This photo was taken along the Mississippi River, but I'm not sure where exactly.
This shot was taken in the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa. They have a complete pioneer cabin rebuilt inside the museum, and you can see that behind me. I have always loved the city of Decorah...so much emigrant culture... It's a very special town.
Here I am, posing again, and sitting on the memorial to Antonin Dvorak which is located near Spillville, Iowa. Dvorak lived in that area for a time because he had Czech relatives in that area, and you could visit the house where he stayed.
We also visited the Biley Clock Museum at Spillville, Iowa - a couple of bachelor brothers who farmed in the area, spent their leisure time carving the most beautiful and complicated wooden clocks... It is truly a special place to visit. My brother-in-law, Al Brookner, came from Calmar, which is not far from Spillville... pretty country, and well worth a visit.
On one trip, we went to St. Louis. Here I am with the kids, standing beneath 'The Arch.' You can take some kind of little train that travels inside the arch to the top...I think we did that, and if I remember correctly, it was pretty spectacular.
We also visited the St. Louis Zoo, and that was a lot of fun, and very interesting. Here the kids are looking at the amazing giraffes... I really love giraffes...they have the most beautiful eyes!..not to mention how graceful they are and what amazing coloration on their fur. I think that might be me off to the right of the photo...
I am to the left in this shot, and that is Dave feeding the goats. I think Doug and Diane may be the other two kids in the background...
I think this one was also at the St. Louis Zoo....
Here are the kids in front of the 'Runaway Mine Train' ride at Six Flags Over the Midwest in St. Louis.
This must be the statue of Saint Louis....I think I had better do some research about him...
The next few shots were taken when the kids were younger. We had gone to a park near the Cedar River and spent some time enjoying the nice day.
I'm not sure what the kids have in their hands, but I do know that times spent outside enjoying your natural surroundings is good for everyone.
In this photo, Doug and Diane are enjoying the pretty scenery and looking down the Cedar River.
And, when you have a nice-height picnic table, sometimes a kid just has to jump off of it! (I don't know where Dave was during all of this fun, but I'm sure he had been born. He was probably sleeping in his baby carrier in the car...but I don't know for sure. The ages of the other kids suggest that he had been born, and I'm definitely not pregnant, or very far along, in any case...) I sure wish I had been able to put dates on these old slides so I would have a better idea of when they took place...
Here's a photo with all the kids in it! Swinging somewhere near the Cedar River, I'm supposing...
In this photo, the kids and I are crossing the swinging bridge at Thunder Woman Park, on the Cedar River near Finchford, Iowa.
Another shot of the swinging bridge at Thunder Woman Park. Scary, but quite cool...
We must have visited Margaret and Al when the kids were older, because here I am with Doug, Jeff, Diane and Steve, watching people coming down from the Six Flags Mine Train ride. We are wearing winter coats, so it was chilly in Dallas that time...
I think this photo was taken at the Amanas, but I'm not sure. In any case, Dave is in the photo, and it was taken about the time when Diane was in 1st grade, since she's wearing the same outfit that she wore to have that year's school picture taken, making this about 1969.
I do think this was at the Amanas... I remember tasting rhubarb wine and thinking it was pretty good.
Diane tells me this is her 3rd grade photo. It would have been the fall of 1970, and she would be almost 8 years old. Notice that she has two new adult teeth in front...so the damaged teeth from the fall out the front door are gone. I made that outfit too...
Diane says this her 4th grade school picture, taken in about 1971. She would be nearly 9 years old in this photo. You can see she has four 'grown-up' teeth coming in the front...her mouth was so small (in fact, she is really very petite all over...) and her adult front teeth took up a lot of space. Eventually, she did get braces that helped make her smile the pretty one she has today. (I'm pretty sure I made this dress too...)
This would be her 5th grade photo, I'm thinking. It would have been taken in the fall of 1973, when she was nearly 11 years old. (Starting to get her really pretty looks...)
Oops...I said I don't have any of the kids' baby portraits, but here's one of Diane when she was 3 months old... What a cutie!
My folks continued to live in Cedar Rapids, on Mound Avenue. Our little family went down there for nearly every holiday, and had some good times with the rest of the relatives. I will post some photos of those times later on.
My dad entertained himself by shooting his air gun out the kitchen window to try and kill the starlings that kept raiding their bird feeder. (I think that activity may not have been exactly legal...) One time he mistakenly discharged a pellet into the kitchen ceiling... having a man around the house who does not have safe hobbies can be a bit intimidating!
My dad mostly sat in his chair and listened to sports on the radio, or watched them on television. Sometimes he had two different games going on two radios, and a game on the television... It could be a bit of bedlam...
My kids enjoyed playing at my folk's house. One time they rigged up a pulley to go up to the second floor via the stairway. They attached a basket to the pulley and transported various stuffed bears and other toys up and down the steps. As I mentioned earlier, my dad worked for Jack Brown in his food supply warehouse. Daddy found out that Doug really liked canned milk shakes, so he always had a case of those on hand when we came down. At that time, he was also trying to quit smoking, so ate his way through several cases of Mentos...
More to come... keep checking out the blog!
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