We left for my sister's house in LaPrarie, IL (pop 85)on Sunday morning. We got there around 11:30 and then went into Golden (pop 500) to get my bro-in-law from the Nursing Home. They got a used van with a wheel chair lift and it's really very nice - esp for the price. She leaves it out at the Nursing Home so anyone who wants to pick him up can use it. He had been out to dinner with a friend the night before. This was his first trip back to his house (or the scene of the crime).
It's no small task to load him. The lift brings him up and then he has to recline himself and then we put him into neutral and then push him into the van (once he's reclined the wheel chair won't move) Then put him back in gear so he can sit up. Talk about back seat driver! :-)
His sister - Tee came out and we unloaded and he wheeled all over. That chair is like an all terrain vehicle. He went to the back of the house and looked at where he had fallen and where the helicopter landed and then we sat out in the front yard under the tree and visited.
Aunt Jill made lasagna and deviled eggs - Jack indulged on the lasagna and Sal ate all but 5 of the eggs!!! Not to self: Don't sit Sal by the eggs. :-)
The kids had a ball running all over, playing with the dogs. My sister has 8 cows in her pasture now. They're all preggos and 5 of them are black and look alike. There's also a brown one, beige one and a white faced one with black eye (Popeye). Mabel discovered that she could "herd" them into the back pasture. After the first night they didn't even look at her let alone move when she barked. :-)
When we took Uncle Mike back to the home he was pretty worn out. The next morning they called and his blood pressure was WAY low - like almost dead low. We decided then he prob shouldn't go to the fair with us on the week nights. Seems he gets one step ahead and goes back two. *I* think he's doing too much, too fast. But since I didn't go to med school - ----- :-)
Monday we went to visit Gma and Gpa and had lunch with some people that knew me "when I was just a baby". :-) Our neighbor, Mrs Ihnen's "boy" (he's my Dad's age). He told all kinds of stories about my dad's pitching days. :-) It was pretty entertaining. Their niece, Sally, is who my Sally was named after and so we talked about that.
We went to Tod and Rachel's after that. We were looking at trucks (Bill was) in Camp Point and as we got out - Malachi and Mary Scott came riding by on their way home from Grandma's. We gave Mary Scott a ride home - and didn't beat little brother by much. Rachel appeared very soon after with Elizabeth and new baby, Elijah. Oh, those two make some cute kids. We sat out in their yard and watched the kids swim and Elizabeth played on the swing set. We really enjoy hanging with them.
Bill and I then took a ride out to Tod's new building where he takes round hay bales and makes them into square ones. He designed the machine all by himself. Oh, if our High School teachers could see us now - and they said we'd amount to nothing. :-) The building is HUGE and they're trying to figure out what to do with the front. Tod suggested strip club - Rachel and I laughed politely. :-)
We headed out to the fair - Tod wanted to see the tractor pull. We let Jack, Malachi and Mary Scott go on their own to ride two rides. We then lost them/. :-) Rachel and I walked up and down that midway 50 times. Come to find out they had gone up to the stands and talked to Tod and Bill. THEN they had split up so they could find us easier! Since that fair is really a 2nd home to Tod's kids I wasn't too worried - but you do start to think about what clothes your kid had on. :-)
Tuesday night we went to Aunt Jill's quilt meeting - she had the "lesson". There were a TON of people there. She demonstrated "log cabin" squares. She did a really nice job and a lot of people came up to me afterwards and told me how proud I should be of her and did I quilt. Sally and I sat next to another Sally. :-) My Sally thought it was funny that there were 2 Sallys. My Sally did VERY well during the meeting. She wrote in her notebook and then cut (I had given her scissors) and was quiet the whole night. Her favorite part is that the ladies all go to Dairy Queen after the meeting. :-) Bill and Jack went to see the motorcycle races at the fair. We all got home about the same time and sat outside. That's so much fun - to sit on the porch with all the animals and watch the sky and hear the wild life. :-)
Wed was horse show day and Mary Scott won FIRST prize in her very first time showing and her horse's (Peppy) too. Tod was SO funny - he didn't think she had a chance and so when they called her number he hardly moved - then it started sinking in and he got ALL cocky. :-)
Later in the afternoon was the costume class. The kids and horses are dressed up. Mary Scott got 2nd. Peppy and her were clowns. It was SO cute. The first place was really neat - it was a TOTAL Pink Panther costume that covered the horse's head entirely. It was funny. So we were all on cloud nine when we hit the midway that night. Tod's Mom was there and we got to talk for a while. She's just like Tod. :-)
Jack and Malachi and Elizabeth went with to put Peppy away and they stopped off at Tod's and loaded a trailer and some other things that Jack tried to explain but I really wasn't listening. It's a little scary when Tod is in charge of the children. :-)
We all went to the Demolition derby that night. It wasn't that great. BUT - the kids LOVED it! Jack , Malachi and Mary Scott all went to the very front (where the mud flies) and Sal stayed with us. She didn't even mind the noise and seemed to be really interested in the hits. :-)
Auntie Jill got to hold squishy baby. He's SO good. SO laid back - well, all their kids are like that - Rachel too. 4 kids and NOTHING shakes her up. Of course - living with Tod will prepare you for that. :-)
Thursday we went into Quincy and got all our school shopping done. That night we went to the Harness Racing in Mt Sterling (Brown Co fair) I LOVE that! I could SOOO be into horse racing. I had Sal pick winners for all 10 races and then I had Jack pick and I put bets down on all they picked. We only won about half - but it was still fun. :-) Sally likes it when they bring the winner into the Winner's circle and he gets his picture taken. She thought that when she picked the winner that she should get to go down and get her picture taken too. :-)
We saw all kinds of animals on our travels. Deer, coyotes, foxes and the usual opossum and rabbits. Miss Kitty had to *remind* Mabel that cats rule and dogs drool. :-)
Sally wanted to know why everyone wears a hat (farmers hat) down there. Jack was shocked that we were in "the country".
Now that we're home - Mabel seems VERY depressed. She was outside almost ALL the time down there and she can run where ever she wants. She slept all the way home (Sally and Bill did NOT) and all last night and then all day today. I know who's counting the days till Thanksgiving. :-)
It DID seem short this year. Well, heck the whole summer seemed short. So vacation is over and the real world returns. Woo hoo.
