A day of mixed emotions

Here are Mr. and Mrs. Alissa and Nathan Hunter opening some lovely homemade coasters from me!

This is Alissa and her two coworkers, Rebecca and Angela dancing. Wouldn't you hire these girls?

This is Courtney, me holding Meghan, and Mallory at the head table. Meghan and I took a walk up there to see what it was like to sit up so high and look out over the crowd.

This very cute little guy is Braden, the son of Liz. Liz is one of Alissa's college friends who generously opened her beautiful home to us so the girls could get their hair done there on Saturday before the wedding. He is making a call on Courtney's cell, his favorite activity of the day.

Here are the girls at the cookout at Kim's house on Thursday night. (Kim, Liz, Courtney, Alissa, Laura, and Mallory) If you remember my blog from the cookout I had a problem with loading the pictures, so I put them on this post.




Today my emotions have been all over the board. The memories of Alissa and Nathan's beautiful wedding have been discussed and relived all day long. What a special day that was! From little baby Naomi crawling across the dance floor to the memorable father/son dance, From Pastor Gretchen quoting Bon Jovi in the sermon to Bud the chauffer shuttling guests to and from the festivities, From dancing little girls, twirling around and sliding on the floor to bridesmaids and friends rocking out to the band, From Alissa and Paul having their traditional dance off to Grandparents dancing cheek to cheek, From Uncle Kev helping himself to freebies in the bathroom to Mallory and Laura feeding each other wedding cake, From Meghan enjoying lots of M and M's to Kim making sure the band had enough beer and on and on and on. It was all good and it put smiles on all our faces!
And then...


We took Courtney and Paul to the Bloomington Airport today to pick up their rental car to head out to Chicago. The first leg on their journey to Ethiopia and Tizzy. I never even felt the urge to shed a tear at the wedding, but dropping them off got both John and I teary eyed. It is such a long journey to such a far away place that is full of unknowns, but they have to travel there to bring our Tizita home.


After dropping them off we again returned to a happier place when we went over to Nathan's dad's house to watch Alissa and Nathan open gifts. What lovely things they got! After a few left over brownies things were once again looking up.


Our drive home was uneventful and we are back to the usual Sunday night routine.


I will add a few more pictures that I found.

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Nathan and Alissa Hunter

The dancing just went on and on
Paul's band, Spin, Spin, Coupling. Where else do you get a bunch of Dr. musicians to play at your wedding?

Uncle Kev and Alissa share one of their many crazy moments.

The first dance

Grandma and her girls

Bridesmaids

Sisters

The wedding is over and in the words of the bride, "My wedding was the best wedding ever!" I don't even have the proper words to describe the wondrous event so I will leave you a few pictures and write more when I return home later today.

Now our focus turns to Courtney, Paul, and Little Tizita. They leave today at 9:30 for Africa. Please pray for safe travels for the three of them.

The hair is styled, the make up is on

Courtney puts on my make up
Pastor Gretchen and Mallory play some guitar hero

Courtney gets some nourishment from a donut

Alissa gets her updo for the wedding

I just got back from Liz's house where all the girls had their hair done and make up put on. The bridesmaids are dressing at Liz's house and then we are all meeting at the chapel to get Alissa into her dress. Things are running very smoothly right now.

Just get all of us to the chapel on time!

Rehearsal dinner done,, done and done

John and I ready for the rehearsal and dinner

Here is Alissa with her bridesmaids at the rehearsal

How do I stop this fast moving weekend and slow it down? The rehearsal and dinner was a huge success. The only problem is that this whole time is going way too fast. You plan it for so long and look forward to it and then it is over before you know it! Alissa is going to come back here to our motel room and spend some time here with us on her last night as a single lady, so that will be nice. Here are some pictures of the events of the evening. The only bad part was when little Kylie age three got her head stuck between two bars on the booth at the restaurant, but after some manuevering of head and bars it was released and she was none the worse for wear.

Beautiful fingers and toes

Celebrating the pretty toes and fingers at TGIFriday's
Mal and Alissa share a moment while drying nails

Courtney and Alissa drying their nails

The lovely ladies getting their feet done

Mal enjoys a cappaccino

The ladies have returned from their manicures and pedicures with lovely toes and fingers! Enjoy the pictures.

One hundred posts plus!

Wow, when I began this blog back in late spring, I never thought I would keep it going this long, but it has been fun and a good way to document things. It is a beautiful day in Bloomington today, sun is shining and the air is clear. John and I will be going for a walk soon. More guests expected to arrive later today for the festivities.
The cook out at Kim's last night was a very successful party. We had great food, wonderful conversation, and many laughs. I only have a few pictures from the party due to some camera snafus but I have that fixed now. The bridesmaids, bride and pastor are off for pedicures and manicures at this time so I am looking forward to some very cute toes and fingernails!
Later...

And now, we check off item #3

Courtney and Paul with all their luggage for Africa and Mallory holding the bass guitar!

The wedding dress is somewhere on this cart, too.
Courtney, Paul, and Mallory have now arrived at the motel. They seemed to have weathered the trip nicely except for a bad brownie and a bad latte at a BP station. Now we will be off to Kim and Clay's for our cook out. Just a side note, the bride is holding up nicely and I have yet to personally see the groom.

Check off item # 2

Pastor Gretchen has arrived safely from Seattle. She says even if she hadn't been able to make the flight for some reason, one of Alissa's friends could have gotten ordained over the internet in a matter of minutes and performed the ceremony. Never the less, we are glad she is here. Gretchen is a very close friend of Courtney and Paul's and she performed their marriage ceremony on the beach, too. I guess I hadn't listed this as an accomplishment on my previous entry, but in rethinking it is very important!

Step #1-accomplished

Here I am at my home office away from home. Complete with wireless internet and my cell phone. I am ready for business.
Here is John relaxing with the remote. Who knew that a tux rental costs more that a bridesmaid dress. We haven't rented a tux since our brown one from our wedding!

Because we have wireless at our motel, I can keep everyone up to date. Actually, this is mostly a record for myself since I don't think I have too very many readers, but whatever...
I feel like we can check off each little accomplishment as it happens, so I am now checking off the one that says, "Sherri and John arrive safely in Bloomington. John tries on tux and it fits. John and Sherri check into motel." One down, about five thousand to go. One step at a time, people.
Mallory, Paul, and Courtney are on the road as I write. They are somewhere between the water park at Rockford and the Abe Lincoln Bridge. When they arrive safely I can check off #2.
I have checked in with Alissa about five times already today. She and Nathan are now officially licensed to wed as of 10:00 this morning. Last I checked in they were at the liquor store buying beer for the cook out tonight.

Get me to the church on time

John and I leave today for Bloomington to begin our pre wedding festivities. Today John will get his tux fitted, we will check into the motel, our home away from home for the next four days, and we will begin the celebration with a cook out at Alissa's friend, Kim's house. Alissa is spending her last nights as a single lady with Kim and husband Clay. Nathan is spending his last days as a free man with his dad. Courtney, Paul, and Mallory arrive later today in time for the cook out. Tomorrow the girls (Alissa, Courtney, Mallory, Kim, and Laura) go for pedicures and manicures.
Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner is tomorrow and then on Saturday all the girls (me, Marge, and Pam included) go to another friend of Alissa's house (Liz) and have our hair done by a girl coming over to her house. Then of course, there is the wedding on Saturday and gift opening on Sunday. What a whirlwind of activity and fun! I now am just hoping we all get everything down there that we will need especially things like the wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, band equipment, guitars, my dress, and the list goes on and on and on. These destination weddings can get complicated.
I remember at this point of Courtney's wedding, too. We were all getting ready to get to St. George Island, Florida via cars or planes and I get into this very worrisome mood about things going wrong, you know like major things, car accidents, someone getting sick, and I won't even go to the others right now. I will breathe a huge sigh of relief when all the people have arrived safely in Bloomington! But enough of that right now. My motto has always been, Hope for the best, expect the worst, and roll with the punches, so in true form that is where I am at right now. I am hoping the motel has wireless so I can update a bit, but if not you will hear from me again on Monday. Remember us in prayers this weekend and please remember Courtney and Paul as they take the journey of a lifetime on Sunday. Pray for safe travels for all and peace of mind for this anxious woman!

Happy 90th birthday Herb!

Today mom had a birthday party to celebrate Herb's 90th birthday. She served her famous scalloped potatoes and ham. Of the six guests that were able to attend, two walk with canes, one with a walker, and one has the beginnings of Alzheimer's. It was a bit comical, but yet sad when you see how aging has affected these people. I always think that my dad checked out early and in the best way. He didn't have to see any of his friends suffer from all the ailments that they have now. Anyway back to the party, there was singing and a cake with candles. Herb spent time telling stories from the old days. He has such a gift for story telling and it makes me sad that these stories will eventually die. Herb is so fortunate in that his mind is still very sharp even if his knees are not doing so well. His wife is the one with the alzheimer's and when she gave him a birthday hug there was still a twinkle in both of their eyes, it was cute. I think a marriage like theirs is hard to find these days. It was a good party for a good man.

My plate is full, my cup runneth over

Today I am reflecting on all the upcoming events that are occurring almost simultaneously in my life and it is causing a bit of anxiety, well, maybe more than a bit, but I am trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy the ride. First on the agends, we leave on Thursday for Alissa's wedding. She has a full agenda for us and the festivities start on Thursday night. This part of the journey should be lots of fun. I have waited a long time to walk Alissa down that marriage aisle so this is a dream come true. It will be great to spend time with family and friends celebrating during these happy days leading up to her wedding. John and I have some specific jobs assigned to us so I hope we keep them all straight and get it all done in the right order and time.
The day after the wedding while we are watching Alissa and Nathan open gifts, Courtney and Paul will be beginning their journey to bring our precious Tizita home from Ethiopia. I am trying not to think about this journey too much at this time. I cannot even begin to tell you the stress that I will be under while they are traveling to Ethiopia. I hate the time when they are up in the air on planes. It is a time when I have absolutely no control over anything. That is when I have to let go and let God which is easier said than done for me. My prayer is that God will give me peace and the ability to let Him carry my worries for me. Courtney, Paul, and Tizzy will be in my thoughts and prayers constantly during these thirteen days and I won't actually breathe my sigh of relief until I see them getting off that plane in Appleton on Sept. 12.
On top of those two large helpings on my plate at this time, school starts for me on the Tuesday after Labor day. I am thankful for the diversion my little ones will give me. If anything can do it, those little ones will help keep me focused and keep my mind from imagining the worst things that could happen in Ethiopia! Ask my daughters about the things my mind conjures up when given the chance. Fear sets in from nowhere and my imagination goes wild. But with the beginning of any school year comes the usual stress related with getting the classroom ready, meeting all the new kids, and planning those earth shattering lessons. I also have an afternoon class again this year, which I was not planning on until about two weeks ago, so my days will be full. Again, God has the plan in place, less time for me to worry!
And the last helping on this full plate is the fact that John got laid off again! Another area that I have no control over. Are you getting the picture here that I need control over my life? John is working so hard on applying and interviewing for any job out there that he is qualified and over qualified for. It is a very frustrating journey for him at this point of his life, but we remain optimistic about just the right job coming his way in the right time. Again we put it in God's hands and see what he has planned for us and our future. In the meantime, John is running errands for me and it is so nice to have him around at this busy time. I wish we could both just quit work, live off our fortune, and spend the rest of our lives traveling and enjoying each other. But alas, we have no fortune, so we will continue to enjoy each other right here in our home.
So as you see, my plate is full and some of the helpings are not as tasty as the others, but in the big picture my cup runneth over with blessings. Check this blog out on Sept. 13 and I am guessing my plate will not feel quite so full! (Or it will be filled with different things!)
Please keep all us in your thoughts and prayers during this crazy time!

Where it all began...

Here is where it all began over 35 years ago.

Here are the pretty fountains at Frame Park.

Here I am ready to ride the trail. It was pretty windy as if evidenced by my blowing bangs!
Club 400 is a favorite bar of ours to hang out in on our annual trip to Carroll's homecoming and now it is listed as a historic landmark in Waukesha and has this fine plaque next to it. Who knew?

Here are the doe and her fawn that we saw along the trail. We always seem to see deer on these trails in the city. We find it funny that the only place we see deer is in the city and never on the country trails which run through the woods.

Today John and I rode the New Berlin Bike Trail which runs from Greenfield Park in West Allis through New Berlin to Waukesha. Once in Waukesha we rode around Frame Park and then took our trek to Carroll College which is where it all began in 1973 when we met and sealed our fate. It is always fun for us to check out all our old haunts and reminisce about the good old days when we were young and fearless. It is still a beautiful campus in a great city. We rode a total of 23 miles today. We ended up at Greenfield Park enjoying a diet coke under a shade tree when John told me that he had cleaned the toilets at Greenfield Park as a summer job. Even after all these years I am still learning new things about him. This would explain why he is such a great bathroom cleaner to this day.
Note to Tizzy: Grandpa and I will have to take you to see Carroll College when you get a bit bigger. It is such a special place for us and we want to share all those special places with you.
It won't be long now!

Ebaying again!

This is one of the ceramic tile 3-D art pieces that we created.

Here is one of the ceramic tile coasters that we have crafted.

Here is one of our Candy Land plaques.


Look how I made Ebay into a verb! I am busy ebaying once again. I haven't sold anything since my selling frenzy of two summers ago when I sold anything and everything that wasn't tied down in the house. When I ran out of items I took a hiatus, but I am back in the saddle again. John's mom had given me a number of vases to sell. They have been sitting around here for a long time, so I finally dug them out and listed them. I also listed the Candy Land original art pieces that Mallory and I crafted this past week. Now I go into my addiction mode and will be checking the Ebay site numerous times during the day. I do question why I waited until the busiest time of the year to start this when I have been off for the entire summer, but I guess I just had to be in the right mood. I suppose I also may have to use this as our means of support while John is looking for work. Well I am off to search for a few more items to list!
One week from tonight we will be at the rehearsal dinner celebrating the eve of Alissa and Nathan's wedding. Wow! And my listings on Ebay will be closing!
Message to Tizzy: Three weeks from today we will be meeting you at the airport in Appleton along with your other grandparents. What a glorious day that will be!

Coming to you live from Domani Spa and Salon

I am sitting here at the color bar at Domani blogging away. This is my big hair color and cut before the wedding and before meeting Tizita. I don't think Tizzy will care one way or the other about my hair, but I do need it to look good for Alissa's wedding. Trish, my stylist was just over checking the foils so I am thinking I should wrap this entry up and post it very soon.

A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Menards...

John and I decided to choose this 88 degree day to take our annual bike ride to Johnson Creek. We needed a few crafting items and decided that the Menards in Creek would be our destination. I also needed to get some pictures developed at Walmart so I carefully put the camera chip in my pocket. I checked for it several times along the route. John and I took a number of pictures to document our trip. Do you see where this is going? We rode a total of 24 miles on some pretty hilly country roads, but it was a good trip. We ended up finding a few things at Menard's and then road to Arby's for a quick soda. I, of course, documented all of this with photos. When we got to the photo machine at Walmart, John said, "Wow, you got the chip out of the camera really quickly." Oops, chip wasn't in the camera, it was in my pocket! The only photo we had was taken after our Walmart trip. We also missed the $2.00 Chicken at Walmart, but that is another story for another blog.

Crafting Fools

Enjoying our lunch on Courtney and Paul's patio.

Here is the7 foot quill feather that we are going to use for Alissa's pen with her guestbook.

Here are Courtney and I in front of one of my favorite stores.

Here is Courtney with her newly designed cigar box purse.



John and I went up to Oshkosh Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. It was our last weekend to get things organized and touch base with Courtney (Paul was playing frisbee way up north this weekend) before the wedding and Tizzy's homecoming. The house looks like it is more than ready for a toddler to move in. Courtney and I hung up all her little clothes and it filled up her closet! I also played with all the new toys to make sure they work properly, they do! We now have our Taurus wagon piled full with Paul's band equipment which needs to be transported down to Bloomington for the wedding. Luckily we still have room for all of our luggage, a wedding dress, and numerous other items.




Now on to the crafting fools which would be me and Courtney (John wanted nothing to do with this enterprise). We had done some looking in a few artsy shops in downtown Appleton and happened to notice that they were selling cigar purses for $45.oo and these collage type pictures from $149.00. Well we decided these were things that we could do so off to Hobby Lobby and who doesn't like a Hobby Lobby? We purchased the necessary items and the large 7 ft. quill pictured above and headed back to Courtney's beautiful front porch where we set up shop. Courtney whipped out a cigar purse in about 15 minutes. She is great with a power drill. (Just a a side note here she made a big wooden sandbox for Tizzy which has a bench on the side and is filled with the most lovely soft white sand which looks straight off the beach at St. George). Anyway she also made a hanger out of an old looking doorknob which turned out very nicely and then we proceeded to the collage things. I love cutting from magazines and putting everything together, in fact, I have been doing that long before scrapbooking (which I also love) became popular. I also was quite the modge podge queen in my day so that is what we used to cover the collages. I did find out, well actually I knew this, that I don't have the patience for gluing, painting, or cutting straight so I will be on the searching side of this business. Courtney will do the rest. Courtney is bound and determined that we are going to sell these things online and in a local Oshkosh store so we shall see where this endeavor goes. Any little money would help while John is job searching. Today he has a few interviews set up in the area. This is just not something that a man his age should have to be doing, but it is what it is and we push on just waiting to see what God has in store for us. We know it is something good!

Message of the day to Tizzy: The house is all ready for you, Tizzy. I cannot wait to see you in all your cute little outfits and to show you how to use all your fun toys! We talked about you so much this weekend. It was almost as if you were already home. It won't be long now!

Happy Trails to us

Our friend we met along the way.

Ready to roll.

Today we didn't let the lay off stop us from our planned bike ride on the Bugline Trail in Merton. We are like the postal service, neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night shall keep the postman from his appointed rounds and neither lay offs nor anything else will keep us from our scheduled bike rides!

The Bugline runs from Merton to Menomonee Falls through some wooded areas and marshy land.. The trail also goes through the city of Sussex so the variety of scenery makes it a fun ride. We discovered a nice beach when we took a small detour off the path. The one downfall was the bugs. I almost wished I had a bug sheild over my face at times. At one point a deer fly got down my shirt and bit me, that did not feel good, I squished him for that. There was also a lot of dust because of how dry it has been and because there are quarries located along the trail, but a quick shower fixes that problem. We rode over 24 miles in about 2 1/2 hours so that was pretty good pedaling.

Hamburgers on the grill and a few beers rounded out our day. Tomorrow we go up to Oshkosh to load up band equipment for the wedding. I will let you know how that goes!

Note to Tizzy: It won't be long now!

A bump in the road

We hit a slight (we can only hope) bump in this road we call life. John got laid off for the second time from the second company. The last lay off was Christmas 2006 and he found work again by the new year, so that wasn't too bad. We are hoping that this one will also be short lived and John will soon be back to work and bringing in a check. In the meantime we tighten the purse strings and move on. We remind ourselves that there are far bigger bumps that can happen on this journey and comparatively this is not such a big bump. John has already applied for a number of jobs. Our hope is that he can find something closer to home so the commute is shorter. Maybe it is time to pursue our (okay, mostly my) dream of opening a Teacher's Store here in Watertown. Who knows where this bump may send us.

Great expectations for a teacher

Here is my afternoon class from last year. I hand picked this group for my class and they did me proud. They are all off to kindergarten this fall and I will miss them.
Today I was at school from 10:00 A.M. - 8:30 P.M. for our registration. I felt like all I did was eat (we ordered out for lunch and had fund raiser brats for supper plus snacks during the day) and wait around for my students to come and visit my classroom. I predicted correctly that one particular family would be walking in at 7:55 even though they had all day to come and sure enough in walked mom, dad, and four kids. They proceeded to trash the room and overstay their welcome, but I was gracious and didn't let them sense my impatience. One funny comment that I wanted to document came from one of my new students. She had been watching the gymnasts at the Olympics and ask her mom to teach her to do the balance beam. Of course mom said she wouldn't be able to do that because she didn't know how to do those tricks on the beam. Sophia told mom not to worry because Mrs. Damman would teach her! Liek her mom said, she has high expectations for me as a teacher. While I may teach her to walk on a balance beam that will be the extent of my teaching. I have not yet mastered the beam beyond walking on it! Funny stuff and it makes me remember why I love my job!
It looks like my holding pattern is over. I am almost positive that I will be having an afternoon class but am hoping it will just be meeting on Tues. Wed. and Thurs. I will find out more details tomorrow. I will also be working on my beam routine tomorrow!
Note to Tizzy: While I enjoy watching the gymnasts I am always thankful that my girls never showed an interest in the sport. Seems so dangerous to me. I am hoping that you, too will find other sports and activities in which to participate, but I know if gymastics is your thing I will support you! I am secretly hoping for another swimmer, though.

Random thoughts and ramblings #2

I seem to have developed blogger's block. Sometimes the ideas for posts come flooding in, as many as three to four a day, but for some reason my brain has no ideas for a post today. Of course you already know that I am excited about the upcoming wedding and arrival of Tizzy, but I have covered as much of that as I can for the time being. I feel like I am in a holding pattern for a bit now.
When Tizita arrives home on Sept 12 I plan to give my blog a new name. I would like it to be somehow related to Jimmy Buffet and of course to my being a grandma, so if anyone has any clever ideas that incorporate both of those things leave me a comment. Once I meet little Tizita I am guessing my posts will take on a different twist.
Holding patterns seem to be the way of life for me. I am also in one at school. As of right now, I don't know if I will have an afternoon class or not. I was hoping for just a morning class this year with time in the afternoon to pursue some other irons I have in the fire, but if they need me I will certainly teach an afternoon class. The hardest part of all this is that I am a planner and I like to be in control. In this unknown situation I am uncomfortable. I need to start planning and organizing for another class. After registration today I should know the status of the afternoon class, so I will use what little patience I possess and stay in this holding pattern for awhile yet.
On that note I am signing off for today. Perhaps the fog will clear and I will fly out of this in the next few days.

Testing one, two, three

Technology gotta love it, right????????????? I just got off the phone with the Charter tech guy after our two laptops would not connect even though our desk computer was connected. After what seemed like hours he was able to talk me through getting this laptop hooked up, but we had no luck with the other one which of course has all my documents, photos, favorite sites, etc. on it. So this is really a test to see if I can publish the blog from here and upload my pictures. Here goes, I hope it works! Yea, Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Ride down Memory Lane

Here is John, self explanatory to those of you who know John well and yes, he his holding is nose!

Here is Lakeland Hospital where the girls were both born. Both births were uneventful. Courtney was born after I had just finished watching ma Ingalls give birth to Grace. Her birth was so easy, I figured mine would be a breeze, too and it was. With Alissa there was no Doctor in that entire hospital so a nurse delivered her. Again uneventful!

The Cup and Pedal restaurant.

Here are some of the beautiful wildflowers we saw along the trail

Here I am all ready to begin the bike trail

This is our first home. It was actually a glorified double wide trailer but we loved it. It seems to have gotten a bit overgrown but with some love and attention it could be nice again. Both our girls came home to this house.

Today John and I took a ride down Memory Lane in and around Elkhorn, a town that holds many firsts for us:

• It was the first time we lived away from one of our hometowns as a married couple


• It was where we met some of our very first and best friends as a married couple


• It was where we bought our first home


• It was where our first and second child were born


• It was the first town we fell in love with as a married couple


• It was the first time we piled in a pick up truck and cut down a $5.00 Christmas tree


• It was where our girls swam in their very first swim class


• It was the first time we had ever discovered all the treasures of Walworth County


• It was where John got his first job and where I first found the beauty of being a stay at home mom

And these are just the tip of the ice burg for us. Elkhorn was such a magical place for us. I still remember the first time we drove to Elkhorn to find a place to live. Neither of us had ever been there before and we were filled with anticipation. We fell in love with it from that day on. We found a great apartment, there was a Value Village, a Lutheran church, a Ben Franklin, a library, what more did we need? And of course, the birth of our daughters was just the icing on the cake for us. I absolutely loved spending time with my girls and the other stay at home moms and their kids. Once a week we would all gather at one of our houses for games, chit chat, beverages, and chocolate. The kids would play and trash the house. We always left the hostess's house with enough time for her to straighten up before her husband got home. What fun memories! I don't ever wish to go back to a different time in my life but if given the chance to go back for short stint I would without a doubt go back to late 1979 when I was pregnant with Alissa and early 1980 right after she was born.

Getting back to our bike ride down Memory Lane. We rode 18 miles on the White River Bike Trail. It is a beautiful trail runs through fields of wildflowers, pine trees, and corn. We had lunch at our favorite spot on the trail, a restaurant in a restored depot in Springfield, WI called the Cup and Pedal. The last time we had been there was three years ago on a trail ride and as things go in a small town like Springfield nothing had changed right down to the same retired couple who runs the place. The chicken salad is so yummy and John recommends the turkey with cranberry mayo on oat bread.

After getting off the trail we took off for our tour of Elkhorn. We like to ride past all our old haunts and reminisce. Some things have changed of course, like our old grocery store Ted and Fred's United Foods is gone and our old swimming pool is now a state of the art aquatic center, but many things are just as we remember them. A ride down Memory Lane is always good for the soul.

After ten more miles around Elkhorn, we loaded up the bikes and took one more journey down the Lane. We went to Lake Geneva to see how the rich people were spending their day. We spent lots of good times in LG when we lived in Elkhorn. It was like taking a vacation without leaving our own backyard. That city has not changed at all, it is still filled with Illinois tourists who call it up north. At least they are still spending their money up here in our state. One nice addition is there is a new 26 mile walking path that goes around the entire lake. It runs right along the lake through many private properties so you can really get a good view of the magnicent homes on the lake. Of course, after 28 miles on a bike we couldn't walk too far on the path, but we did get a good taste of the scenery and plan to go back in the fall sometime with fresh legs so we can walk farther-maybe the whole 26 miles!

Note to Tizzy: Someday Grandpa and I will take you to Elkhorn and give you the ten cent tour. Just one more thing we look forward to sharing with you.