What a Great Summer

Our summer didn't really begin with the Big Adventure. It started the moment we arrived home from Florida the Wednesday before Holy Thursday when we were anticipating 13 house guests for the week-end attending a youth hockey tournament. The afternoon they were to begin arriving, we discovered a leak under the kitchen sink and as Don was heading out to get the parts to fix it he was informed that one of our house guests is a plumber. As a result of our hospitality we had the sink leak fixed, a shower fixed, and a toilet seat replaced. Thanks, Corey. We all had so much fun cohabitating for three days, that we may do it again next year only we requested that they bring an electrician along next time. 

We spent Mother's Day in Minnesota home of the Twins. (also Bob and Gretchen). Bob treated us moms to a wonderful prime rib dinner.







Immediately after returning from our trip we packed our suitcases and headed out by car to Mound, Minnesota. Their mother had a wonderful opportunity to tour Europe with a band as both chaperon and clarinetist. Bob needed a little help with babysitting and managing the household in her absence and Don and I were recruited. These are two of the funniest children I have ever known. The week was filled with laughter and joy. Their love of water in any form makes the swimming pool one of the best babysitting aids ever even on less than desirable days. We found something to do each day, rain or shine, big or little, and each day was an adventure in itself. Even announcing that our adventure for the day is going to the park we get a resounding "YEAH".

 Besides the several parks we visited, we played mini golf twice, (this is Jakie's newest obsession), went on a bike ride to the drive-in for lunch, and spent a day at the local swimming hole. 

Both boys mastered their two wheelers this summer

Jacob had a bit of trouble mastering the steering.

Later in the summer we were honored when the whole family came to Chicago for their vacation. It was only for a week-end, but we sure made the most of it. The biggest event was the day we spent downtown. The twins had their first train ride which Jake told me he had been waiting his whole life for. (He's four). Both of them spent a great deal of time with their noses pinned to the window. We went to the top of Sears Tower, again with noses pinned to windows, lunch at Bergoff's, then Millenium Park to the Bean and the fountains. 

We also hit the All Aboard restaurant better known as the choo choo restaurant, where the food is delivered in a model train, the Children's Museum, and Blackberry Farm. During these days Jake discovered that putting jelly on your peanut butter sandwich is actually a good idea, and chocolate ice cream is just as good, if not better, than vanilla. Robbie decided he would like to go up into all of the towers in Chicago and grandma really knows how to pick the best ice cream flavors.

Our girls paid us a visit in September when Ella and Amy had tickets to see One Dimension, the latest preteen heart throb boy band. Elise came along to hang with the grandparents while mom and sis attended the concert. We had some really great girl time, something that doesn't happen too often in this testosterone dominated family.

The rest of the summer we spent a lot of time on the golf course, a little bit of biking, a few trips with our Winnebago Club, and just having fun hanging with our good friends.

On one of our Winnie trips we visited the Field of Dreams in Iowa. I can't believe how moved I was to be there. I guess it is just such a great piece of Americana which has managed to escape commercialism. It stands in its original state, well maintained and free of charge.


Four days into fall comes my birthday and it was a real wow this year. It lasted for four days. On Thursday I enjoyed my free birthday golf game, compliments of Village Greens, with my friend Mike who shares birthdays with me. In the evening I was treated to a great Italian dinner at Clara's by my niece, Lindsay, and brothers Jim and Bill. I happened to mention the week before that I was short of golf balls and when presents started arriving, I received 42 of them. Thanks, guy, they won't go to waste. On Friday we golfed with Bill and later had dinner with one of our cousins. Saturday I received a birthday surprise visit from our Green Bay Chilsons and we spent the evening in Geneva at our Nephew Jason's house. The week-end terminated Sunday evening with dinner at our camping buddies the Russells. 

As always I try to be forever thankful for the blessings of the family friends we have been honored so with.

The Adventures Continue 2014

Here it is the report you have all been waiting for. The 2014 Big Adventure Trip.

This year we were limited to 10 days due to other family obligations so we made the most of them putting somewhere near 3,000 miles on Bertha and covering 3 National Parks, a visit with my sister, and Monticello, the home of our first cousin six times removed, Thomas Jefferson.

Jack has been asking to see Mammoth Caves for the past several years and we thought this would be a great starting off point not terribly far from home. However before we left Woodridge we had to hit Doggie Diner for a Gyro. Jack has developed a taste for Chicago food and his favorite eateries. He now has a culinary agenda for his visits. Besides Doggie Diner, they include Papa's Pizza, Portillos, Connie's Pizza, and the coups de gras, Fannie Mae Candy. Do you see a theme here? Much of this was inspired by his father's nostalgia for home. My children have never wanted mom's special meals when they come for a visit, they are always looking for good pizza. Spending the winters in Florida I can tell you, we live without pizza for almost 4 months and usually hit Papa's the first day back in town.

However, I digress. Mammoth Caves which I have been to twice before was never so exciting as this time seen through the eyes of these children. They have a special way of making everything such great fun. Elise decided this was already the most awesome trip we have yet taken and at the young age of 6, she is already on her 4th adventure with us. They all have their National Parks passports and know exactly how to get them stamped without our aid.

We arrived in Virginia on the evening of Carol and Jim's anniversary. What do you think of a sister who will spend her anniversary preparing a full lasagna meal and delivering it to a campground to five hungry travelers? A the next evening we celebrated our 44th anniversary with hot dogs and s'mores over a bonfire at their home. A great way to mark the passage of time in the presence of family.

Our anniversary selfie

The first day we spent at our cousin Tom's estate called Monticello. Ella has become immersed in history, especially on knowing she is related to our third president. She had her hand up every time our docent asked a question about him. This was her favorite part of the trip.

Shenandoah was especially fun as we were able to explore it in part in the company of my sister, Carol, and her grandchildren Joseph and Jacob. Of, course it was great to spend time with her son, Andy and Amy, his wife. We had a great picnic and a great hike. We ascended to a beautiful view view from on high of the Appalachian mountains. The children spent quite a bit of time climbing out on the rocks while Grandma held her breath in fear of losing one of them. These children are remarkably adventurous and seem to have no sense of their own limitations (if, indeed, they do have any). I was proud of our Jack and the way he kept Elise close to him allowing me to breathe intermittently.

Andy with Joseph and Jacob

Taking off from Virginia, we had an all day drive to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After many card games, we arrived at our final destination.

I taught the kids a favorite Patterson game "Piggy"

We spent the first day hiking the mountain trails to new heights and spectacular views. As is typical of the Smokys, it is difficult to capture the splendor through the fog. It did clear enough occasionally though for us to appreciate where we were. Of course, we had to stop at every high rock for the kids to climb. Jack took such good care of his little sister enabling her to explore further than she could have if it meant that I had to help her. I think he likes his sisters a lot more than he will admit, but we'll keep that between you and me. Our last hike of the day was up to a waterfall and we were able to let them splash in it and cool off. Especially Elise who just can't help but get her clothes wet wherever there is water. She never complained though about having to finish hikes in wet pants. She is a real trooper.

The second day we spent several hours driving through the historic part of the park. We had a good taste of the difficulties and the beauty of pioneer life in this isolated land. Don decided to try to purchase this lovely little cabin as a summer home.

We were camped a short distance from Dollywood and although we didn't choose to spend our time and money in the park, we were treated each evening there by a rather spectacular fireworks display sitting in comfort on our patio.

Don treated us all to a variety show one evening, The Smoky Mountain Opry. There was something for everyone: comedy, singing, dancing, tumbling, and magic. Elise was so totally wowed by the performances that the people sitting near us were equally entertained by her excitement. A good time was had by all.

Returning home we were met at the door  by their Dad who scooped them up and took them away leaving us with great memories of shared time and bonding with those special children.

A Quick Recap of our Winter

Back by popular demand - well at least a pop of 1, but thanks to a friend who expressed an interest in my continuing, I was motivated to reinstate this blog after almost a year absence. The absence was in part because it had become labor intense to use this web site. So when I was unable to use it at all, I was forced to figure out the problem and it seems that google has made it necessary to use their browser if you want to use their web site. I can accommodate that since they are giving me this for free, but it seems that they might have given me a clue before I got frustrated and quit. But all is working now so I am back.

In looking back, the last post was on the cusp of my 65th birthday and here I am about to have another birthday in 2 months. But lets not rush that one. Medicare has been a godsend and I will not expound on that except to say that I am in good health.

There is so much catching up to do that I won't even go into the fact that the whole family was here for the week between Christmas and New Year's and what a great chaotic time it was. Our southern visitors were thrilled that we had so much snow. and the day they left it was coming down in droves. Unfortunately, that was the beginning of the polar vortex which ultimately chased us all the way down to Florida.

We arrived in Atlanta, covered with a layer of salt on everything, on a lovely 50 something degree day only to hear the weather forecast that two days later the temperature was going to drop to 4. Yes, that's right. I did NOT leave out a zero. We said hello to our kids, had dinner, went to church and breakfast the next morning and headed out of town not stopping until we were over the border into Florida. Unfortunately the first several nights down there were still well below the freezing mark and all we could do was thank our lucky stars that it wasn't worse. Eventually it did warm up and we had a great winter doing most of the usual things previously recorded here over the years. The year was a little different though as we had a few more visitors from home making the time fly by even faster than usual.

The highlights of our year included

• Venice - our stepping off point and always a favorite at Oscar Shearer State Park. We have been going there enough years now that we have made friends with the regulars in the park.



Yes there were four more that didn't fit in the pic.

• Lakeland: Most of the Silver Spokes were around for a good part of our time there. Who says you can't serve a full corned beef dinner to 12 adults in one RV during the pouring rain?
• We took a few day trips: we went over to Tarpin springs to ride the Pinellas bike trail, go sponge shopping, and have a nice Greek lunch.

  

  The Boardwalk at Disney World

• Of course, thanks to our friends Lynn and Becky, there were the annual trips to Disney.
• We have made a day at Fort DeSoto Park an annual tradition.
• The Strawberry Festival. Don and Nancy fell in love with Savannah Jack and returned for a second day.
• And, of course, finally, the usual amount of golf, bike riding, hiking, and bird watching.

The highlight of our winter, however was St. Augustine. This is one of the most beautiful cities in the world to me and it never fails to thrill us. This year we were honored by the presence of Elizabeth and the boys from Atlanta for their spring break. Words cannot express the shear joyfulness of these boys. Like all the Chilson kids they totally love the water, as long as they don't overhear the adults talking about jellyfish. Drew fell and scraped his leg on some shells and you will never convince him it was not a jellyfish bite. They spent their first night sleeping in the "bus" with the usual treatment of movies and snacks. And, of course, no trip to St. Augustine is complete without enjoying at least one sunrise on the beach.