IN vacation continued

June 5: This day I took a day off and left the Lambs with my parents and spent the whole day with a friend. Sue is a Looper and we were finally able to meet in person. She drove over to Fort Wayne.
First we went to Rome City to tour one of Gene Stratton-Porter's homes. I have read a lot of her books so I was excited to go. We did the tour of the inside of the house and toured the gardens on our own. We did a tiny bit of shopping in the gift shop and returned home to Fort Wayne for lunch.

The only novel I have not read is The Magic Garden.  Thanks to Hyde Brothers bookstore I own all the rest of the novels.

I tried reading The Song of the Cardinal but I didn't like it and have not tried any of her other nature study books.

The view from the house.

The gardens

I must admit that I didn't expect Sue to look like she did. I don't know why I thought she had blond hair like me. I never thought about what she looked like until the morning that it was time to meet.

In the gardens

The entrance from the road

I now want to tour Gene Stratton-Porter's other home. Sue plans to try to go to the other home with her family when they are on vacation this summer. We had planned to meet our friend Jane when we got back to Fort Wayne but she wasn't able to meet us. I wasn't sure where to go for lunch after being away from Fort Wayne for so long. I attempted to mostly keep to my Paleo diet on vacation and Sue tries to eat vegan so I was unsure where to go. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant where we could both have salads and I cheated and had some bread. For dessert we stopped in and had a piece of Debrand chocolate which I don't think was vegan, but it was delicious.

After dessert I took Sue to show her Hyde Brothers bookstore. I bought one book and she didn't buy any, she is planning to return with her family for vacation later this summer. The bookseller was almost offended that two ladies came into his shop but only bought one book. I explained that I had just been there the week before and he didn't feel as bad. It is amazing how much a used bookstore changes in just one week.

Then we went to Panera Bread for her to get a treat for her breakfast and for us both to get a frozen lemonade. We stayed and talked so long that while I wasn't hungry when we came in, I decided to get some soup. We talked and talked until finally I thought it was time to get back to my Lambs. It was so good to have someone to talk to that we have so much in common. Pastor's wives, former classroom teachers, homeschoolers, raising boys, and the list goes on.

While I was gone the Lambs helped my mom pick up the trimmings from the bushes I had trimmed the day before. My mom took them to a splash pad. My dad picked up a pizza for their supper. I think they enjoyed the day and also got some work done to help my parents, but I was gone for 12 hours which was a long time for them.

June 6: This day my dad took us to a Military Appreciation Day at a local church. My dad is a veteran. There was food and speakers. We stayed for a little while after lunch and then left. 

I spent some time on the garage today, finally took pictures of the banners that my dad had made that were up in the attic. The trash pile and give away pile was really growing at this point.

After supper I took the Lambs for a treat of smoothies.

June 7: This morning we attended Redeemer Lutheran. I don't know if I had ever been to a Sunday morning service there with the exception of when my school children sang there. I knew a few people but the Lambs were relieved that I didn't know so many people that we stayed and talked as long as we had the week before at Zion. Lamb 2 commented that the service was a concert as much as a church service. It was lovely along with a good sermon.

In the afternoon I took the Lambs to visit one of the older members from Zion, Lucille. She lost her husband a few years ago, but they were my adopted grandparents while I was at Zion. She was thrilled that I brought the Lambs. They played on the iPad most of the time that we talked. She had a little advice for my parents about downsizing after just doing it herself a few years ago. I hadn't even told her I was coming to Fort Wayne, but it worked out perfect to visit her on Sunday afternoon.

To be continued...