The national news has now covered the re-opening of Trans-Atlantic air routes. Pictures of reunions of friends and families who had not seen each other since the Covid lockdown began have now been on TV and in the newspapers. None of these stories featured our son and his family. They deserve recognition now as they visited us from Finland a few weeks ago. When we last saw them in the flesh our granddaughters were 4 and 7 and guess what! They have changed a lot in two years.
As at least some of you know, our son David married, Lotta, a lovely Finnish woman and they have brought two beautiful little girls into the world and our lives. They are named Frida and Selma and will have the starring role in this post. David works for the Kone elevator company in Helsinki and they all live in a suburb of Helsinki called Espoo. Here's to their visit and to the two main photographers--Lotta and Grandpa Jim.
On both ends of the trip David and family ended up in downtown Chicago for a few days. They marveled at the wonders of the El.
They enjoyed a marvelous Halloween Parade.
And along the way they made friends with Chicago's finest,--even getting a best costume prize on one excursion
That looked like fun, but for us the excitement began with the engine light of Amtrak's California Zephyr coming in sight as we waited on the platform in Galesburg, IL.
The train pulls in.
There they are.
And here we all are.
Grandma gets to hold a little hand once more.
With the rental car collected, we headed to Monmouth for our first meal together. It was a celebratory one topped out by a special birthday cake as both of our granddaughters had just had their birthdays.
They are now 6 and 9
The girls loved the glorious ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. None of the Finn's had ever had or seen one before.
There wasn't much left after we all tucked into it.
After arriving in Monmouth, David began going through material that he had left in our attic when he left Minneapolis to take up residence in Finland. There were also plenty of books and records that he had to decide to preserve or leave behind for us to dispose of.
The weather was so nice that we were able to enjoy a sit down on our lovely front porch.
Our first sightseeing trip took us to Peoria to see the Dinosaur exhibit at the Riverfront Museum.
On the way back we made a stop at the Wildlife Prairie Park where we saw the bison and
rode the train
All along the tracks there were blow up figures for Halloween.
Some decorations were too skinny to be blow ups.
It was a long day, but a nice snuggle under the covers in momma and poppa's bed was just the ticket for Selma.
Monmouth was also "craft central" and all the tables in the house were stacked high with projects.
Play dough was a popular choice.
I'm not sure how Frida made this one but I think Van Gogh might be pleased.
Much of the output ended up on our refrigerator.
This happy ghost was my favorite.
Our next excursion took us to Camp's Orchard and pumpkin patch a few miles outside of Monmouth. Frida, Selma, and Amy wished everyone a Happy Halloween.
The orchard had a nice pumpkin patch.
Selma, our little pumpkin, is always happy to put on a big smile and pose.
We rode a wagon pulled by a tractor out into the apple orchard.
The apples were everywhere and red and ripe.
This young picker loved his job.
Of course our little leapers preferred the Jump Pad.
Selma is still smiling.
Frida looks so grown up in this photo. It is hard to believe that she made her first trip to the United States when she was literally a babe in arms.
Trip number two, given our closeness to one of the great rivers in the world, was to the Gladstone Lock and Dam #18 on the Mississippi. It is less than thirty minutes from our house in Monmouth. Grandma and Selma loved to look at all the pelicans fishing around the dam.
They are just little dots in this photo, but
they are impressive when you see them closeup.
We were lucky to catch sight of a tow heading upriver and toward the lock.
We all had a closeup view of the barges being pushed into the lock chamber by the tow boat.
One of the lock keepers rode a little tricycle along the side as the barges were being squeezed in.
The locks have been totally fenced in since the 9/11 attacks, so after the locking was finished, we walked downstream a bit so our Finns could tell everyone in Helsinki that they had dipped a toe in the "Big Muddy."
All this running around made everyone hungry and that cried out for some vittles at our very favorite restaurant in Galesburg-- The Landmark. There was plenty of time for snaps and selfies while we waited for our food.
I like this one of David and Lotta
And here's our all grown up Frida again.
Selma is looking a bit more pensive than usual.
The next day we all drove to Cedar Rapids, IA. Our daughter Amy lives there and Grandma and Grandpa have just moved there. Their new digs are at the Grand Living senior community where they have a bright and and roomy 2BR apartment on the 4th floor.
I am planning to give everyone a full tour of our new home at a later date. Right now the emphasis will remain on the Finns with just a little tease on what is behind this door.
Amy and the girls did think it was a "too cool." apartment though.
There was plenty to do in Cedar Rapids other than visiting our new abode. We had a yummy pizza party at Amy and Todd's house that even included roasting s'mores around a fire pit. The girls did a lot of swimming at the pool at the Hampton Inn where they stayed, but Halloween continued to call, so we struck out to visit another pumpkin farm.
There was another hay wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch
This time Grandma and Grandpa stayed behind while the driver chatted Amy and the girls up.
Luckily Grandpa had his big camera along and was able to snap a nice closeup of three of the sweetest human beings on this planet.
I trust you noted that the wagon was pulled by a John Deere tractor. These are the iconic machines in this part of the world. There was another more vintage John Deere on site that could be used for pictures. Frida jumped on and loved getting some early driving practice.
We checked out a few other animals on display
and then had the girls pose for a true American Gothic photo. Grant Wood was a Cedar Rapids resident and had his main painting studio there.
Another big trip while in Cedar Rapids was to the Children's Museum in the big mall just outside of Iowa City. Amy and the girls had a ball while David and Lotta shopped.
They checked out all the teeth.
Then took over the bank.
Plenty of sipping went on.
Ice cream was on the menu as well.
Hanging out was also a popular activity.
Then a bummer. All too soon we were back at the Galesburg train station waiting for their return train to Chicago.
ALL ABOARD!
We waved a final good bye from the platform and this was how it looked from the train as it pulled out of the station. Two days later Finn Air carried our visitors non-stop back to Helsinki and their home.
We love you so much Frida and Selma. We can't wait until we can hug you again.
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