We have had so many things going on simultaneously that it has been a
whirlwind! We had Drew and Kayley at the farm for a week and now I
have been in Peoria for a week, driving them back last Saturday to their
home and spending another week with all of them. I wanted to get some
Ryan time as he was too little to have at the farm.
Drew
and Kayley had a great time. Each visit they find something new to
occupy their hours. Last time it was rocks and cutting weeds out of the
beans. This visit they spent gathering tools (wooden sticks of all
sizes) to work on a dead tree. We have several but they were
particularly fond of "Tall Paul" and "Spread Eddie". Drew selected
these names. Naturally the golf cart and lawn mower cart got a
work-out, too.
While they were with us, the outside of
our house was being totally transformed and they enjoyed watching the
workers and the workers got a kick out of them. While on the lawn mower
cart, one remarked that he didn't know they were supposed to bring a
float. That gave Drew and Kayley the idea to come by on it and throw candy to them
while they were taking a break, just like in a parade. That gave them all a
good laugh. They didn't want to leave the farm but they also wanted to
see Ryan and Mom and Dad so it wasn't too bad getting them to go.
Kayley did shed a few tears when we let the air and water out of
Pirate's Bay. :-) She also cried telling grandpa good bye.
We
have had fun this week in Peoria, too. Tomorrow is a very big
day.....Drew begins 1st grade and Kayley starts kindergarten and riding
the bus. Mommy is hoping that neither cry getting on the bus. They can
be quite shy when they want to so we will have to wait and see. They
both seem extremely excited about it but when it actually arrives......
I
am returning to Iowa on Saturday with the anticipation that the outside
of our home is finished. I cannot wait to see it. The only thing that
will not be done is a new deck, which we will do next summer when we
return from AZ. We also put in new flooring in the kitchen, laundry and
all three bathrooms. It isn't quite finished but what is done looks
lovely and I really like it!
Some pics and videos from our adventures:
Drew and Kayley getting off their first wooden roller coaster ride at Adventureland. Let's just say they were not entirely impressed!
Drew and Kayley spent LOTS of time working on this tree with their "tools"
Always a fun time in Pirate's Bay
Finally, another tree hugger besides me in the family!
Kayley thinks she can push it down.
Working, working, working on that tree!
Uncle Matt and kids at Adventureland
They loved climbing on all the tractors
Kayley in her great grandfather Swanson's WWII hat
At least our huge pond of nothing provided some fun!
In the combine
Time for shopping at Peoria's Target store
For some reason, Peoria play areas contain a lot of Catepillar displays. :-)
Well, since my last post I have been BACK to Peoria for the 4th and had Drew and Kayley here at the farm for a week! Thus the reason I have not posted! :-)
Mark and I drove his truck out to Peoria for the 4th because the oldest two were coming back with us and they wanted to take bikes, golf clubs, etc. and I knew it would never fit in my Camry. Matt joined us all in Peoria for the 4th and we had a great week-end. Of course we took in the BEST fireworks in Illinois and the top 3% in the nation. We are believers. Twenty minutes of non-stop awesomeness!
The following Sunday we headed to the farm with Drew and Kayley. Long ride but they were very good and I am sure farm excitement helped that situation. They were here until the following Sunday when Megan and Ryan drove here to pick them up for another long ride home! We had such an awesome time....Pirate's Bay, golf, rock picking, weed cutting, garden harvesting, stick picking and bonfire. It was hard to see them leave but I will be the first to admit Granny needed some rest time! Ha! They kept me going every single second and I loved it! Lots of pics and videos from the 4th and the farm visit.
First up, bicycle safety town. The kids love this place and they should....very neat.
I would say Peoria has the most awesome fireworks I have ever experienced. Noisy but this is for Drew.....he wanted me to post. :-)
Ready to head out to the river front for the fireworks
Patriotic Kayley
Drew getting air born on this great dive!
Grandma with a special princess
In the truck, ready to go to Iowa!
First stop, JD tractor ride
Lawn mower cart is always popular
Drew loved Grandpa's big weed in his beans. :-(
Pirate's Bay!
Rock pickin' buddies
Tampoline at the neighbors
Grandpa shows them how to catch a live raccoon with marshmellows!
I spent 5 nights in Peoria babysitting for Megan and Andy so they could have some fun in Nashville. I arrived a week ago Wednesday and they left Thursday at noon. Drew, Kayley, Ryan and I had a marvelous time. We spent a lot of time in the pool due to hot temps. We also had to look out the window many times for approaching storms but made it through those, too. I was able to attend another Drew BB game, always fun!
I am now back on the farm and we really cannot believe the year we are having. Mark, just today, planted his final bean field. June27! I am sure that will be a bumper crop! Ha! My garden looks good and healthy, though! :-)
We are heading back to Peoria for the 4th and Matt will join us there. This has become our new 4th of July destination....great fireworks on the Illinois River. Sunday we will be bringing Drew and Kayley home with us to the farm for a week so are very excited about that. Best get the golf cart charged and Pirates Bay inflated. I do believe there are many rocks in the fields so hope they still think that is a great time! Ha!
Some videos and pics of my time with my grandchildren:
He is getting ready to put a hot dog on his new grill
Drew and Kayley have new golf clubs
Ryan watching his siblings in their pool
I love raspberries!
I also love my own pool
Ryan wasn't too sure about his first pool but soon learned to love it!
Mark and I returned from Peoria on Sunday with a case of cake overload! Lots of birthdays to celebrate and we enjoyed every one of them. Ryan turned one and Kayley turned 5. I think they both truly enjoyed their special days. Matt was able to get in on the fun so that was special, too.
Since our return to the farm we have been waiting patiently for our fields to dry so we can finally plant some soybeans, but alas, it rained once again over night with more storms predicted for this afternoon. It is now well past my father's warning of "it is the eleventh hour". Sigh. Mark is remarkably calm about all of this but I am not! That could be because I really wanted to put new flooring in our kitchen and bathrooms and that idea is not going to fly with no crops in the ground! :-(
Thank heavens for three wonderful grandchildren to take our minds off of this crappy weather. We went to Drew's t-ball games, watched Ryan destroy his first cake and enjoyed Kayley's party at Jump Start Gymnastics.
Videos of the parties and also of Drew performing (quite well!) at his baseball games. Ryan's video is a bit long as it would not let me edit it at all for some odd reason! Oh well, he is cute throughout. :-)
Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
Drew shows off his batting form
Grandma and Kayley after her birthday dinner of pizza.
I left for Peoria last Tuesday. Drew's last day of kindergarten was a 9:45 a.m. Wednesday
dismissal and his summer day care did not begin until today so grandma came to watch him. DESPITE all the rain, we have had a lot of fun playing baseball, riding bikes, and going to the park between all the showers. Grandpa joins us on Wednesday (his birthday) to help celebrate Ryan's first birthday on Thursday and Kayley's 5th birthday on Sunday. Lots of cake this week!
Ryan is growing so quickly. He is taking lots of steps and playing hard with all his toys. He is such a good baby, taking long naps. :-)
Kayley is such a sweet little girl. (Her parents will chuckle at that statement, but grandma thinks she is mostly sweet!) She definitely has a mind and will all her own but I rather like that spirit. :-)
Some videos of our days together, the last one showing Drew learning to ride his bike without training wheels. He caught on quickly and today we are taking his new skills to the park to see how he fares there. I will bring band aids....
So now, of course, we are complaining about WAY too much rain. I think we have had enough for now! Mark finally got all his corn planted yesterday afternoon and this is what his cornfields look like today:
Oh well, this too shall pass. There is a family in the Dayton community that is missing their daughter which makes one not want to complain too loudly about a little water in their fields. Two girls, ages 12 and 15 were abducted Monday after school by a registered sex offender from Stratford. The 12 year old miraculously escaped and ran to a farm house for help. The 15 year old is still missing and the abductor hung himself at an abandoned farm that night. It is now Sat. and they don't have a trace of Kathlynn. They found her blood in his pickup so it is not sounding all that great for this dear child. He took them to a hog confinement building which we can see from our house. The girl ran to the farm house just straight east of our farm. It is all so chilling, so sad.... WHY was he let out of prison?!?!?! Hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement have descended up our tiny town and have been searching every timber, ditch, etc. They went by our home on Wednesday and it was the saddest sight I had ever seen from my window. We had checked all the buildings for Kathlynn and several times I had walked up and down our roads looking in creeks and ditches. This was a very eerie experience for me and cannot imagine what her poor family is enduring. I pray she is found soon.,,,
Searchers going by our farm looking for Kathlynn
On a happier note, I will be leaving for Peoria to see my grandchildren very soon! Drew is finished with kindergarten on Wednesday and summer will officially begin! He is signed up for t-tall so I must see several of those games! Ryan turns ONE on June 6, Kayley turns 5 on June 9 and Grandpa turns a bigger number on June 5th. Lots of birthdays to celebrate while I am in Peoria! Looking forward to seeing them.....rather, I cannot wait!!!
UPDATE: Megan just sent me this pic of Ryan at his Omaha early birthday party and had to share so I could at least have ONE kid pic on here!
Megan said he took care of this in record time! He loves to eat! Now, time for a bath.
