Trip to Iowa July 11th

It is Sunday...Ted and Anne get up and get ready to leave.  Ted makes mom a crepe...and we all eat and say our goodbyes.  It is raining again...Lynn and I decide to watch TV....and rest.  So we never get out of our pj's.  All day we just sit with Grandma and watch things and snooze.  What a fun and relaxing way to spend the day.  I am sure when I get home there will be none of that!  Mom gets back from her running around and decides to join us.  We are eating leftovers...trying to get the fridge cleaned out before it gets too late.  The rain stops later in the day and it sounds like the FIREWORKS from the fourth will be shot off tonight.  How exciting is that?  We figure that is a good reason to at least get dressed.  We start getting ready to head over to the little house site about 9pm...the mosquitoes are THICK..and we have learned they don't like Mentholatum...who knew?  So we slather and head over in the golf cart...all of us!  It really isn't that far.  Their neighbor Deb comes over to watch with us.  The fireworks are great!  We are so excited we got to see them.  It rained too much to shoot them off on the 4th and 5th...so they postponed them!  Just for us...well we would like to think so!  After the fireworks are over...we drive back to the farm where Grandpa lights another huge fire!  We sit around and giggle and sing..and stare at the stars.  It is sad, our last night...but it was a fun trip.  We decide we won't leave until we have to tomorrow. And yes...the fireworks are sideways...UGH!

Trip to Iowa July 10th

Hard to believe it is SATURDAY...all of the days are just blending together.  Ted and Anne have decided to treat us to Crepes for breakfast...Anne makes a strawberry filling and whips up some whipped cream while Ted makes the batter.  We eat them one at a time...and try other variations.  I like savoury crepes so I make a white sauce to put with my left over prime rib from the night before and that ends up yummy!  We also do a chocolate and banana one...also good!  For the rest of the day we are pretty lazy.  We decide that we will just hang out...as always...and just do whatever.  We visit, we look at pictures, we listen to stories...we eat.  More bird watching and reading in the sunroom...I swear it is my new favorite room in the house.  For many years it was the piano room..then the TV room...now it is the sunroom!  Ted and Anne grill chicken for dinner...it is YUMMY.  Ted does a great job of cooking the corn and chicken on the charcoal grill...while Anne preps food and makes potatoes in the oven.  It is quite the feast!  We decide that group photos are needed so we head outside to where the sun is starting to set. We also decide it is time for a fire...haven't made one yet.  Grandpa brings TONS of wood and before long we have a fire we are sitting 5 feet away from.  We toast marshmallows and make s'mores...it is all really fun!  Ted and Anne will leave in the morning!

Trip to Iowa July 9th

We woke on Friday...to start another day of activity...not really!  We hung out around the farm most of the day...I read and watched birds from the sunroom...and we made reservations for the Feedlot in Atlantic for that evening.  We all headed to the Care Center to see Grandma Hays.  She was most happy to see Ted.  She gave him a hard time...it was fun!  We totally spaced on the farmer's market at 5pm and headed to Atlantic early to run a couple errands before dinner.  Walmart and Fareway...meds and food.  Ted and Anne planned dinner for Saturday night and we got most of what we needed and met Mom, Grandma and Grandpa at the Feedlot for an awesome dinner (as always).  We headed back and mom and I decided to walk again...this time it was getting dark...but we walked to the water tower in Exira and back.  I took my head lamp to help in the dark...we saw several buzzards, an owl and some bunnies on our night walk.  We got back to see everyone else watching movies.

Trip to Iowa July 8th

Well, I have to say that I did what I normally do in Iowa...slept in until about 9am...and then thought it may be a good idea to walk before it got too hot.  So I ate breakfast and my mom and I walked around Exira.  First we decided on the graveyard and back...then because the sun was already pretty warm, we just walked near the school and up and down a few side streets.  Came back and ate a little lunch...and then I took a 3 HOUR NAP?!?!?!?!?!  I don't nap.  I was horrified when I got up three hours later.  I did feel good.  Read in the sunroom and helped start dinner...Ted and Anne should be arriving later...so we were going to eat later in the day.  So, just hung out and watched the birds!  Read..relaxed.  That is what you do!  Watch the corn grow (hee hee).  Ted and Anne arrived about 9pm and we had a yummy dinner.  My grandma browned a piece of beef in her dutch oven...then added a packet of Italian dressing mix, a packet of gravy mix and a can of beef broth...we cooked it in the oven slow until it fell apart.  Had her sour cream potatoes and salad to go with, and Lynn made some yummy garlic cheesy bread.  We had dirt cake for dessert.  Now who is dieting?

Trip to Iowa July 7, 2010

After sleeping in a little later and then eating some second breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa, we got ready to go to tea in Exira.  The tearoom is owned by a couple in Exira and they are open only occasionally.  We managed to get a reservation for 1pm that day.  We headed out about 12:50pm to drive over (it took about 2 minutes to get there).  We had been in the shop before.  The shop and tea room is called Timeless Treasures Tea Room and Gift Shop.  They do hardwood floor design as well...and they have lots of lovely items in the shop.  A larger group was leaving as we arrived.  They were still looking about.  We sat down and ordered our tea.  Lynn opted for a Vanilla Spice and I decided on Apricot.  Mom and Grandma got coffee.  Our menu was fixed because the largest group of the day gets to set the menu for the day.  We had spinach, strawberry and mushroom salad with cheese soup with veggies and a chicken salad sandwich served on a cream puff pastry.  It was all really good.  For dessert we had a pineapple meringue dessert.  It was all YUMMY!  Maybe a little much...I didn't finish my sandwich or my dessert.  The owners were getting ready to drive to Wisconsin...so we tried to get done as soon as possible.  I also found a TEAPOT and cup and saucer to purchase while we were there!  It was so pretty.  I have shipped it home so I hope it makes it.

Mom, Lynn and I headed back to drop Grandma off and then we drove to Atlantic to go to Walmart (I know, trust me I normally don't shop here, but out here we don't have much of a choice for what I wanted to do).  I had a prescription to pick up and I wanted to print some pictures of last year for Grandma in 8x10 and get frames...and since Ted and Anne were coming out I wanted to get there wedding present printed and framed as well.  We did a little shopping in Atlantic as well.  I found a cute dress and Mom found a shirt at one of our favorite places in Atlantic, the Bird Nest.  We headed back in time to drop mom off and then I took Lynn to Audubon for a hair appointment.  While she got her hair cut I read and called Tom.  She looked FANTASTIC!  And...the haircut was $15, where can you go out here for that?  NO WHERE!

We decided on PIZZA for dinner that night.  So mom called it in and Lynn and I picked it up on our way back to the farm.  The local Casey's has really yummy pizza!  We sat and ate pizza and drank root beer...it was good!

We watch a couple of movies and giggle over Grandma's strawberry pie.  She has avoided all of our questions about it...as it looks NOTHING like her pie.  She tells us she went to make it and found out she didn't have the ingredients and began to substitute things...and now it is a rather yummy red, white, and blue pie!

Trip to Iowa July 6 2010

Lynn and I flew to Iowa today...we left later in the day.  We dropped my truck off at Tim's work and then he took us to the airport.  We managed to get there at a good time.  We had a brief layover in Minneapolis and then landed safe and sound in Omaha.  When I went to pick up the rental car the guy asked me where I was going...I told him Exira, he asked, is that in Nebraska?  I said no, in Iowa about 70 miles east of here.  He asked if there was an exit sign for it off of I-80...I said well there is a small sign before an exit and then it is paired with Anita just past that first exit.  He said, I don't remember seeing it before, I responded, it is a small town!  We got our car, a WHITE car...and drove to Exira.  Everyone was still up (barely) when we arrived...and everyone headed to bed!  HOORAY we are in Iowa!

Lilith Fair 2010 - The Gorge July 3rd

My sister and I had never been to the gorge for a concert...so this year we decided to go to Lilith Fair at the GORGE!  We left Friday with our camping equipment to camp at Potholes State Park near the center of Washington...and about an hour from the Gorge!  Camping was fun!  We had steak, broccoli and baked potatoes Friday night...we walked around and explored a little...mosquitos were thick...but after a candle and some new Cutter wipes we were mosquito free!

We got up Saturday to gorgeous skies and promises of fabulous weather.  We made eggs and bacon over charcoal and had tea.  We walked around, sat by the lake and watched the boats go into the lake.  We watched the people start to come and get a spot on the small beach area.  We decided to head to the concert a little early.  The tickets said 2:30pm for the start time.  We arrived about 2pm and waited in a long line to get in.  By this time the sun was up and while the breeze was cool...the sun was warm...and not a lot of shade!

Once in the concert...we could see the other stages, booths of every kind and once we saw the concert area...it nearly took our breath away.  What a gorgeous place to experience music!  We found a spot near the bottom of the first hill and nearly center stage...and set up our little space with a ground cover, stadium style seats (just a seat and a back) and our backpack with snacks, sandwiches and supplies for later.

The headliners took stage about 5:30pm...Lynn and I enjoyed people watching, we took turns walking around and filling up our water bottles until the start.  There were plenty of people to watch!  We were fortunate to see Colby, Erykah, Sheryl Crow, Sugarland and Sarah McLachlan.  All were incredible, all did a fantastic job and the crowd definitely LOVED them.  We were a little sad that more people didn't want to dance...so a lot of party poopers with the lack of wanting to dance...we did get a few SIT DOWNS!  I am so surprised that concert goers aren't willing to show the enthusiasm they once did for bands and solo artists.  But...what can you do?  I suppose the laziness and slothfulness is slowing creeping its way into the younger generations!  It is so sad!  I love concerts...but part of my love is getting up and dancing to my fave songs...and it seems like that is a thing of the past.

Here are a couple shots...understand that my camera is not powerful...so it won't do the place justice!  We had such a fun time!  We returned to our campsite that night really excited about the concert.  We got up the next morning and headed home to Spokane to spend the rest of July 4th with Tim!