4th Of July

We woke up in Dixon on the 4th to the lovely sound of rain. Our window in the hotel looked out onto endless miles of green fields. It was warm and rainy all day and the three of us couldn't have been happier with that days weather. We had looked up the forecast before we left San Diego and got all giddy when it said thunder showers for the 4th.

We arrived at GG's house in our raincoats and summer clothes. It was the perfect Midwest summer rainy day, all dark, warm, and perfect for sitting on the porch watching the world go by.

My Grandma loves that Emma sings and dances. Emma's favorite song right now is "It's A Small World" after our trip to Disneyland. Of course Emma's GG thought that was great and asked her to sing to everyone that came to the house, Emma was all too happy to oblige her new audience.


The rain, of course, did not stop Emma and Grandma from enjoying her childhood home and yard. My mom was thrilled to get to show Emma around the place she grew up. And Emma was delighted to go along and discover it all.Donald decided that it was time for coffee and said he was going to locate the closest place to serve up a good latte, my dad immediately jumped up and said I'll go along. He was eager to ride in the Prius (though he would never admit that). As much as he disliked them, he wanted to go for a ride to see what it was like. Emma joined them and I got in some quiet time with my Grandma. Donald returned empty handed which made me sad, but said we would try again the next day

Before my Uncle Keith, Aunt Cheryl, cousin Mike with wife Bridget and son Ben showed up GG invited Emma inside to give her a new book. Emma was over the moon. There isn't much that Emma likes as much as a new book and this one is a flip the flap which Emma loves!!

While we were waiting for our guest, Grandma and GG got is some special time with their little Emma so Daddy and Mommy went exploring the house.

The house was built in 1860 by the original owners whom had a daughter that loved the story The House of the Seven Gables by Hawthorne published in 1851 and wanted a house with seven gables too. My grandparents purchased this house (which is referred to as a stick home) when my mom and her twin brother Keith were just toddlers. It had no indoor plumbing, which meant the house had an outhouse and a cistern for a refrigerator. There is a cellar and the top most window is the attic where the maid quarters were. There is a servants staircase leading from the kitchen to the master bed room for house cleaning and a laundry shoot that leads right to the cellar.

Under this stair case in the main entry was where they would hide slaves in the underground railroad when the house was first built.
Then it was time to ascend the long staircase, okay from my childhood it was much bigger much like everything else, I think the house shrunk threes sizes.

And into the the bedroom my sisters and I would sleep in when visiting my Grandma. It was so overwhelming to be there. So many memories at every turn. The long hot nights in the summer with no air-conditioning, to thinking how big these beds were at the time and now seem so small. Bernadette and Linette usually shared a bed because they both complained that I would kick in my sleep.
It was wonderful seeing pictures from when my mom was little still hanging in her room. This picture is of her and her twin brother at one of their birthdays.We went into the master bedroom (which was still the same) as well as the room my brother would sleep in (now just a store room) and opted not to go up to the attic. Grandma warned us of the bats that sometimes get up there.

My relatives arrived but sadly I never took any pictures of our 4th of July lunch. Emma being the every social and confident little girl greeted all her new relatives with big hugs! There just isn't a shy bone in her body.

We had a wonderful time with my Uncle Keith and Aunt Cheryl. They remembered so much from my visits as a child and it was fun catching up with current events. My cousin Mike's son was going to be in the big, national youth basketball tournament in Indiana, so they were not going to be coming back the next day for the parade and festivities. I was so glad that they could make it out on the 4th. It was wonderful getting to see them all.

Donald took Emma to nap at the hotel (apparently only Daddy fell asleep) and everyone went home. So we waited for Donald and Emma to come back and then we were off to dinner. When they got back Donald had a latte from a place called Books on First. He shared and I loved it. It's refreshing to know that there are still parts of the world untouched by Starbucks.


We went out for Pizza to save GG and my mom from cooking and cleaning one more time and enjoyed the drive through Dixon. There was a fair on at the high school and the whole town was in festivities.
Emma was still having fun in the warm rainy evening and enjoying that she was getting to stay up till 9 (even though it was still only 7 in San Diego) Of course the fireflies were out again and Emma was all over chasing them.

Grandma and Emma enjoyed a bit of porch singing and dancing with a last romp to make sure all lawn decorations were still perfect for tomorrows big party. Then it was back inside.

Daddy got in some quiet rain time with mommy on the patio and Emma got some fun play time with Grandpa in GG's living room. My mom had got some fun cars for Emma to play with and Grandpa and Emma had fun rolling them at each other all over.
Emma stole Grandpa's hat and insisted that her GG would look beautiful in it.

Now Emma's turn before returning Grandpa's hat.

Big kisses for GG before heading back to the hotel.