The First Few Days

Greetings from Iowa! We made it to Hubby's brother's house in Indy on Thursday. Friday I watched the kids in the morning while the sister-in-law went to work. In the afternoon we took the kids to the local pool, and then we all went out for dinner. I was terrible about taking pictures with all of them. I guess I was just happy to see them and didn't think about pictures. Anyway, I got a group shot of grandkids and grandparents early this morning, and then we headed out for Iowa. We stopped at a rest area in IL for a packed lunch. There was a wildflower restoration area with a path through wildflowers. It was a great place for a picnic lunch. I got this shot of #1 and his Daddy. It is hard to get them together in a photo, so now I have one for the church father's Day slideshow. We made an afternoon stop in Amana, IA to take a break. Amana was a colony of pietists who were trying to form a Utopia of sorts. It ceased to exist in 1932. We had a good time walking around the shops. Hubby found this lighthouse wall hanging in the woolen mill factory. They are NC Lighthouses that we have been to see! The guy working in there even said he used to live in Hatteras. Cool.

We enjoyed sitting in the biergarten drinking our creme sodas and cherry sodas. Then we walked around some more. Grandma and #1 took a break with me on a swing. The weather was just perfect for this sort of stopover. Our tummies are still on Eastern Time, so we were ready for dinner. We went to the Ronneberg Restaurant for a German meal. we had Weiner Schnitzel, Jugar Schnitzel, Bratz, and more. F-I-L even had rhubarb pie.

We stopped for the night in Newton, Iowa where we found an old hotel that had a good rate. It also had a nice indoor pool in which the water was actually warm enough for me to enjoy swimming! Then we headed back to the room for milk and cookies, and now we are turning in for the night. Tomorrow we hit Sioux City, Iowa and Sioux Falls, SD. I don't know if we will have internet, so see you when we see you!

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I also heard that #1 won gold for his movie that he made about 4-H! Our club won silver for our group project, and the silver and bronze individual projects were also won by members of our club! Good Job 4-Hers!!