and with that, it's summer.

the past two weeks have been monumentally nuts. sorry for the absence. li'l recap, and later this week: scrappy somethings. maybe even a giveaway in the very near future ...

okay ... let's see ...

you remember that henry finished school about two weeks ago, right? okay. he got out on thursday, and on friday we left for illinois to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday. we drove through hours and hours of rain in iowa, and that was after sitting stock-still on the interstate for 45 minutes trying to get out of minnesota. but then we hit illinois, checked into the hotel, and promptly fell asleep. (best idea marc's ever had? getting an adjoining room so the kids could each have their own bed! no more "she's talking!" "he's hogging!" "she's kicking!" "he's tooting!")

saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel ... where henry poked himself in the eye with a menu, leaving us to wonder if he scratched his eye and needed a quick trip to ... where??? ... to get checked out. but he was fine, so we finished eating and headed over to my dad's house to spend the day with him, my step-mom, my half-brother and his daughter, and grandma.

my niece, cambrie, is almost three, so she and harper quickly latched onto each other and the art supplies.

 

henry was pretty focused on his gameboy at this point. shocker. then, as the grown-ups prepped for lunch, harper handed her gamboy to great grandma and clued her in on this new-fangled stuff kids do. she even ever so kindly allowed her new cousin to play with the leapster. everyone was happy.

 

after lunch we decided to head to the dam bridge (hee hee ... anyone else think of "national lampoon's vegas vacation" just then?) that spans the rock river and connects rock falls to sterling. my boys were fascinated by the power of the water. i have to admit ... it was pretty darn impressive.

 

 

then we headed to the park so the kids could run off some energy, and i could admire the hotness that is my husband.

 

(cut me some slack: i hadn't seen him in a week, and upon returning home he would take off for another week. i take my fix wherever i can get it.)

after getting back to the house, it was time for grandma's birthday cake. the minor celebration before the big party the next day. she generously allowed the great-grandkids to help her blow out her candles, which they all loved.

 

then the kids went back to playing, and marc found the recliner.

there was an obligatory family photo ... 

and after some pizza, the four of us returned to the hotel for some swimming and bedtime, so we weren't worn out for the long day ahead of us on sunday.

sunday morning, kathy and i headed to the prophetstown country club to set up for the party. she had made gorgeous centerpieces, and she and dad had gathered photos from the past 90 years of grandma's life. there was also a cake with grandma's face on it, which wasn't creepy at all.

grandma and dad soon arrived, and it was time for the corsage, the final touches, and then waiting on all the family and loved ones who had gathered around grandma over the past decade-short-of-a-century.

 

 

 

 

grandma was amazing. she didn't stop hugging, talking, laughing, visiting. i can only hope marc and i are as feisty and fit at 90.

because my parents divorced when i was four, i saw quite a number of people who all said the same thing: "i haven't seen you since you were this big!" (with their hand hovering somewhere around the three-foot mark.) so i had some explaining to do, and introductions to make between them and the three people who have entered my life in the intervening 31 years. but it was all good, and it was wonderful to see people of whom i have fond - if few - memories.

soon afternoon arrived, and derek had to head out with cambrie, and we had to take off for home. it was a six-hour drive, marc's parents were set to arrive at our house mid-afternoon monday, and marc had to hop a plane to dallas first thing tuesday. no lollygagging for us.

 

the trip home was quieter ... the kids were quiet and occupied with movies, we stopped for a delicious dinner at biaggi's, and the weather was perfect.

then, halfway through iowa, just at sunset, we hit the wind power fields. something about them is so peaceful and lovely; i'm sort of obsessed. mchotness knows this about me (he's a good kid) and he pulled over on the highway so i could snap some shots before the sky was dark.

  

the perfect end to a fast - but lovely weekend.

Comments

[lisa truesdell]

beautiful. =) we spent this weekend at a 90th bday bash for my husband's grandma - i guess it was a good weekend for celebrating!

[Houston]

Wow, what a great celebration, your photos are fantastic and I really love the one of her getting the corsage! I hope I'm that spunky at 90 too!

[Kelly R]

Gorgeous pics!! What an amazing milestone for your grandma xxx

[Lisa M]

Wow, I am in total shock, I was born and raised in Sterling and we moved to MN about 6 1/2 years ago. Sounds like you had a great weekend!!