On our way home from Galena

I had a mighty quiet weekend with Doug gone.  I wasn't feeling well most of the weekend and only left the house once from Thursday to Sunday.  Not like me, though I do love to stay at home.  I was feeling better after a nap on Sunday afternoon.  I spent the rest of the evening binge watching Aerial America on the Smithsonian channel.  They film it state by state and I really enjoy seeing the aerial view of so many of the things I've seen in some of our recent trips.  I follow along on the atlas...totally geeky!

We decided to take the scenic route home from Galena with a leisurely ride along the Mississippi River through Iowa.  Lots of farms and LOTS of cornfields!

We saw many "barn quilts" and the were quiet lovely with many different patterns.

We stopped in Ft. Madison to see the fort.  We thought this building was the fort but it was actually the Iowa State Penitentiary.  It was built in 1839 but I don't believe is still in operation.

We did find the fort though which was not as impressive as the prison.

Right on the river.

We passed through Keokuk, Iowa and saw a sign for a national cemetery.  It wasn't far out of the way so we stopped to take a look.  It wasn't nearly as big as some of the national cemeteries we have seen but it's always interesting to take a drive or walk through them.

Next stop was Hannibal, MO.  We had been to Hannibal before and saw the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn stuff, but if you've never been there it's a cute little town and worth the time to visit if it's on your way somewhere. 

We had dinner at the Mark Twain Brewing Company in a very old Ford Dealership building. 

We were able to walk around the interesting building and see the old car lifts which were still there.

The food was pretty good too!

As luck would have it, I spotted a lighthouse up on the hill.  I'll post pictures of that tomorrow. 

Galena, IL

Right after returning from my trip to Illinois with the boys, Doug and I went back to Illinois for the funeral of our friends' grandson, Jordan.  The funeral was such a beautiful tribute to a short but well-lived life!

After the funeral and lunch on Saturday, we drove to Galena with the Pushees and Scales for a night away.  Galena is an interesting old town with lots of cute shops and lots of hills!

We got there late afternoon and shops were beginning to close but we did have time to hit a wonderful candy shop.  Weren't we lucky??

Chocolate covered bacon anyone?

I think I will try it...FYI, it's delicious!

Sweet friends Linda and Janet.

Doug, Al and Bob.

Unfortunately our visit wasn't long enough!

Doug has gone once again with his friend D.W. to Norwalk, Ohio for the last race of the season.  They left on Monday and should return next Monday.  So a week to myself!

After lunch with friends yesterday, I went to see the movie Florence Foster Jenkins.  It was interesting to see Howard from Big Bang Theory in a totally different role.  He was very good.  There were some very funny parts but a little too much really bad singing!  Worth seeing but I think I might have waited until it was out on rental.

Happy weekend!

Bad Blogger!

I tried posting earlier today with no luck.  Another glitch by Blogger I assume.  Will try tomorrow!

The Museum of Science and Industry

I had intentions of posting early today but somehow the day got away from me.  Got a call about noon that Cameron was sick and Ben asked me to pick him up and take him to the doctor.  He has strep throat.  He got two shots and an oral antibiotic so he should be feeling better in no time! 

Cameron and Harrison spent the day and night with us on Saturday.  I took them to House of Bounce that afternoon.

I don't know why Cameron has such a silly look on his face! 

They played outside that afternoon and decided to clean up Cameron's old wagon.  More than anything they love playing in the water!

They played basketball, drove the golf cart, we all played scrabble and put a puzzle together.  They kept us quite busy!  They went to Sunday School and church with us, then home.  Time for us to rest!!

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After a tiring (but fun!) day at Six Flags, we decided to sleep a little later and meet for lunch at Portillo's.

Good hot dogs!!

Then we headed to Chicago to the Museum of Science and Industry.  I hadn't been to the museum in many, many years.  We used to go on field trips to the museum when I was in grade school.  I remember some of my very favorite exhibits and they were still there.

One of my favorites was the Fairy Castle or the doll house as we called it.

It's still a favorite and I find it fascinating!

Another favorite was the babies.

I can't imagine anyone would believe in abortion after seeing these babies!!

The kids loved watching the baby chicks hatch.

There was a great Lego exhibit that Will and Lisa took the boys to.

Everybody split up and went their own ways so it was hard to get a lot of pictures!

There were so many hands-on exhibits that were educational but so much fun!

Will helped Harrison and Cameron with the program that showed them what they would look like when they were old.

So this is Harrison.

And this is Cameron.

Kinda creepy!

Rock climbing.

Mirror Maze.

This maze was crazy!  It's a good thing Will was with us to help us get out or I might still be in there!

Randy and Heather sitting in the airplane engine.

We only had about three hours at the museum which wasn't nearly long enough.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much the kids enjoyed it.

We left the museum and drove along Lake Michigan.

Passing Soldier Field...

And Navy Pier.

We drove to the Lou Malnati's in Lincolnwood for Chicago deep-dish pizza once again.

Claire was so sweet to help Cameron wipe his mouth!

Those two really bonded!

It was another full but fun day.  We left the next morning and headed home.  I hope we made good memories for the kids!

Six Flags

It's Friday!  Looking forward to the weekend when I get to spend some time with Harrison and Cameron.  I haven't seen much of them since school started and I miss them!

On the second day of our trip to Illinois, we were back at Six Flags but this time we were doing the park.  It was a beautiful day.  We got there when the park opened...and stayed 'til the park closed.

Amy's an old pro at Six Flags and knows exactly what to do.  A new ride was added this year, Battle of Metropolis.  It was at the back of the park so we headed there first to avoid long lines later in the day.  Will and Preston rode this later in the day and there was a 2-hour wait!

All of us rode this ride and it was super fun!

Emma Taylor and Hanna on the Ricochet.  The kids rode that several times.

Bumper cars.

Big Easy Balloons.

We saw a parade.

And stopped for funnel cakes.

You have to have funnel cakes when you go to Six Flags!

One of the roller coasters.  It was hard to get pictures of everyone as we split up and went our own ways sometimes, meeting back later.

Pat, Claire, Lisa, Parker and I rode the train.

 And we rode the Carousel.

And one of my favorites...

A little refreshment!

Everyone agreed it was a  very fun day!

Time to go home!