This kids just wrapped up another great weekend at cousin camp. This year Erin and Nate took them to Kansas City and they had a fun weekend. Highlights included going to Science City, going to a local pool, watching Mulan, going rollerskating, and then watching the World Cup finals.
Monday and Tuesday of this past week we made a quick trip to Mahoney State Park. Monday evening we celebrated Joe’s graduation then on Tuesday we hit the pool and watched some soccer.
From the Observation TowerHikingMari, Hope, Erin, and Susan on Horseback
The day started out dark and cloudy, as predicted. It looked like it could rain at any time. By noon we had the car packed and ready to head to Mahoney State Park for our nearly annual trip with the Liess clan. About 45 minutes into the 2.5 hour drive it started to get very dark and we could tell that it was going to rain. It rained – hard. It was nothing unusual, so we continued heading West.
It got incredibly dark because the clouds were so thick and up ahead the kids were relieved to see some brighter skies. I could see the skies, too, but I knew that they were not supposed to be green. I have always heard that the sky turns green before a tornado and now I knew what that meant. It was an eerie calm before the storm. Even when we got to the ‘brighter’ skies the rain never stopped. It just intensified and it started to hail. Driving on the interstate was difficult because it was so hard to see. I would have exited, but there was not an exit for several miles.
The rain and hail was so hard that we had to pull over. We were in a construction zone and the right lane was closed so I joined the legions of other drivers who decided to ride out the storm in park. We still had the radio on and our song was interrupted by the emergency alert system, “A tornado has been indicated by radar in Guthrie County near Stuart, IA and is headed toward Des Moines. Take shelter immediately.” Or something like that. Does a car count as shelter?
By this point Lucia was asleep and the other kids (and mom and dad) were a little scared. The wind, rain, and hail were intense and we could not see even when we were parked. The car was rocking because of the wind. I told Susan to just keep an eye out and if need be I would drive off the road into a ditch. I pulled up the radar on my phone (a screenshot would have been nice) and the blue dot indicating our location was right in the center or the purple area.
It was definitely tense for a few minutes, but eventually the storm started to slow down and once we could get driving again I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I don’t know if there was a tornado, but the high winds were evident. The construction cones were all over the road, there were entire corn fields where the corn was snapped in half, we saw one semi that had been blown off the road, and there was plant matter all over the place.
After the storm we called Mimi and Papa. They were just a few minutes behind us and had decided to stop at Subway for lunch. This all occurred while they were at Subway in Stuart and they had to spend 10-15 minutes inside of the pitch dark refrigerator!
This past weekend the Liesland and Reagen boys headed up to the Easlers’ cabin on a Cub Scout trip. We were joined by Collin Easler, his dad, Mark, Jordan, and Mark’s friend Jay. “The wind was a factor”, but we all had a great time.
The girls headed south to Kansas City for some girl time. They had a fun time hanging out at Aunt Mary’s.
This past weekend we headed to Milwaukee to attend the Ordination of Eric Sundrup, a friend from college. It was a fun weekend, full of a lot of Mass and receptions.
While on the way from Cincinnati to Milwaukee we stopped at the Jelly Belly warehouse for a tour and to do some shopping. It was surprisingly fun. The kids love Jelly Bellys and it was a neat experience.
This older kids and I headed to Cincinnati last week to visit family and so I could hit some meetings at work. The kids stayed with Mar-Mar during the day while I went to work. A quick recap:
Tuesday: Leave Des Moines at 9:45. Meet my family at Skyline in Monfort Heights at 7:15.
Wednesday: I leave for work. The kids go to the aquarium with Mar-Mar, Holly, Henry, and Elsie. I go to Tom & Chee for lunch with Simon; the kids go to a different Tom & Chee with their clan. My parents drive to kids to Xavier. We eat dinner in the caf, have to leave early because of a fire alarm, and then go to the Xavier vs Georgetown basketball game, where Xavier goes from 17 points down 5 minutes into the second half to winning by 13.
Thursday: I go to work. The kids hang out at the house all day. The Donley’s and Beinkempers meet up for dinner.
Friday: I don’t go into work until lunch time. The kids hang out with Mar-Mar. We go to Holly’s for dinner, where we are joined by my family, Ruth Ann, and the Herrels, including new baby Leah, who is still new to us. Also on Friday I learn that there is snow moving in on Saturday, so I decide to delay departure by a day.
Saturday: We spent the day hanging out at my parents. The kids went sledding and played in the creek. The Donleys and Beinkempers came over for dinner. We played Apples to Apples.
Today we went to the Cincinnati Zoo for Mari’s birthday. We were joined by Jill, Elsie, Madelyn, Holly, and Henry. The kids always have a great time seeing the animals.
Today we headed in different directions – Mari went to a garden in Denver with Mar-Mar and B-Bob, Susan, Elliot, and Andrew hung out in Boulder with Jill, Holly, Elsie, and Henry, and I, Rob, went for a day-hike with Will and Alex.
Mari enjoyed feeding her pretzels to the fish.It was so windy at this point that the camera almost got blown off the rock. This was taken on our way up the Flat-Top Mountain trail. Andrew's Glacier Preview Will & Rob Slide Down Andrew's Glacier Will Slides Down Andrew's Glacier
We were up early this morning, got the campsite packed up, and hit the road. We stopped in nearby Alamosa to have our car looked at. The mechanic said that our radiator had a leak and we should dry Barr’s Stop Leak to see if we could plug it. We got the Barr’s in and started driving. We lost a little more fluid on the drive to Nederland, but all-in-all we did OK. We were thrilled when we made it to the house.
We arrived just after dinner time, got the car unloaded, and then waiting for Mar-Mar & B-Bob, Jill, Will, Elsie, Holly, Alex & Henry. The kids were excited to see their cousins.