Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

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So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

Today was our last day in Illinois before heading back to Pennsylvania. No matter how short or long our visit, it always seems to go by quick. We packed a lot into this visit, which means we’re tired, worn out, off schedule and sleep-deprived but also full of memories and experiences we wouldn’t exchange for sleep or rest.

Our last day was spent, I bet you can’t guess, eating with family and friends. Phil requested his birthday meal (a week and a half early) from his mom for today, so we celebrated his German heritage with bratwurst and sauerkraut, sweet and sour cabbage, potato pancakes and a frosted cookie cake. I will add that I am not a big fan of sauerkraut, but in keeping with my recent streak of eating foods I’m not that fond of, I ate a little with my brat and I survived. Even though the smell in the kitchen almost knocked me over when I walked through the door. For us, love means never having to cook sauerkraut in our kitchen even if it is something my husband enjoys. Hmm … maybe I should cook it anyway, then.

We did some packing during nap time, then headed to Rock Falls to meet friends for dinner at the newer Candlelight Inn, where we once again ate Chicken George. I can’t not get Chicken George at Candlelight. Now that I’ve had it twice in a week, I think I’m good for a while. It was a great visit, even though Isabelle was practicing her parkour in the booth and putting her naked feet on the tabletop. I’m beginning to think we may have to suspend our visits to classy joints while the children are young. Or go without them.

Now, the van is mostly loaded and we’re  headed to bed soon for a bright and early wakeup call tomorrow. Off to stay a night with friends in western PA and then on to home the next day. I hope to carry the momentum of the last 10 days with us and make more memories once we get home. I feel like it’s been hard to do anything but sit inside and watch TV and I’ve used the kids’ ages and the intense temperatures as excuses for not doing more. That’s probably some unnecessary Mommy guilt, but I feel it nonetheless.

More memories, here we come!

Water world

Monday was another aunt-and-uncle day. I’ve said it before, but Isabelle and Corban are so blessed to have wonderful aunts and uncles in their lives. Since Phil and I are not yet an aunt or uncle, we feel like we have a lot to live up to, if and when that happens.

We headed to Davenport to pick up Aunt Charlotte and meet Uncle Zach at his school, Palmer College of Chiropractic. We ate a yummy lunch and got the grand tour of the campus. Although there were many neat parts, Isabelle particularly enjoyed the koi pond. This was after she wandered into a random office because she spied a fish tank. Fortunately, it was just a waiting area and no one was in there. Maybe it was watching “Finding Nemo” so much when she was younger, but the girl loves fishies. We even have to wander down that aisle in Wal-Mart if we happen to be in the neighborhood.

After Palmer, we hit the new splash pad in Rock Island. Once again, our little fishie found a home amongst the sprinklers and water pools.

The Elmo swimsuit is certainly getting used. I’m on the lookout for next year’s size because I know our world will revolve around water, especially if it’s hot. She also continued to make friends who share her interests. I’m not sure if Isabelle is a leader or a follower, but she constantly finds herself in situations like this. She’s kind of bossy, but I think that comes with being 2.

She’s always reluctant to leave when she’s having fun. Who wouldn’t be? Charlotte thinks a splash pad for adults would be awesome. I concur. Why do kids get to have all the fun?

We squeezed in a little bit of playground time before leaving the riverfront. Corban enjoyed that, given that he had to spend most of the splash pad visit in the stroller. Really, he’s enjoying it. This is the closest I could get to a smile on the camera.

This little piggy

This little piggy was a day old when Isabelle got to hold him. I don’t remember exactly how this idea developed, but since we were home last, we’ve been trying to arrange a time for Isabelle to hold a piglet. Her great-uncle has some hogs on his farm; it was just a matter of us finding a time to go there. The timing was perfect on Saturday, as the piglets had just been born and weren’t as wiggly as the week-old ones she might have held if we’d gone earlier in the week. She wasn’t really sure what to think, but I think she was thrilled, even if she doesn’t look it in these photos. She had to be encouraged to pet it and keep it close to her. But we had a hard time getting her to leave.

Before the piggies, we swam in the same great-uncle’s pool. Corban had a blast, though he wasn’t crazy about the hat. He was kicking up a storm and liked to splash. I call him the next Michael Phelps. No pressure. Isabelle was content to lounge in the floaties, too. We’re terribly unprepared for pool swimming. Guess we’ll have to check the end of season sales. And sign up for swimming lessons.

It was a day for goodbyes. After swimming, piggies and lunch, we bid farewell to Aunt Cassie as she headed back to Kuwait. The kids napped, then we went to dinner with my parents in Rock Falls before heading out to the rockin’ birthday/farewell party for my cousin who begins an exciting journey at Grand Canyon University in Arizona.

To add to the fun, we brought a pinata and filled it with 7 pounds of candy. With a couple of swings, the first person over the age of 5 to hit it broke it and the candy clean-up began. Isabelle took a couple of swings with a sword. At least she didn’t hit daddy.

Rollin’ on the river

Could it have gotten any better than a full day at Great America? Oh, yeah. Friday night we were treated to a dinner cruise on the Rock River. Great food, awesome atmosphere and a totally relaxing evening. When we had finished our scrumptious meal of filet mignon, baked potato and sautéed vegetables, we were invited to go topside whenever we were ready. I’d eaten on this boat before, but never had the pleasure of riding on the top deck as the paddlewheel boat cruised the river. It was amazing.

During dinner, we saw a bald eagle perched on a tree limb on the river’s edge. As we cruised, we took in the views of Stronghold Castle and the area’s famous Indian sculpture that towers over the river. Somehow these familiar sights are more spectacular from the river rather than the road.

We enjoyed the quiet of the evening, the chance to be a couple, without children, amongst other couples. A banjo player added to the atmosphere, prompting a few couples to dance.

Best of all, we got to share it with family.

Earlier in the day, we had yet another meal out, sharing lunch with my brother, the kids’ uncle Chris. Cool Uncle Chris from the city, as he likes to call himself, sometimes.  We ate at Sterling’s new Buffalo Wild Wings. And Isabelle got a new “friend.” A teddy bear named Herbert.

Another great vacation day in our summer full of memories.

A Great day

I’m learning to appreciate aunts and uncles. I remember how important they were in my life, and I love seeing how involved Isabelle and Corban’s aunts and uncles get in their lives. Yesterday, her aunt and uncle treated her, and the rest of us, to a trip to Six Flags Great America. I can’t remember the last time I’d been there. My brother and cousin and I went a couple of times with my grandparents and my uncle when we were younger. Maybe 20 years ago? Gosh, that makes me sound old.

Anyway, we squeezed the life out of that park. At least, as much as we could with a baby, a 2-year-old and 6 adults on a sunny day. We all rode the carousal to start. Isabelle rode a lion. Her choice. We took the train through the park. Next, she rode a balloon ride with her aunt and uncle. After that, we separated so that I could follow up on a hair-brained idea from earlier in the week. I proposed that the four of us — my husband and I, his sister and her husband — ride a roller coaster. Only one of that group actually really enjoys roller coasters. So, we stepped in line for the American Eagle. This is the ride that says “Great America” to me. It’s the one we always rode as kids when we came to the park. I remember feeling like the coaster was going to fall apart as the cars clack, clack, clacked along. As we waited in line, a relatively short 30 minutes, my heart rate increased slightly. My husband had the same feeling. But we were older now. Nothing to be scared of, right? Especially since everyone else in line, save one or two parents, was probably 15 years younger than us.

We boarded the cars and began the ascent before the “oh-my-goodness-why-did-we-do-this” plunge. We screamed. Our skin jiggled. We screamed some more. And when we were done, we raised our arms in triumph and screamed one more time when the operator asked how our ride was.

We had talked about riding more than one, but one was all my husband and I decided we could handle. We left the Eagle and went back to find the kids and the grandparents. We found our daughter joyfully riding everything she could in the cartoon areas of the park.

She rode these cars twice and made a new friend with the girl behind her. They rode together the second time.

We decided to head for Loggers Run, where we waited almost an hour to get soaked. But Isabelle could ride this one with an adult, so she sandwiched herself between her aunt and uncle with her MeeMaw in the front of the log. Mommy and Daddy rode together in the log in front of them. I was the front rider in my log, so I was soaked after the first little bump. We couldn’t tell if Isabelle was having fun or not. Uncle Jon’s screams might have scared her a little.

To reward ourselves for waiting so long in line, we ate funnel cake sundaes. Can’t say I recall ever eating one of these before, but it’s my husband’s family’s tradition to have them when they go to Great America. I can see why. Even for $10, it was worth it. Yum-my!

The group split again. Aunt and uncle went to ride Iron Wolf while Isabelle went to ride the antique cars. Corban and I took a break so he could eat green beans and bounce a little bit out of the stroller. After the cars, Isabelle splashed herself soaked in the splash pad at Wiggles World.

We ended the day at the Sky Trek Tower. As you can see, the smiles were worth the length of the day. Quick supper at Potbelly before we headed home. Another quick stop at Caputo’s to buy — you’ll never guess — Green River soda in bottles! Both kids fell asleep on the way home and woke up with smiles on their faces. A great day, indeed.

A Fair day

I don’t have to say much. This picture pretty well describes our afternoon at the Carroll County Fair.

We started the day with haircuts, then lunched at Arthur’s Garden Deli, a must for our trips home. Oh, Arthur’s how we miss you when we’re gone. Isabelle ate a bowl of cream of potato soup herself. “I love crackers!” she exclaimed before we ordered her soup.

After lunch, it was off to Milledgeville for the style show. Isabelle’s MeeMaw made her a Dora the Explorer nightgown that she entered in the fair, and Isabelle had to show it off for judging. Paired with Dora slippers and a Boots monkey friend, she was the picture of cute. (Of course, I’m her mother, and I’m biased.) See for yourself.

Her outfit didn’t win. She got a participation ribbon and a package of fruit snacks. (Really, they could have just given her the fruit snacks and she’d have been happy.) But she enjoyed herself and is loving her new friend, Boots. Don’t worry, there’s not Toddlers and Tiaras in our future.

We explored a few more areas of the fair — a kids farm display where Isabelle completed “chores” typical on a farm and got a goodie bag when she was finished; the chicken barn; the cattle barn; and her absolute favorite, the rabbit barn. I’ve never been a big fan of animals beyond cats and dogs as pets, but after a walk through the bunny barn, I can see why some people are bunny people. Awfully cute.

Phil and I wanted to treat Isabelle to a fair-style treat, so she got her first taste of shaved ice. Lemon-lime, once again her choice. Although, she did eat about a third of MeeMaw’s blue raspberry shaved ice. Pretty sure she’d have eaten just about any flavor of shaved ice.

I know Isabelle had a great day because she passed out in the car on the way back to Dixon. That’s her sign of a good day.

Me, I had a great day because she did. The whole county fair thing is still new to me. I went to my first county fair when I was 22 and covering it for the newspaper, so Isabelle has me beat by 20 years. I didn’t grow up on a farm or around farm animals. I’m still learning to appreciate the camaraderie and fun of the county fair. I haven’t really gone to any fairs for fun, always for work purposes.  Not that it wasn’t fun to go, but I’m reminded of deadlines and tracking down stories, trying to make sense of breeds of cattle and chickens and pigs. (Jeannine, if you’re reading this, don’t make fun of me too much!)

I’m glad my daughter gets to experience farm life. She can join 4-H in a few years, and I think she will. My husband had great experiences with it. I never really knew it existed. I’m in new territory, but I think I’ll adapt quickly.

Lunch, ‘Dinner’ and the great outdoors

Isabelle and her daddy are sleeping in a tent right now. Outside, where it’s muggy. Meanwhile Mommy and Corban are in the cool air-conditioned basement of our bed-and-breakfast, lunch and dinner (aka Nana’s house).

Today packed a double-punch of summer fun — date day and camping in the backyard.

Phil and I dropped the kids off with their grandparents and headed to Sterling to eat at The Candlelight Inn. The Candlelight isn’t on our usual tour of food when we come home. Typically, we take a date night to Salamandra’s, but that restaurant is closed right now for kitchen renovation. So, we moved to plan B. Chicken George.

It’s been years since I’ve eaten Chicken George. And for those of you who don’t know what it is, I don’t know how to describe it, except to say it’s the best chicken strips I’ve ever eaten, and the Jan sauce is simply delicious and hard to duplicate. We’ve tried and it  never tastes quite like the original. It was a lovely sit-down lunch for us.

After lunch, we had some time to kill before the movie started, so we went to the mall to walk around. Little did we know it was Senior Showcase day, so the mall was filled with vendors and senior citizens. We ran into some friends and former co-workers. Unexpected, but fun.

Finally, it was on to the movie theater to see “Dinner For Schmucks.” A bonus, besides paying the matinée price, was the $1 popcorn and drinks. Rarely can I watch a movie without popcorn. I had high hopes for laughter during the movie. After watching two hilarious previews, I wondered if those would be the only laughs of the next couple of hours, but “Dinner” didn’t disappoint. My husband and I are sort of Steve Carell junkies in withdrawal this summer without new episodes of “The Office.”

We ended the day having a picnic/fire/campout in the backyard of my parents’ house. Brats, chips and dip, chips and salsa for supper. Pool time for the children. S’mores and campfire pies cooked on the open flame. Mmm, mmm, good. We’ll see how long the sleeping outside lasts for the 2-year-old and her daddy. If this experiment is successful, our next campout might actually be at a park instead of a backyard.

Savoring summer

It’s August now. What happened to summer? We had all these plans to make this summer memorable, and while we were able to make a few of those memories in June, July with its oppressive heat confined us to the comforts of air conditioning with our new best friend, Dora.

It’s August, but it’s not too late. Still plenty of time to squeeze the life out of summer. We’re making the next 30 or so days count. So begins our quest to save summer.

We start in Illinois. As you can see, the kids have wasted no time jumping in to summer activities.

Though neither of them are wearing swim pants in this picture, I’m confident we’re going to run through the stash we brought with us. Swimming is almost all Isabelle can talk about right now.

Not to be outdone by summer fun, my husband, his sister, our brother-in-law and I stole away while the kids were napping to the Amboy Pharmacy with its old-fashioned soda fountain to have an array of Green River treats — two Green River floats and a Green River milkshake. No bottled Green River, though. Not even the friendly staff at the Pharmacy could tell us where to find it.

Such a pity. It was a favorite drink of ours when my husband and I were dating. I can’t really explain what it tastes like, only that I like it and so far, Amboy is the only place I know to get it. May have to add it to our tour of food when we come home for visits.

To further our spontaneity and memory making, we decided to indulge in the penny candy (well, most of it cost 5 or 10 cents, but still …). The Pharmacy has this fantastic selection of loose candy you can hand select and purchase individually. We were all a litte giddy, like kids in a candy store (har, har, har), filling our little brown bags with our sugary selections, counting out our change like we were 10 and spending all the money we had. My husband and his sister recalled the many times their grandma would send them to the Pharmacy with a handful of change to buy whatever they wanted. The only restriction, they said, was candy cigarettes. They weren’t allowed to come home with those.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I’m pretty excited about this week in Illinois and a few fun things we have planned when we get back to Pennsylvania. Stay tuned.

The $25 dilemma

A few months ago I won a $25 gift card to Kohl’s by playing an instant win game on the Huggies Web site. Since it arrived in the mail, I’ve been thinking and rethinking about what I wanted to spend it on. I figured it was “mine” so I wasn’t going to use it on the kids or my husband. Selfish, I know. I really wanted clothes. Then, I thought about trying to find a kitchen gadget or something to use for cooking. Then I went back to clothes. I could have used it to buy things I need … you know the practical things like socks and underwear, or I could get some fun things … shirts, pants, shorts, skirts. When it came down to it, I chose the fun things, mostly because those are things people can see. The other things seemed too boring to spend money on right now.

Vanity, thy name is Lisa.

I wonder what that says about my spiritual life. Am I spending my time, that 24-hour gift God gives me each day, making myself look good to other people or am I spending it on pursuits that may not be as noticeable but are necessary?

First Peter 3:3-4 says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” While I’m not going to advocate ugliness as next to godliness (in fact, the NASB version of this verse says it should not be “merely external”), I know that the time I spend on the outside of me shouldn’t outweigh the time I spend on the inside.

I don’t regret my recent purchases, but I won’t feel as good about wearing them if I don’t spend a little time improving my inner self. That’s buyer’s remorse of a different kind!

I ate a beet, and I liked it

With apologies to Katy Perry, that’s not exactly how it happened. But let me start at the beginning.

A few weeks ago, when temperatures here were set to flirt with 100 for four days straight, my husband and I went grocery shopping for cold, ready-to-eat foods that didn’t have to be cooked. We came home with an assortment of hummuses (hummusi?), cottage cheese, pickles, salsa and … beets.

My husband is the beet lover in our family. I’m not sure how or when my aversion to them developed (maybe it’s the color or the story I heard in science class once about what they do to your urine if you eat too many), but beets has never been on my grocery list. Or gardening list. Or any other kind of list except the “foods I don’t particularly care for” list. Other names on the list in the past have included tuna, barbecue chips, lima beans, and tapioca. Recently, I have learned to enjoy tuna, have eaten barbecue chips without throwing up (which is what caused me to dislike them in the first place) and have stomached lima beans, as long as they are mixed with other things.

Thinking that maybe I should give beets a second chance, I decided I’d try one. I told my husband I might, but I’d have to do it without an audience. Tonight proved the perfect opportunity. After opening the jar, I took a whiff, expecting to be disgusted by the smell. Actually, what was inside the jar smelled a lot like pickles. Go figure. Something pickled smells like something else pickled. I stabbed a beet with my fork, closed my eyes and took a bite, once again expecting disgust. Instead, I tasted a little bit of sweetness. I could taste the earthiness of the beet, but the sweetness surprised me. I expected to be repulsed by the texture, but that didn’t really bother me either. Would I eat one again? Maybe. I’m not sure they’re on my favorites list yet, but I certainly won’t badmouth them, especially since my daughter ate four or five of them herself this week.

Shortly after the beet jar was opened, my husband and I, prompted by a Facebook post and a book he’s reading, were discussing evangelism. We’re both becoming more relational in our efforts to share our faith. Relational, in that, we desire to get to know people and befriend them, involve them in our lives and get to know their needs, living out our faith and looking for opportunities to share the hope we have. This isn’t always popular in a Christian tradition whose very name — evangelical — brings to mind street preachers, Bible thumpers and people trying, often sincerely, to persuade people they don’t even know to make a commitment to Christ. (I’m not saying there’s never a time for this. If God prompts, you act.)

But, as my husband said, in defense of relational evangelism: “I wouldn’t force beets down your throat. Why would I force Jesus down anyone’s throat?”

Thus the real motive for my trying the beets tonight. My husband loves beets. He got my daughter to try them, and she appeared to love them. They aren’t bad for me. I haven’t tried them in a long time, if ever. Maybe I’d like them.

So it is with Jesus. I love Him. He has changed my life for the better, giving me true life. He improves my life, not by giving me everything I’ve ever wanted or could think of having but by being in relationship with me, walking with me through suffering and trial. He “gave himself for (my) sins to rescue (me) from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4).

But people who don’t know me may not believe that until they see it lived out day to day. They may have tried Christianity once and it left a bad taste in their mouth, so they are reluctant to try it again. It is the regular relationship, the see-it-for-yourself changed life, that for some will have more effect than the slam-it-down-your-throat-if-you-know-what’s-good-for-you tactic.

Confession time: I didn’t eat the whole beet. And I ate two chocolate chip cookies afterward.

Beets are an acquired taste, I think.

So, too, is Jesus.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good …” Psalm 34:8