Despite the fact that I have about 2 pictures from the week (I forgot to get all the photos from my faithful picture-taking mother...), we had a grand time.
The itinerary:
Thursday- Grammy and Grandad came in time for a late supper at Culvers with us. Lasers arrived around midnight.
Friday- Our 3 vehicles caravanned to Iowa. Auntie Krista rode with us, so we got to have a nice time catching up. After snoozes, Banowetzes came over for dinner and we ate outside on the patio.
Saturday- The 4th of July. Victor and Daddy (and Hudson and Grandad) ran in the Kids' Fun Run. Victor did a great job and had a great time!
We aborted our efforts to eat out for brunch (since everywhere was crazy busy) and instead made a grocery run and created our own very fabulous brunch back at G&G's (pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, and strawberry smoothies). In the evening we went to the Ely parade, where the kids all made out like bandits with the parade candy. It was a beautiful evening, a festive atmosphere, and a lovely time together.
Sunday- Josiah was sneezing and coughing, so I stayed home with him so that he could take a morning nap. That effort wasn't real successful though, so we ended up joining the others at church by 10. We had beef carnitas for lunch and a pretty low-key evening.
Monday- Grandad and Ben tried for an early round of golf, but it started thunderstorming after 9 holes. The guys (Grandad, Kevin, Ben, and Brian) did Burgerfries for lunch, and the aunts and cousins met up for a trampoline park adventure. That night Kevin and Ben made supper... a brat bar, homemade raspberry lemonade, a salad bar, and an ice cream sundae bar.
Tuesday- Mom's friend took a serious turn in the hospital, so we changed our plans for the morning so Mom could be with her. The rest of us met at a park for a fun time and a super beautiful day. We had a quick early supper and then the whole crew headed off for Anderson Clan photos. Betsy and Brian did a fabulous job (as always), and they are treasures! (Full photos at the bottom)
Wednesday- Ben and Kevin left for MN (Ben had a Jr High JAM, and Kevin went along for the fun of it.) The others of us headed to Vinton to see Grandma Vaupel and have lunch at Uncle Arlan and Aunt Sue's farm. The kids loved seeing the turkeys, chickens, and kittens, and everybody played and had a great time. (Another gorgeous day.) In the afternoon, Betsy, Brian, Kate, and Ezra, and I headed to a little backyard raspberry patch where we had been invited to pick some raspberries. "Some" as in 11.75 lbs picked in one hour! They were delicious!
Thursday- We drove to Iowa City to explore the Iowa Children's Museum. It was a lot of fun, although we didn't get to see everything! Ben and Kevin rejoined us there. All the mommas and kiddos were deeply relieved to have them back.
Thursday night was a fishing expedition. Everybody had a great cookout dinner (provided by Banowetzes) and then some stayed on for fishing. A beautiful evening.
Friday- The sisters and Mom had lunch together at Mr. Bean's downtown (while the dads had all the kids), and in the afternoon Krista and I had an outing to Half-Price Books. Then all the adults (minus Grammy and Grandad) had a fabulous dinner out at Granite City, while G&G watched the grandkids. It was so delightful!
Saturday- We headed off early to meet the Anderson extended family for a little reunion in Rochester. We got to meet little Justus CaJuan for the first time and had a lovely gathering in a little Baptist Church there. It was great to see everyone (it's been too long!). From there, our little family headed home.
As is often the case, there were so many sweet things, mingled in with hard things. Mom's friend passed away in the middle of the week. Ezra got a nasty cough. But Victor was healthy and never caught it! Josiah gradually got over his cold too. Time together makes me miss everyone more when we're apart again, but it was a wonderful gift to be there.
No comments:
Post a Comment