Home From "Mother's Day Tour"

My Mom (left) and her best friend of 55 years Lil

Mother's Day 2011

Mom and I got home last night after our Mother's Day Tour. We had a wonderful time! Starting from Branson we drove to Sioux City, Iowa, with a side trip to our favorite antique mall north of St. Joseph, MO. While in Sioux City we stayed with my brother and his wife where we always have a great time. My sister lives in the area, too, so we spent time with her and her fiance having lunch at the legendary Green Gables. It has been on the same corner since before I was born. Let me just say that was a looooong time ago. Best matzo ball soup anywhere!

Mother's Day was a large family gathering for brunch at my brother's. Oh, so much great food, games and conversation.  It was fun to watch Mom's grown-up grandsons playing with the young great-grandsons and great-grandaughter. My son got a bunch of us playing Phase 10, which was a blast, as always.

From Sioux City we headed across Iowa with a stop in Woodbine, Mom's hometown, and a visit with her cousins. Then to Newton, home of Maytag, where my Uncle George had worked for over 40 years. George passed on last year, but we spent time with my aunt and cousins. We drove over to Cedar Rapids with a stop at Little Amana (didn't have time to go up to Homestead and the other colonies) where I was able to get some wine and other favorites of the Amana Colonies.  In Cedar Rapids are my Uncle and Aunt, ages 90 and 89, who are doing well and still self-sufficient.  I stopped at Hy-Vee and loaded up on Chinese food and salads from the deli there --- great stuff! So we had a great lunch and conversation. They love to look at my photos so I took out the laptop for a slideshow.

We had wonderful weather, except for the wind, almost all week.  Coming home yesterday I drove through a nightmare of a thunderstorm south of Des Moines.  It lasted about 30 minutes then the skies parted and we were in the clear for the rest of the drive home.

Now that I am home I have lots of catching up to do, especially with my favorite blogs! I'll get back in the groove soon! Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my special Mother's Day trip with you.