4 Wheels 4 Girls

Yesterday, on August 18th, Uncle Mike called and invited us to go out on the river with him in their boat to go tubing.

We were all super excited. We got our swimsuits on, covered our bodies in sunscreen, (at least I did) and got all our stuff ready to go. Then, I decided to call my friend Alanna and invite her to come with us since she had never been tubing before. After much convincing, she finally said yes (she was terrified to do it) and we left the house to meet her down by the river.

When Alanna arrived, we got in the boat and rode to a quiet spot on the sandbar. We put up our chairs and hung out there for a while, playing in the water and relaxing on the beach. Alanna and I tried to find the lagoon to go swim in, but the path led to some BURNING hot sand that scorched our feet, so we turned around and went back. When we got back to the boat, Mike was attaching the tubes to the back of the boat. Yay! Alanna was still scared, so we decided that I would ride with Ellie the first time and she would watch. So that’s what we did. And you know what? She decided to do it!!! Ellie moved to Stella’s tube and she got on with me. We had such a great time! I wiped out twice, but it was still awesome. Alanna loved it, and she tubed with me for the rest of the day. When we took breaks at the beach, we always wanted to go tubing again!

Zipping down the Mississippi River

It was sad when we pulled in to the dock and had to stop tubing for the day. We had such an amazing day! I’m so glad Alanna got to come and share the fun with me! 😀

We Went to wazee lack it was very fun. We went with ante babra sam and rachol. We could see the fish. We swam in the lack . My fafret thing was swiming.

[Editor’s translation:]
We went to Wazee Lake [in Wisconsin]. It was very fun. We went with Aunt Barbara, Sam, and Rachel [cousins]. We could see the fish. We swam in the lake. My favorite thing was swimming.

Oue day we hade to pick up aloe. Thats mashels babb aloe is so cute. Then sarenade came we placed. Aloe is 4months. Sarenade is 5 yerse old. My and Sarenade place somting that I don’t no what it is called. We would tie a pease of string orpd are feet and see how far we gould go. I liked to hang out whith aloe and serenade.

With our new cousin, Aloe

[Editor’s translation:]
One day [August 8] we hade to pick up Aloe [2nd cousin]. That’s Michele’s [cousin] baby. Aloe is so cute. Then Serenity came, too [Aloe’s big sister]. We played. Aloe is 4 months old. Serenity is 5 years old. Me and Serenity played something that I don’t know what it is called. We would tie a piece of string around our feet and see how far we could go. I liked to hang out with Aloe and Serenity.

August 6, Jean and I were invited to join in the morning ritual of coffee on the river. Coffee on the river is a very simple thing: Folks gather at the boat of Jean’s brother, Mike, with their morning cups of coffee, Mike pilots his boat upriver a mile or so and cuts the engine, and the boat slowly, quietly drifts home. We had such a nice time hanging out with family: Mike, Lisa, Barb, Rose and Mark. Thanks Mike and Lisa!

Coffee and conversation, floating down the Mississippi river

August 5th, once we were in Iowa, Aunt Rose told us that that night, we’d go out to dinner. We didn’t know where we were going until we got there. We were in a little town called Rossville. The town really was teeny, and the only restaurant was a little fried fish place called the “Ol’ Rossville Store”. Which is where we ate.

When we pulled in to Rossville, I saw that the restaurant was packed. We had to drive around the parking lot twice to try to find a spot. Finally, we found one, and we hopped out and headed for the building. I had rode out to Rossville with Aunt Barb, and since Jean wasn’t with us, she told me that we were here as a surprise party for Jean. I hadn’t known that before!

We stepped into the restaurant and I saw Jean behind me. Yes! I couldn’t wait to see her face when she realized this was all for her! She came up beside me.
“Hi, Jean,” I said, trying not to sound excited.
“Hello, Stella!–” she started, but was interrupted when we stepped into the party room by a huge, “SURPRISE! Happy birthday, Jean!”
Jean’s face went first to confusion, next to joy, and then she started laughing and crying and she hugged everyone and said, “Oh, guys! You didn’t have to– oh, wow.”

Enjoying a surprise birthday party

I said hi to everyone. All of Jean’s brothers and sisters were there, which is a lot. She has three brothers, Gary, Mike, and Greg, and four sisters, Mary, Rose, Barb, and Janice. All of them have husbands and wives except for Barb and Janice, who both once had husbands but got divorced. So then I have Lisa, Fay, and Kim, and then I have Mark and Bob. So there were a lot of people there, including our family, which has six people. And Greg and Fay have a little boy that’s my cousin that was there named Thurgood, AND there was Grandma. SO…

I ordered the special, which was fried cod fish with tarter sauce. It was good, but I couldn’t finish it because I filled up on the salad bar. (And, but don’t tell, the fruit jello.) So I took my leftovers home. Jean got a few presents, and she got great cards with things like, “Wait, why did I come in to this room?” and “Where did I put the phone?” when the 50-year-old lady in the picture had it in her hand. They were really funny, and, thankfully, Jean though they were funny, too.

I had a great dinner, and plan on having it again (by my leftovers) some day soon!

August 3rd, after hanging out at Aunt Rose’s house, we went with Janice to see her new house. It was fun because it was like seeing a… Well, it was a new place! She showed us all the rooms. There was even a play room for kids! After we got a tour of the house, Janice gave our family two bags of cantaloupe for the road. Thanks Janice!

On August 3rd, we arrived at our aunt and uncles’ house, Rose and Mark, in Rochester, Minnesota.

We went inside to say hi to everyone, which was my aunt and uncle and cousin Cullen, and then Mark told us that he was going to take us for a ride on the four-wheelers. After he got out three quads and he and Cullen gave us quick rides, Mark told me he was going to teach me to drive one. At first I was a little freaked, but then, after I was pretty sure I got how to drive it, I was a little more relaxed. But I guess I wasn’t as good as I thought I would be. As soon as I hit the gas, I went WAAAAAAAAAAAY too fast! I slammed on the breaks and then started again, this time much slower. Then, after going around the yard a few times, we went out on the trail behind their house. The first part was sooooooooooo scary! It was a big downhill and then a big turn. The first time I did it, I didn’t turn enough and I hit a tree!!! Luckily I didn’t hit Mark! He came immediately to help me, and after that I was fine. I had a great time on the trail for the rest of the day, and we even went back out after dinner. I’m so glad I learned how to drive a four-wheeler!!! 😉

Fun! Fun!!!

Every night Daddy reads To Kill a Mocking Bird. Every night when we got closer to the end we all begged him to read more, even Mommy did. When he finished we all felt really sad. My favorite character was Atticus. Why because he was real nice and he stood up for a black man and he also thought that every one was equal. I think so too.

June 19th, it was suddenly Father’s Day! I didn’t have any time to make a card! I wish I did. But when I told Dad that I didn’t make one, and I told him that I still loved him, he said it was okay.

We were driving along when we pulled into a parking lot. I looked out the window and we were at Michael’s! I hopped up and got my shoes on. I love Michael’s! And I have a gift card, also. We went inside and looked around. There were tons of crafts and artsy things to do. Greta pulled me over to a rack filled with charms. A lot of them were on sale. I looked along the rows and one of them caught my eye. A trumpet! I wouldn’t have been excited if I was a stranger to it, but I play the trumpet. The charm was really cute. It was silver and small, just how I like it. Jean, Ellie, Ana, and Greta were up at the check out line, so I went up there quickly and asked if I could get it. I was not surprised to hear that Jean thought it was great. So I got it.

After we left Michael’s, we went to Dairy Queen! What a wonderful day! We ordered six shakes and brought them back to the RV. They were delicious! We had them with lunch, which was turkey, ham, cheese, and lettuce sandwiches. They were good, too.

Then we drove until it was time for dinner. We had enchiladas that Jean made. I always love Jean’s cooking. Before we went to bed a little while later, Dad read the cards that we had made for him. It was a nice Father’s Day.

Early Thursday morning, May 12, after a long night spent seemingly in the middle of one of the runways, I crawled out of the RV and hopped on the shuttle to go from the long-term parking lot to departures at the San Francisco airport to catch my flight “home”. I went to Lansing (Iowa) to attend, and help out as much as I could, with a benefit that was being held for my brother and his family on Saturday. Greg was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor several months ago. He’s doing great, and given the effectiveness of the treatments so far and the importance of general good health, hard work, and strong will he will, no doubt, continue to do so for a long, long time. The treatments, though, are rough so it is difficult for him to work and get done all that needs to get done on the beautiful organic apple orchard that Greg and his wife own in Wisconsin. So. . . my siblings, mom, and several friends and coworkers have been meeting regularly for the past few months to plan a day of fun and fundraising to help them out. The benefit was a huge success. And I was really grateful to be there, to work closely with my amazingly organized and hard-working siblings, their spouses, kids, and extended families to do all that had to be done to make the auctions, raffles, and great dinner happen. It was really wonderful to be among so many who know and love Greg, and to experience the extent to which friends and family in that small community work together, to give of their time, talents and financial resources to help out when help is needed.

On our way to the airport, Mom and I took a detour through Viroqua, WI so I could see the house that my sister Barbara has rented and is using for the counseling business that she has just started. It is a gorgeous home, with lots of nice workwork. Though she is still in the process of furnishing it, etc. it already feels warm and comfortable. The requests for appointments are already rolling in so from the looks of it, the new counseling center is going to be a busy one.