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Summer 2006 was very busy for the
Wildings. Organized activities included piano
lessons for Bill and Jake, violin lessons for Jake, swimming lessons
for Ben and Bill, many baseball games for Bill's and Jake's "Junior
Cougar" teams, a weekend state baseball tournament in Des Moines for
Jake, and
golf tournaments for Bill and Jake. Jake played golf most days,
often walking
to Twin Pines. |
| Grandmom, Uncle Bobby, Sharon, and Girlie visited. Bobby brought enough golf balls to solve a summer long golfball shortage. Bobby's friend set him up with tickets to the John Deere Classic, a PGA event held in the Quad Cities. Several of us attended some of the days. Bill got his Austin golf hat covered in autographs. |   |
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 s on a Roll" logo, which elicited many
comments from passing riders. We spent our first night (Day 5
of RAGBRAI) in Newton. Matt, Martha, Carey, and
Marcy did 40
miles, including 20 miles with Bill (on a tagalong with Matt), Alex (on
a tagalong with Marcy), Ben (in a trailer with Martha), and Jake (on
his
own). Lance Armstrong passed the slugs early that day, and said
"Hey buddy" to Alex. |
| The second night we spent in Williamsburg at Wasserbahn, a waterpark.
We rode many slides, including the fast red slide. Matt, Martha,
Marcy, and Carey all rode RAGBRAI the next day. Matt and Martha
got up early and, with a lot of logistical help from the others, had a
great time together riding the (short for RAGBRAI) Day 6 leg from
Marengo to
Coralville. It was hot, and all the riders consumed tremendous
amounts of food and water on their way. Matt and Marcy rode most
of final day leg, reaching the Mississippi in Muscatine. The next
day the gang
travelled to The Lost Island
Water Park in Waterloo. |
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The Texans left, and the next day we drove to St.
Louis.
We stayed at the Country Inns and
Suites in St. Charles,
MO. We walked on the brick street to a
good dinner at Magpie's,
and the first
n ight Matt walked to the nearby poker game. We
visited the ultracool City
Museum. It is unlike any other
place we know, an amusement park fashioned from industrial
surplus
parts in a style mixing art deco and Mad Max. Everyone
loved it, although
Martha observed
that it seemed nightmare-inducing.
The imaginative,
multistory outside climbing was a particular favorite, and Martha made
it to the top slide with the boys. Highly recommended! |
announced that he is a Cardinal fan, so we procured a Cardinals cap
for him. Martha and the boys
insisted that we arrive at the game 2 1/2 hours early. The park
is beautiful, and the St. Louis fans enthusiastic, although the
Cardinals extended a recent losing streak by playing a lousy game.
Matt disliked spending $4.50 for each (much needed) bottle of
water. Bill talked about Star Wars with the lady seated next to
us. Jake explored the stadium on his own. We were all tired
at the end of a long, fun St. Louis day! |
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We next drove to Evansville, IN
to
visit Uncle Bill, girlfriend Kim, and her daughter Brianna. We
stayed at the Baymont Inn in
East Evansville. Our visit included a day at Holiday World, a great place
that is perhaps best known for providing unlimited soda. The
rides
were thrilling. Ben screamed in delight when he got wet on the
log ride. The waterpark was fun too. The group went on the
lazy river, although Ben insisted on a nonlazy approach, sticking his
head underwater repeatedly. Many waterslides were tried. By
the end of the day we were all tired and hungry. We stopped by
Denny's on the way back to Evansville. We drove back to Cedar Rapids after a long, eventful summer vacation! |
