Nebraska

What a cute, happy girl this Great Granddaughter Jordie Schindel is...almost 6 months old. Scoots around and pulls herself up, reaches for everything, smiles ALL the time. We'll miss seeing her and all the grandkids and family as we head on west now.

It's getting COLD! Forecast for the next several days even includes some SNOW!!

Here's how we dressed for watching parades, football games, soccer games.

That's Gregg under the pretty tree. That's daughter-in-law Michelle and grandson Nick in the blankets.

deja vu

Remember these days???
We are getting a kick out of going to High School Homecoming parades, games and coronation of royalty in the high school gym...despite cold, rainy, windy weather trying hard to ruin it all. We went to Hinton, IA's yesterday and Shelby, NE's today, more to come tomorrow.

Hanging around...

We are taking it easy just hanging around Iowa and Nebraska. I got to sit on Gary's pretty little white horse that he is training. I say "sit on" because she's not trained enough yet for me to really ride her.

Taylor practising point.

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We girls in height order.

Gregg's daughter Cindy and her girls.

Taylor's just passed me up and hit 5 feet, a feat I've never accomplished.



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Grandpa & his granddaughters.
Taylor's almost 13. Hannah just turned 9.

Iowa

We're enjoying poking around Iowa...

Sac City has the Guinness World record for the largest popcorn ball...
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Plymouth County
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-Soybeans turning shades of gold in the Loess Hills (hills created of silt by wind, unique in the USA to this area)
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- Scarecrow Festival in Akron







Barn quilts of Plymouth County and Sac County
http://www.barnquilts.com/







Clay County - the World's Greatest County Fair in Spencer, IA --


Where Dahlia's are bigger than your head, 19,000 hard-boiled eggs on a stick are given away, and Trace Adkins plays.

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West Bend, Iowa, population 881
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Grotto of the Redemption
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-Home of one of the greatest collections of rocks, minerals, glass, petrified wood, shells, stalactites and stalagmites in the world. Built by a Catholic priest over his lifetime. Astounding...

More from the Baltic

Here are a few pictures of things I liked in the Baltic...
http://picasaweb.google.com/sschin999/BalticSea#

Cruising the Baltic Sea

What a trip we have just had! Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures we took...

One of the prettiest canals in Copenhagen, lined with outdoor restaurants. Just a short walk from our hotel. In the 1800's Hans Christian Andersen lived in one of these now-400 year old houses.
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Our last night in Copenhagen was spent with our friend Hanne (daughter of a California P.E.O. sister). She took us on a canal tour then a walk to her home for a traditional Danish dinner with her boyfriend Rasmus. What a great evening! See the tiny Little Mermaid in the background? It's a Copenhagen landmark that will travel to China soon in a temporary trade.

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This is Gdansk, Poland, beautifully restored from horrific damage at the start of WWII when it was called Danzig. The black & white at the top of the picture below shows the extent of the damage there.

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Oslo, Norway - fresh fish early in the morning

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Skyline and a church in Tallin, Estonia, a pretty little walled medieval town.

St. Petersburg, Russia -

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The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (the blood of Tsar Alexander II who was mortally wounded by grenade there in 1881)

The Winter Palace that houses the incomparable Hermitage art museum. Rooms inside, as well as the art, are incredibly beautiful.

Helsinki, Finland waterfront

Little Swedish girls in Stockholm - I think they were waiting to go into an ice cream parlor for a birthday party.

Shopping in the old part of Stockholm, Sweden. Beautiful little alleyways and narrow cobblestone streets.

Helsinki, Finland

Hi from Helsinki Finland!

We are as far north as Nome, Alaska & the weather is nice! Well, cloudy, but warm enough. Off to St Petersburg, Russia tonight - yay!

Stockholm, Sweden was wonderful: 1/3 city, 1/3 water, 1/3 woods and parks, built on 14 islands. gorgeous! Archipelageo of 25,000+ islands to go through to get there - beautiful! We are loving this.