Byron Days

Welcome to Small Town, USA! Home of the ByronFest Parade. While Cherie and Sue were here, Brett, Andrew, Cherie and I took in the parade and Quilt Show at the ByronFest. Byron is a small town about 12 miles from us. We saw a very nifty parade and Andrew won some prizes at the carnival! Lots of cute kids at the parade.

Andrew loves the clowns. He's seen these guys a couple of times since we see so many parades. But he still loves 'em!

The obligatory bagpiper.

Now as I look at this pictures, I kind of wonder what the lady on the left in the background is doing?

Okay, Andrew loved these guys! I just had to wonder what kind of "manliness" it takes to put on lycra suits and walk in a parade...but I do think the utility belts are pretty cool.

The actors from the community theater - can you guess what show they are doing?
Toto is pretty cute!

And the stilt walker! He was pretty good. It was a very hot and muggy day!

We are such party animals! Andrew won a shark and a duck. Really, he won them, not Brett. I think it was the bottle ring toss - once he finds the sweet spot, he can make it every time!

The Ren Faire

Wow, words cannot express (ok, my words) how wild, wacky and really cool the Ren Faire is! We went up on July 25th for Kristine's birthday and because Dan wanted to go! It was really fun and definatly a people watchers paradise! We all had a good time, even Andrew, who enjoyed the joust, the pirates and the zoo. There was so much to see and do, so here are some pictures from that day! This juggler was amazing. He was part of a troupe of jugglers that did some amazing things.

So many booths and people and stuff!!!

The costumes were fabulous!

There was dancing!

King Arthur from Monty Python...with his coconuts.

And my favorite act of the day..

These guys were so funny!

Of course, you have to go to the Joust.

This was the knight we had to root for. He was young and he lost...

There he is with the Mistress of Ceremonies.
(by the time we jousted, the mosquitos were terrible! and it was hot.)

This is the Knight that won. He was a bad guy, but we loved him!

The Queen (I think, Elizabeth) came to the joust too.

A rat catcher...

This guy was really funny too. His name is Moonie.

He made us all laugh.

We went to the Faire with Joe and Val. It was great fun and I want to go back next year! Maybe with just Brett. It wasn't too expensive, but it was a long day for the boys.

more weird stuff...

Initially I thought that Wisconsin was home of the Weird stuff, but I was wrong. On our trip to Iowa, (more blogs about that later) I discovered that it has it's own weird stuff, so does Minnesota. I haven't found too much odd ball stuff in Illinois, but I am sure it is there. So here is a tour through the latest wacky and weird stuff in the Midwest.

Yes, a giant chicken....right next to the....

GIANT ICE CREAM CONE!!!
These were in the same parking lot...scary.
Although the ice cream cone was pretty darn AWESOME!!!

I have never seen a pet exercise area sign like this one. I think it is kind of classy....

We did find Sherwood Forest in Northern Minnesota - really Northern...
And we found Robin Hood too.

(wondered a bit about Little John...all sorts of things come to mind!)

Giant Robin Hood...you gotta wonder what they were thinking? Is Maid Marion down the road?

Okay, bear with me...We stopped at a GIANT lake - it was very large - bigger than Flathead. And there was this sign "Welcome to Garrison", then there was this....

GIANT FISH!

And this really obvious sign...

It just made me laugh.

Of course we had to be reminded that we were in the bible belt...

Stay tuned for more weird stuff from the midwest!

Shippshewana, Indiana

This summer has been a busy one, with many places to go and see! I have had several wonderful trips, but the one with my sisters was probably one of the best. It is so nice to be able to spend time with your sisters when you are all grown up and friends!

We took a trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. Shipshewana is a town that is the home of a VERY LARGE Flea Market...I mean, HUGE! It is also the home of a large community of Amish people.
The auction took place in this building. I think I wandered around with my camera, but I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of the actual flea market.

Cherie and I took at least one picture together. It was a gorgeous day!

The Amish are a large part of the scenery around Shipshewana. They are an interesting people. We went to the museum that has the history of the Anabaptist, where the Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite claim their roots are. We, as evangelicals, also come from Anabaptist roots. It was a very interesting museum.
This is a familiar site. Cherie was really excited to see the horse and buggies. I have seen them before in Iowa, but it is really unusual to see parking lots with places to tie up your horse!

They ask you not to take pictures of the people themselves. So we snuck alot of pictures out of the car windows!

Part of the museum.

Part of the trip included the Quilt Gardens. Many people and businesses had planted flowers in a quilt pattern. You followed the map and could take pictures and enjoy the flowers. They were very beautiful.

This was a huge garden. Each site explained the quilt pattern chosen and what flowers were used.

Sue, Cherie and the trip Monkey. He is hard to see, but Sue is holding him.

This park was so beautiful. It was a lovely day. Just perfect weather.

This quilt garden was in memory of the woman's husband.

So pretty. I kept finding myself thinking "boy, mom would have loved this!" She and my grandma would have loved to see the flowers and quilt patterns. It was a great trip with my sisters. AND we actually made it home through Chicago and a terrible rainstorm! Cherie is a great driver and has perfected the "Fletcher Move".

A little bit of Wisconsin weirdness

I don't have anything at all against Wisconsin and in fact, I know some wonderful people who live up there. But, here is where I draw the line. At A GIANT ORANGE MOOSE! Of the many things I have seen in the midwest, this was probably the oddest so far. It is huge, and is perched on the edge of a man made lake. This is the smaller version, same moose, by the entrance to the resort.

Perhaps slightly weirder than the orange moose, would be this....deer jumping log.

Okay, maybe the giant mouse and cheese. I am not sure what to say.

No one warned me. Really. Oh and by the way, these statues are all located at the same resort. Overkill? Maybe.

One thing about Wisconsin: The cheese is out of this world!

Oh, and the people are AWESOME!

Sam's Birthday Flight

For Sam's 16th (yes, 16th!!) birthday, I arranged for him to have a flight in a small airplane at our local airport. He was really surprised and excited! He has talked about getting his pilot license for some time, maybe even going to flight school at Moody Bible Institute. However, I have to admit, part of me (the mom part) was hoping he would hate it and I wouldn't have to worry about him flying around in the jungle somewhere!His pilot was a really nice guy. He showed Sam all around the plane and then they got in the cockpit.
I don't think I had any chance of him not liking his flight! Look at the grin on his face!


He couldn't stop smiling! Good thing I trust that God will take care of this daredevil!

Looks complex.

Headphones on.

Last minute checks.

He's back in one peice. You can tell by the look on his face that he had a great time. He got to fly the plane, he didn't get airsick and he flew around the nuclear power plant we have here.

All in all, a great birthday present.

What a guy. It is so hard to believe he is 16. He gets his drivers license in August. When did my little boy grow into a young man??