A new Slide for Tizu

I have been watching the rummage sales for some type of little slide for Tizu to play with when she is here at our house. Well, today we were driving around town and we saw the cutest little slide sitting in someone's driveway, It appeared to have a sign on it so we circled around and sure enough, For sale $15.00. A bargain at twice the price so we rang the bell and it turned out to be Andrea Turke a mom of friends of Courtney and Alissa. (Bethany and Zachary Turke) Doing business with friends is always much better! We brought the slide home and John cleaned it up. We struggled with its assembly, of course, we did, but it all came together and we are so anxious for Tizu to try it this coming weekend.Grandpa washing off the new slide we found for Tizu.
Yep, it took two college graduates to put the slide together!
Here is Mimi playing with the new slide.Grandpa had fun on the new slide! I think it went too fast for him though.And Mimi takes one last slide. She will be waiting for Tizu to arrive and try out the new slide this weekend.

24 Miles on the Interurban Bike Trail

Today was a near perfect summer day for just about anything so we decided to take a bike ride on the Interurban Bike Trail from Grafton to Port Washington. In looking back at my photos of our bike rides, the last time we took this trail was in 2005. Wow, four years ago, time flies!
We started at the Veteran's Park in Grafton and headed to Port Washington. The lake was beautiful and we had lunch at the Dockside Cafe, tuna for me and turkey for John. After our lunch we biked to the public beach and walked the million steps up to the lighthouse and Catholic Church in Port.
We rode back to Grafton and had a snack before heading to Cedarburg. We enjoyed a walk around the quaint downtown of Cedarburg and had ice cream at the Chocolate factory. We thought we deserved it after our long ride. We rode back to Grafton and headed home for some yummy kabobs that John grilled for us!
Incidentally, of the 24 miles we rode today at least 16 of them were uphill! Some of it was tough, but we made it without walking.
It was a fun day!

Ready to begin our ride from the park in Grafton.

Yep, we are on the right trail! Arriving in Port Washington.

When we rode this trail four years ago we took this same picture. John says he still has it up at work and he has worked at three places since then. He must really like that picture, so we reenacted it today.

Our yummy lunch at the Dockside Cafe. Tuna for me and Turkey for John, Diet Cokes all around.

I took this picture just for Tizita. See I am waving at her. I thought she would enjoy this fish slide we found.

Bye Everyone, See you all on the next trail!

Tizita's first visit to the Madison zoo

On Thursday, July 9, Courtney, Mallory, Tizita, and I headed to the Henry Vilas Zoo for a fun filled day. It was Tizu's first trip to this zoo and I was so excited to be able to share it with her. We checked out the bears, penguins, and monkeys before lunch and then had our picnic right by the lake. After lunch we rode the carousel three times. The first time Tizu rode on a hippo with me, next it was a silverback gorilla with her mama, and the last time it was a panda with me riding a caterpillar next to her. She really enjoyed the carousel and many people commented on how happy and cute she was! We also rode the train and then played for a bit in the Children's area where we all got really hot. We had to have a snowcone break after that. We finished our day by visiting the giraffes, camels, kangaroos, and rhinos as well as the gift shop to buy souvenirs. Then on to one last play area to slide down the colorful shoe just like Courtney used to do. After our fun day, John came and gave Mallory and I a ride home while Courtney and Tizita waited for Paul at the Park and Ride. He was returning from Vienna. Another great day!

Finally a play date with the Hurtgens!

All last summer while I waited patiently for my granddaughter to arrive from Ethiopia I enjoyed play dates with my friend Lynne and her three grandchildren. We would go to the park, go on nice long walks, or just play at my house. I just could not wait until Tizita would join us on some of our fun outings. Well, finally this past Wednesday I got to have a play date that involved my own granddaughter and we had fun.

We met at a park and played for about an hour and a half. We were planing on a picnic lunch but the mosquitos forced us to leave so we came to my house for an indoor picnic. It was so much fun and it was everything I dreamed it would be. Unfortunately the summer is going by so quickly and this is probably the only Wednesday that we will be able to play together due to Tizu's busy schedule, but at least we fit one it!

Tizu and Meghan having fun.

The twins and Tizu climb up the big steps to the tunnel slide. They did this many, many times.

Our indoor picnic. Here Tizu is handing out some pretzels to everyone. The kids sat and ate for at least a half hour.

Moving Great Aunt Pearl and Great Uncle Herb to Sussex

At home in the new place

After 70 years of marriage and living in the same house for all those years, my Aunt Pearl and Uncle Herb moved into an apartment in Sussex yesterday to be close (Right across the courtyard, to be exact) to their son and daughter in law. There really was no other options except a nursing home since they can no longer take care of themselves without some help. They are both in their nineties. Still even when we know that this is the best thing for them it does not make it an easy thing to do. They came over to our house yesterday while their belongings were loaded up and moved out. So many memories in a house that you lived in for all those years, the only house they knew as a married couple! Tizu was here and she created such a nice diversion for them. She entertained as only a two year old can. Even though Pearl suffers from Alzheimer's she was still able to enjoy little Tizita. At around 4:00 we got the call that everything was in place in their new home and we could bring them "home." We all enjoyed supper at Culver's and then we took them "home." It is really a very large, comfortable apartment and I hope they feel at home there very soon. As God has taken care of them for the past 90+ years, He will continue to do so.

A week with Tizu and Courtney

We had a glorious week with Tizita and Courtney while Paul was at a conference in Vienna. We did so many fun things while she was here but the time just went so quickly. I will miss Tizu when she is goes back home. Here are some pictures of some of the things we did together.

We set up what we called our urban beach. Tizu could play in the water and enjoy the sand, too!

Here is Tizu ready for our bike ride. She really seems to enjoy her cart!

We took a bike ride one morning and ended up at a fun park which Lynne and I discovered. Tizu enjoyed riding in this little jeep.

Tizu's first trip to the Watertown Aquatic Center.

Here is our little fish at the Watertown Aquatic Center. Courtney could not wait to take Tizu to the pool where she spent so much of her time as a lifeguard and manager. Tizu loved it! So many people stopped and commented on how well she could swim. It brought back memories of that same thing when Courtney and Alissa were little and could swim so well.

Here is Tizita having fun on an old fashioned merry go round at Bartels Beach.

Tizita enjoyed seeing Bartels Beach on Rock Lake while we were in Lake Mills.

A trip to Lake Mills would not be complete without a trip to Timber Creek Pizza for some delicious ice cream! It was fun to go back to Lake Mills and have Courtney tell Tizita some of the happy memories that she and papa shared there before she arrived!

Fourth of July Fun

All ready for the parade.

Courtney and Alissa at the parade.

Waiting for the parade to begin.

We were so excited to share Tizita's first 4th of July parade with her. She loved the parade and sat on my lap during most of the 2 and a half hour event. She would stand up for all the flags as hey passed and she got so much candy and other goodies. So many people stopped and commented on how cute she was! A true little American!

A moment of reflection during the parade. I think she was inspecting all of her candy!

Waiting patiently for the next unit in the parade!

Four proud generations of Americans, sing their own version of "God Bless the U.S.A."

I am proud to be an American!

After the parade and cookout Uncle Cheddah and Tizita cooled off in her little swimming pool! I don't know which one of them had more fun!
All in all, it was a fantastic fourth of July full of good memories and lots of fun times. I was so happy to spend Tizita's first fourth of July in America with her and I look forward to celebrating many more American Birthdays with her.