Whirlwind!

These days it feels a bit like we're in a whirlwind. Things have been a bit crazy and I'm thinking MAYBE things will settle down and get back to "normal" next week. Hopefully! 

We said good-bye to Holland, MI last week. We finished up all of our "last" things to do before moving away. Last Saturday night we enjoyed a great BBQ with our church family out at Tri-Ponds Campground. It was a fun night, and the kids had a blast! Unfortunately the only pic I have is this one Adam snapped of dirty Hope before heading home. I'd say how dirty she is shows how much fun she had. :)

Monday we went to Dutch Village, and it was so fun! I forget what a cute little place that is, and both J and H had such a great time. And bonus- we ordered some tulip bulbs to be sent to our new house in Iowa. So we'll plant them this fall and then we'll have a touch of Holland in our yard next spring. :)

Feeding animals, carousel ride, and Ferris wheel ride (for brave J and Daddy!)

Such a cute Dutch family!

Little Dutchies in the old schoolhouse

Had to do this side-by-side! J's first time at Dutch Village compared to now.

Monday night we went to Uncle Tony and Aunt Jeane's house in Grand Haven. We went up there in the afternoon so J could have some "last" beach time, then we had an early dinner and were off to J's t-ball game! Busy day!!

Quite a view!

Tuesday evening we went to Aunt Cora Mae's house for dinner. We saw lots of family, and my cousin Chuck was there to give train rides on Uncle Carl's train!! J will miss Chuck so much- he LOVES talking trains and working along side him. :) 

Filling the train up with gas!

Train rides are not just for the kids!

Chuck let J help drive the train- he was a LITTLE excited! :) And Hope was the perfect size for riding in the caboose!

Jeremiah finished up his t-ball season Wednesday night. And he had a big audience of both grandpas and grandmas, Auntie Abby, and Daddy's friend Mike (who were all in town to help with the move)!

Oh, and of course we spent time in there packing and cleaning!

Hope was excited :)

Thursday was the big day!

We started about 8 am and had the Uhaul loaded and house cleaned up by 1 pm! And we were off to Iowa. :)

J got to ride in the Uhaul with Daddy while H and I drove the Durango.

You may be wondering why, after arriving in Iowa, we did not actually unload the Uhaul. Well, we can't really get into our new house until July 8, SO that means we are kind of homeless for a week. We decided to view this week of "homelessness" as more of a vacation, since Adam won't be getting any vacation for who knows how long. Better live it up now!

So we arrived in Clinton in time for a late pizza dinner, we dropped the Uhaul off at Adam's friend Mike's house for the week, and then we drove down to Moline, IL to stay in a hotel for the night. J has several John Deere DVD's which talk about the John Deere Pavilion, and ever since he was a little guy he has been saying "we should go there!" So he was excited to know we would be moving only about 45 minutes away. We figured we might as well go now and make one of his dreams come true! And it did not disappoint!!

Grandpa and Grandma Wissink came along for the Moline and John Deere adventure, so afterwards we had lunch with them and then moved on to our next stop.

Chicago! We spent a couple days with Abby (Neil is out of town for grad school for a few weeks!). We arrived Friday evening (later than anticipated- thank you, traffic). :(

We walked from Abby's place to Dante's and grabbed pizza for dinner, and then it was time for the kiddos to get to bed!

Saturday morning Auntie Abby took J on a special trip on the train to get Stan's Donuts! Thankfully they left a note so we knew where they went!

To say J was excited about riding the train would be a major understatement!

Later in the morning we headed downtown (another train ride!) to visit Maggie Daly Park. What a cool place! We definitely have to go back because we did not see it all- there is so much to do!

Saturday night we made tacos for dinner, went to play at Palmer Square park, and then enjoyed Miko's Italian Ice- YUM!!!!!

Today we visited Abby's church, ate lunch at the Logan Square farmer's market, and then we were off to our next stop.

Grandma and Grandpa Wiers' house in Brookfield, WI! We are here now until we head back to Iowa on July 8 to move into our house. :) Whew! Thankfully the kids have done really well (for the most part) with all the changes, driving, late bedtimes, missed naps, etc. I have to admit it breaks my heart a little bit when we're driving in the car and Hope longingly says "Home! Home!" because I know she has no idea that we will never be going back to the only place she has ever known as home. Poor baby! :( But hopefully soon enough we'll be settled into a new home that we all love.