Travel photo hodgepodge

Here are a few more photos that just didn't fit in with any of the other vacation posts, so they will go here:

Markkkk & Jean (Very silly!)

Rachel & Molly

A trio of Smith girls

This is a photo of an old military photograph that hangs on my mother-in-law's wall. This gentleman (Gerhardt) is an Okie relative who served in WWI; however, he died in an army hospital from influenza. When I see this portrait, I am always amazed at how much my Mr. Smith favors this particular Wehrmann ancestor. What do you think?!

Miss Millie was oblivious to the fact that this pose was captured. Love it!

Yikes! There are things that are allowed or tolerated at Grandma & Grandpa's house that we'd never do in California. Both UJ and G-pa took Liesey out for driver's ed. training. Our girl received an "A" from her instructors. :-) It won't be THAT long until we can legally allow her behind the wheel. (I think she is counting down the days. 300 days is a close estimate.)

Safety goggles make a fun fashion statement!

Utensil man has a tool for grilling EVERYTHING!

Retro girl

The Dixie Chopper strikes again...

Sliders, anyone?

We got to visit with Todd & Becky for a couple of hours before we went to the Indy 'port. We could have spent a lot more time catching up with these two dear friends. :-)

Windy City

We just HAD to make a visit to Chi-town during our Midwestern stay. We drove for a few hours to get to East Chicago, IN, then took a 40 minute train ride to Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, IL.

First stop: American Girl Place at Water Tower Place. AG recently relocated its Chicago store to the Magnificent Mile. It is a little girl wonderland! Millie used some of her money (with just a wee bit of $ help from Mom & Dad) to adopt the newest historical doll, Rebecca. She's beautiful!

Sisters!

We then headed for the Russian Pointe Dance Boutique at the other end of Michigan Avenue. This proved to be a dancer's delight! Liesey had an appointment to be fitted in pointe shoes, so she received very personalized attention. She tried on too many shoes to count, but finally found the right ones. Fits can be fun... Our ballerina purchased a few other "must-have" items & left with a big smile on her face.
The tutus in the window start at $1300 & go UP, depending on how it is embellished. No, we didn't buy one. (Click on the photo to see a larger image.)

One happy customer...

Last (and tastiest) stop: Pizzeria Uno on Ohio Street for Chicago style pizza. We had to wait for 45 minutes until our deep dish 'za arrived at our table; however, it was well worth the wait. This culinary treat was for the Smith boys who so patiently endured the shopping at AG and RP and all other shopping stops in between.


Back to the train, back in the car, and over the river & through the woods to Grandmother's (and Grandfather's) house we go... By the time we got on the train, we had walked over 4.5 miles in downtown Chicago. It's a good thing we all wore comfy shoes. It rained so hard on the drive back to my parents' that Mr. Smith couldn't see the road at times -- it was a real toad strangler. Or perhaps a gullywasher?

Independence Day

When we woke up this morning, the bonfire was still smoldering, despite the rain showers. Our Fourth was soggy outdoors, but fun & festive indoors. Mom & Dad hosted a get together of 30 people -- relatives & friends from near & far.

I am going to post a few photos of the day's events. There were no fireworks & no fire dept., just a few streaks of lightning & a boom or two of thunder. Awesome...

Red, white, and PINK? hats!

The Thompson fam.

The Smithlings & their maternal grandparents

G-pa & Molly

Cousins!

Dress-up with old (yet still stylish!) hats
Aren't they cute?

She said, "Yes!"

UJ proposed to RJ. They made the BIG announcement in Indiana. Yeah!!!! :-) We are all so "lucky" (No, actually we are blessed!) to have Robin join our fam. See the pics for more details!

Next stop -- Hoosierland! Fire & Fireworks

Arsonists?
Who dropped that match? I don't know about you, but I'm seeing two young ladies near the scene of the crime. Yes, it was an intentional action. Burn, baby burn...

With a little push from the tractor, the entire brush pile soon ignited.

The flames were REALLY high -- perhaps too high. A well-intentioned neighbor called the fire dept., so that added a little more interest to the night's events. Sirens wailed, lights flashed, & several volunteer firemen arrived on the scene along with a few lookie-loos. Excitement prevailed. Thankfully, the fire was not extinguished... We think that the cookies that the firemen were given helped to convince them that this was an acceptable sized fire. No citations, no reprimands. :-)

'Smores, anyone?

As if having the fire dept. make a visit wasn't enough "fun" for one evening, we had to shoot off a few fireworks. Oooh... Ahhh... And it's not even Independence Day. What will we do for an encore?

OK Tour

It was 105 degrees when we landed in Tulsa. Now that's HOT! Despite the heat, we enjoyed a laid back visit in Enid, Oklahoma. (Enid = dinE backwards. Dine we did.) We also visited with family & friends, drank lots of water to keep cool, & we ate a little pie -- every day.

In honor of our visit, my dear mother-in-law made:

2 coconut creme pies

2 blueberry pies

1 peanut butter pie

2 blackberry pies

There was no shortage of dessert, and no, we didn't eat all of the pie during our four-day visit. We gave it our best shot... :-) Sorry, no photos of Mrs. Smith's pie buffet. Trust me, they were beautiful & tasty.

I'm sure that this lawn chair has seen many hot, humid summers. And I am sure that a few folks have even been served pie as they were seated in this chair. I really liked this photo, so I had to share it...

Grandma Florence is surrounded!

G-ma & Liesey

On Sunday afternoon, we took a drive to Lahoma to the Krueger family farm to visit with the Okie-cousins.

Look out! That's Millie behind the wheel!

The Smithlings' 2nd cousins Suzanna, Rebecca, Weston, and Maverick have all grown so much since we last saw them last year. You know me... I just had to get a group photo. It was rather difficult getting everyone to hold still long enough to take this picture, but I finally did it!

Mr. Smith got to see his ol' buddy Steve. They are being silly here. "Suck/tuck." Don't ask.

After we left Enid, we spent one night in T-town. Nathan, M., & Liesey went to see the Transformers movie at the Imax theatre, while Mr. Smith, Millie, and I did a little shopping. We then ate at Zio's. YUM!!!

Our road trip from Tulsa to Indiana began on the morning of July 1st. No, we didn't stop at the "World's Largest McDonald's" affectionately known within our fam. as McWeeWee, but I had to snap a photo as we approached this turnpike treasure.

After a stop in Joplin, MO, to purchase lots of "really-cool-aerial-fireworks-that-you-cannot-buy-in-California," we met up with UJ as he was driving from AZ to IN. The Smithlings all decided to ride with their uncle, so Mr. Smith & I enjoyed uninterrupted conversation for hours on end as we drove across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. We didn't listen to the radio at all. We just enjoyed 440 miles of talk.