Saturday - May 14

 Good sunny morning from Iowa City....I made a correction to the blog (thank you Heather, Anne's friend).    Michael graduated from U of Iowa in 1993 - not 1989.    Making my kids older than they really are!

Lots of families in town for graduation (6,000+ getting their degrees)!  

Hyatt lobby

Mark and I walked to The Coffee Emporium for light breakfast

Cute sign from the neighborhood coffee shop

The Coffee Emporium

Judy and I walked to Von Maur and browsed...no purchases.    Bob and Mark did some walking along the Iowa River and then onto trails in the woods.    Beautiful area behind our hotel.

We 4 left at 11:40 for the Big Grove Brewery - HUGE crowd inside and out.    Got some drinks and waited for our table.    There were 13 of us....Anne, Liam and Connor arrived at lunch time.    Happy to have some of my kiddos here.....missing Davis (internship starts Monday), Philip, Annette, Luke, Maeve and Ryan.

Our 3 teens

Liam, Connor, Brady

Bob, Judy, Mark and I rested and read in our rooms after lunch.   The younger kiddos went rock climbing (Blair) and axe throwing (Drew, Brady, Liam and Connor).   

We all met at The Vue (rooftop restaurant at the Hilton.)    This is a favorite and we had a party of 12 (all family) - food/drinks/desserts all excellent and Kate, our waitress was very good!

The Graduate and his Mama

Bob and Judy

Liam, Connor, Anne, Blair, Brooke, Drew, Bob, Judy, Pat, Mark, Michael, Brady

So much going on this weekend in Iowa City.    Graduation, proms, weddings and dance recital.        Another very fun, busy day!     

Friday - May 13

Drew and "Herky" at the Vue last night

 It's Friday the 13th and we were off to Iowa City at 7:40 AM.    Mark drove 1/2 way and then I did last part.    Michael met us outside the Hilton - some are staying here and others at the Hyatt.    We stopped at the bookstore (Michael pointed out where we had started our tour back in 1988 when he was visiting colleges!)  And then he drove us around campus.    

We sat outside Pullman (a favorite) and Drew joined us for a great lunch - busy busy, but able to get a table in the warm sunshine.    So good to see the "Drewby!"

University of Iowa alums

Drew - 2022;   Michael - 1993

After lunch we all drove to the Hyatt in Coralville where Bob, Judy (Brooke's parents), Mark and I are staying.    Checked in and I unpacked while Mark took the guys back to Drew's apt. and the Hilton for Michael.  

Later in the afternoon, Mark, Michael and Drew left in 2 cars for the Cedar Rapids airport to pick up the NC crew (Brooke, Brady, Blair, Bob and Judy).    I walked to Von Maur and shopped + checked out some other neat shops in this very nice area that is pretty new....stopped at the Coffee Emporium and had a latte and read my book.    Mark joined me later for a decaf Americano and then we walked back to hotel.    Changed clothes and time to meet everyone for drinks at The Iowa Athletic Club (close to the Hyatt).   Tessa joined us and fun catching up with everyone.

Off to Vesta for dinner - very close to the Hyatt - this is an awesome location!    Wonderful dinner and some of us had dessert.  

Pat, Brady, Mark, Michael, Tessa, Drew, Bob, Blair, Brooke, Judy

Tessa and Drew

Miss Blair

 Said our good byes to the group going back to the Hilton and we sat with Bob and Judy in the Hyatt lobby visiting.    

Mark's brother Tom had vitrectomy retinal surgery this afternoon to repair his detached retina and 2 tears.   Dr. said it was successful!   

Enjoy your weekend.   Nighty night!

Thursday - May 12

 Off to town at 9 with Mark dropping me off to get a manicure from Lisa.    He went onto get a biscuit and gravy fix at Hardees and then had appt. for PT with Emily.    I walked across the street to Panera when I finished and got a latte and read till Mark picked me up.

Then we got a text from Mark's sister Doris that her granddaughter Emma who has several allergies was about out of her baby formula (Nutramigen) and sending out a plea to family to check our stores and see if we could find any.    We had no luck at HyVee or Jewel - shelves are pretty bare.   Annette and Brooke jumped on the bandwagon as online Target, WalMart, etc. which show they have this, but then really don't!    Arghhhh.    One can was found at a CVS in Chicago area and a few more from a doctor's office.    This is a horrible situation for families to be in and they say it will get worse???

We met Kay (Sublettian) and hubby Jim from AZ for lunch at Biaggi's.....oh so fun.   I was with them last September when Missy and I visited out there.    Mark and Jim really hit it off - love of sailing/boating and other interests.    Kay and I just yakked and yakked and they loved Biaggi's - food and decor.    They are in town for Kay's granddaughter's high school graduation this weekend and visiting family/friends.    They are coming to the Sublettian luncheon on Monday so can't wait to see them again.    Jane and Joe were to be with us today, too, but Jane has Covid, so......

Pat and Kay

Sublettians Forever

Kay and Jim

On home to load up the car for our big weekend...1st stop - Iowa City for Drew's graduation!

Folks come and go here at KK and some nights it's pretty full (Montana, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Florida, etc., etc.)    This morning after some left, Flo was all by herself.   There are 3 sections and we are in with the big boys (50 amp).    One other came in this afternoon.    Micci said around 20 are coming tomorrow!    

Mark saw and heard the farmer planting corn in a small plot of ground at 7:15 this morning right near Flo.    After all the rain, the farmers are happy to be back in the fields!    Another very warm day!

Thinking of and praying for Mark's youngest brother Tom tonight- he has a detached retina and will be seeing retina specialist 1st thing in the morning.

Wednesday - May 11

 Busy day for we nomads as we were off to town before 8.    Mark dropped me off for my mammogram (first getting a latte and cranberry/lemon muffin at Java City which is inside the medical office building).    He went on for his appointment with Dr. Lucy (dermatologist).    He picked me up later and we were off to do laundry.

We usually go to the laundromat in Normal next door to Gloria Jean's, but tried one much closer to where we were.    Walked in with all our stuff and there was the cleaning man and the mechanic from our regular place - they clean and fix the machines at more than one laundromat.    They remembered us and are both nice guys.

Unfortunately this place had no AC and on this hot day with all the machines going, whew.....glad to get outta there!    Loaded up our stuff and onto storage to put some stuff away and get out more stuff.

Then time for lunch at Destihl and meeting Jim and Nancy, long time friends.    Mark and Jim worked together eons ago and we enjoyed catching up on our families - they now have 20 GREAT grands.   WOW.     Lots of talk about what's happening around town, church, health issues with friends, etc.,  They are lots of fun and we had a great lunch + Nancy and I shared a piece of their banana cream pie (so different than the usual).

Nancy and Jim

Incredibly delicious banana cream pie

Said our good byes to Jim and Nancy with a plan to get together in September.   Onto CCHS to pick up Connor as Liam had an after-school dermatology appointment (Anne met him there).    While we were waiting for him to come out, I walked over to take a picture of Patrick's tree that was planted in the fall of 2019 by the baseball team in his memory.    It's doing very well from when it was planted and so much smaller!

Patrick's tree near the baseball field

Annette texted that Luke tested positive today!    Arghhhh.   He has a fever and is tired, so hopefully, he'll have a mild case like Maeve.

Connor drove us to his house and then Mark and I headed back to KK.    It was 96 with heat index of over 100.    Crazy for May 11th with more heat coming the next few days!    Unloaded the car, put the clean laundry away and settled in enjoying Flo's AC.

Tuesday - May 10

 Summer has arrived - 89, hot 'n sunny!   Mark was off to town early for PT with Janice.   He has more exercises to do and more emphasis on posture, balance, etc.    And he is learning what NOT to do when going from sitting to standing position.

 I sorted laundry and started getting our clothes out for this weekend in Iowa City.

Mark came on home and got a call from Anthony with update on my Lincoln.    Yesterday, Mark called him and he said the new reservoir had come in, they were installing and should be ready today.    But when Anthony called this morning, it was a different story.....the reservoir did not fix the problem as, light came back on "Low wiper fluid"???    So, after doing some troubleshooting, they discovered an issue with a hose/jet - long story short, more parts ordered but a week to come in.    They will bring my car back this afternoon and we will have till parts come in....crazy crazy!

We had lunch at Busy Corner today with John and Linda (former neighbors from many years ago).     Had not been together since May 13, 2019 cause of Covid, so lots of fun catching up.    We enjoyed our lunches but nobody had pie!

John and Linda

One week ago my car went in but got it back today at 4 all nice and shiny clean.    They'll call when parts come in!

Walked around the campground tonight - still humid but there was a nice breeze.    The sadness and disbelief continues that Green Gables is totally gone.   😢

Two more folks we know tested positive today.    🙏

Ryan is back in Memphis training for 6 weeks to be Captain for FedEx  ✈