glad they all came and hope it happens again!
They had a very early flight back on Saturday morning so they left our home very early. To make matters worse for Grandma, Mark left for Iowa when they left. Double whammy for me. I have recovered, though. :-) Matt is flying in tomorrow for Country Thunder and his girlfriend, Janelle, is coming, also. I really look forward to meeting her!
Matt decided to help Mom drive to AZ and we really had a great time. We left his Omaha home around 5:30 and made it to Santa Rosa, NM at 4:45 that afternoon...750 miles. It was so nice sharing driving duties and having an actual conversation with someone during those 12 hours! Next morning left at 6:30 and took a side trip to Sedona and Jerome. Highway 89A is a spectacular and scary mountain road through Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona. Breathtaking! Then it was on to Jerome so we could listen to cousin/ nephew Aaron entertain in the Spirit Room. Great time! Matt treated us all to dinner at a cool restaurant in old Jerome. We both were glad we stopped, even if it meant getting to our Phoenix home after dark. Some scenes from our trip:
"Quaint" shirt for sale at truck stop in New Mexico. :-(
Moondog (Aaron)
The Spirit Room!
Beautiful highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon
View from mountain town Jerome
Starting a Sunday morning hike with Matt and my good friend Alice.
It rained a bit so I grabbed Gramps off of his tractor and took him
to Peoria so he could see Drew play some football. Drew had an awesome
game under the lights on the "big" field so that made it extra fun,
announcers and all! Mark is very glad he went!
We also
got in on the Halloween action. I am usually in AZ by this time so it
was great fun to walk with the grandchildren going door to door. The
weather was anything but pleasant, but we didn't let that dampen our
spirits....only our hair and clothing. :-)
The witch lost control of her broomstick and it whacked Thomas the
Train's smokestack right at picture time! Thomas recovered in time to
load up his cars with lots of Halloween candy.
Trick or treat!
One of the good witches
Highlights from Drew's last football game under the lights. He played
so well and we all were quite proud of our 8 year old! He had many hard
hitting tackles, an interception, and a long run to the half yard line.
Grandpa and grandma had a fun evening.
It rained a bit so I grabbed Gramps off of his tractor and took him to Peoria so he could see Drew play some football. Drew had an awesome game under the lights on the "big" field so that made it extra fun, announcers and all! Mark is very glad he went!
We also got in on the Halloween action. I am usually in AZ by this time so it was great fun to walk with the grandchildren going door to door. The weather was anything but pleasant, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits....only our hair and clothing. :-)
The witch lost control of her broomstick and it whacked Thomas the Train's smokestack right at picture time! Thomas recovered in time to load up his cars with lots of Halloween candy.
Trick or treat!
One of the good witches....
Highlights from Drew's last football game under the lights. He played so well and we all were quite proud of our 8 year old! He had many hard hitting tackles, an interception, and a long run to the half yard line. Grandpa and grandma had a fun evening.
It has been quite a long time since my last post. Harvest, flooding,
trips to Peoria, trip to Omaha to see Matt, trips to Okoboji, Kayley
surgery, Drew football games and computer woes all kept me from taking
the time to post anything!
We have had a good end to
summer and start of fall. The one big bummer was a severe rain (7
inches) that totally flooded our basement, causing us to gut the living
area down there and install new tile from the house to the field. Torn
up basement, torn up yard, total mess! Oh well, there are worse things
happening to people than this.
We had fantastic weather
for harvesting the crops. Mark finally talked me into learning to run
the chase cart for the combine so I could give my neighbor Barb some
relief time. I am so glad I did. She should not be out there for those
long days, every day! Besides, I rather enjoyed it! :-)
Since
my last post I have been to Peoria twice and have had fun watching Drew
play football and being there for Kayley when she had surgery to remove
her adenoids for the second time.
A highlight of the
summer was spending Labor Day Week-end at Okoboji, dog sitting Abby in
her beautiful West Lake home for her parents. Megan and family came, as
did Matt, Andy's dad and Andy's brother. The weather was picture
perfect and we all had a marvelous time. The kid's especially enjoyed
the water and Arnolds Park. Great memories made there.
I
leave on the 3rd to Omaha and then Matt and I are officially heading
south on the 4th. He wanted to ride with and see some buddies there so
that is a win for me! An extra driver and nice company on the very long
drive!
I have so many pictures I decided to pick out a few and
put them on a video. Included are a trip to Tanner Orchard, Okoboji and
various other scenes from the end of our summer.
Mark and I took off for Peoria on Wednesday, August 12th. The children's day care school was closed on Thursday and Friday so we offered to come and babysit. It was very, very hot during our visit. We were outside only sporadically, mainly to get wet with the garden hose, water table and water balloons. Kids love water, especially when it is 90's and very humid!
Megan and Andy have moved into their beautiful new home. It still has many finishing touches to complete, i.e. window treatment, etc., but it is a lovely home and the children seem to love their new rooms and bathrooms. Grandpa and grandma enjoyed "their" new bedroom, too, with bath and shower and walk in closet! I am really looking forward to helping her decorate for the holiday season when I fly to IL for Thanksgiving!
Some pictures of our few days in Peoria:
We went for a short walk...short due to high heat.
I think the kids will be sad when the place is landscaped. They enjoyed the dirt!
If you're going to play outside in your PJ's, you just look better wearing heels!
We have had a very active July, just the way I like it! I spent a few days in Okoboji with an old friend, Pam Ferris. It was so great getting together with her after all these years. She has a beautiful home on West Okoboji. Thanks, Pam!
The highlight was a 9 day farm visit with Drew, Kayley and Ryan. It was Ryan's first time to the farm flying solo without his parents and he did great! Matt and I met Megan in Iowa City on July 25th, we switched vehicles and back to the farm we headed with three new riders!
They were happy to be heading to the farm!
One of the first things they did upon arrival was get their swim suits on and head to Pirates Bay. They love Pirates Bay; their grandfather, not so much. :-) (lots of drying out time after all the fun and trying to pack it into a bag!)
Waiting for the water to be added....Ryan, get your suit on asap!
Another favorite thing to do on the farm is ride the golf cart and cut "trees". We drove everywhere on both places looking for branches that hit the cart roof and down they went, courtesy of Drew, Kayley!
We took off Wednesday morning for Adventureland Park and Adventure Bay water park. They had a blast, especially at the water park. Grandpa and Grandma had a good time, too, and we were all pooped when we arrived home! I was especially glad everyone's sunscreen worked properly!
Big sister kindly agreed to ride this with Ryan.
Grandpa took them on the log ride
Kayley got drenched on the ride, Drew and Grandpa not so much!
Ryan was really lovin' this underground railroad ride!
Finally, the water park fun begins
Time out for some ice cream
Ryan directing visitors to the ice cream shop
The older siblings graciously agreed to ride this, as Ryan didn't want to go it alone!
The rest of their visit was filled with many lawn mower, golf cart and gator rides all around the farm. They also wanted a bonfire every night. Drew loved keeping the fire burning and discovered one morning that it was still smoking. He kept that fire burning ALL day by gathering brush and sticks. He needs to join the Boy Scouts, I think! The sweet corn was ready during their visit, thanks to good neighbor Craig. Kayley, who has lost many teeth, was the only child to eat it!
Grandpa doesn't appear to think much of their downtime activities! Haha
Kayley digging the sweet corn!
Our beautiful and fun loving grandchildren.
Grandpa getting ready to light the bonfire for s'mores
Watching the fire from the back of grandpa's gator
Monday, August 3 arrived and it was time to drive them back to their home in Peoria. It was a bittersweet parting....they were sad to leave the farm but they were super excited to go see their brand new house and their bedrooms! Megan and Andy were busy getting ready for the big move from the apartment to the new home, so it was a good time for the 3 kids to be at the farm for a visit so their parents could work on that not so fun task! When we arrived, they didn't know where to run to first, but their bedrooms and the toy room in the basement were high on their priority lists! The home is very beautiful and once they finally get all the boxes unloaded, the pictures hung, etc., they are really going to enjoy it there. I stayed for two days to help with the boxes and to watch the kids. Was fun!
Drew has tackle FB this year. Grandma says "yikes".
Kayley taking her first shower in her very own bathroom. Quite proud...
Ryan didn't know quite what to think about his brand new BIG bed. :-)
