Is that a Martini with a lime in it??



I think it was suppose to be Margarita glass, didn't fool me.

 You can tell that it is fall because Hostess has turned the snowballs orange (I am currently enjoying one as I write this), these are my favorite besides the pink ones in the spring, oh and the green ones in March. Anyway, back on track. We have been having a blast so far this fall. A couple of weeks ago we took mini-vaca to IA for Jeff’s class reunion, I have to say that I was not looking to forward to be being in a room full of people I don’t know all evening (I am positive Jeff would say the same thing about mine) – but it turned out pretty good.


We both took the day off on Friday to just relax and get out of town at a decent time. We did some site seeing on the way. Jeff and I have been going back to Dubuque for close to 9 years, and every time on the way home we pass one of President U.S. Grant’s homes. I have been trying to get him to stop for 9 years and let me go through it. I kinda have a thing for Presidential homes, I think that’s because I grew up so close to President Hayes home in Fremont. This home was beautiful. It wasn’t as fancy as some I’ve seen but it was decorated with tons of the original furniture and family artifacts. If you are ever passing through Galena, IL stop for about 45 minutes and tour this house, especially in the spring, they have lovely gardens. Check out there website!




Mrs. Grant's family bible (from 1890) in the sitting room.

After our pit stop, we proceeded on to Dubuque to check into the hotel and get ready for the big homecoming football game. Jeff ran into a couple of old friends. Note to the reunion committee, if you are inviting people to the football game, you should have a meeting spot so everyone can sit together. I was surprised at the amount of people that were at the game. Bellevue has a ton more people, but then again we only have one high school, and nothing else for kids to do on Friday night. We stayed until half-time and then headed back to the hotel to hang out with Jeff’s brother and cousin (great to see you Jason and Justin! or I’ve started to call you Jastin ..LOL). This is where you went to high school?



I think the best event of the weekend was on Saturday morning. We arrived at Jeff’s old school and toured the facility with the current principle. I was blown away with how big his high school was. It turns out they had made a lot of changes to the school over the past 20 years and no one could believe how much things had changed. After the tour, Jeff’s sister, Samantha and his brother Tommy, brought our awesome nieces (Abby and Ashlyn) and terrific nephew Aidan up for a visit. We swam (for like 5 hours!) and had lunch and had a great time talking and hanging out. Next stop, 1990.



Jeff hanging in the library, wonder how many time that actually happened in high school?



All ready for Homecoming!  LOL!


So the dinner was interesting. Some people chose to dress like 1990 and some people thought that jeans and t-shirts made the best impression. It was interesting. There was a Hawaiian theme. Now, I know that I have not ever planned a high school reunion, and I know that every event should have a theme, but shouldn’t the theme be high school? Shouldn’t the decorations reflect the school colors? That’s what I would have done. But, Jeff had a great time and was smiling from ear to ear when we left (despite WI beating Ohio State that night). The party goes on….



Is it just me or does the guy in the middle look like Randy Travis?


After the reunion we headed up to the Diamond Jo Casino to meet up with some more friends and family. We listened to the band for awhile, but we were just beat. If you are falling asleep during the cover KISS’ “Dr. Love” – you know it’s time to head it on home. We headed back to the hotel and crashed. We woke up Sunday, relaxed and refreshed. It was just what we needed!

Have a great rest of the week…we have a pretty interesting weekend coming up, can’t wait to tell you about it!



~Cyn