Iowa - Sunday, May 27th

On Sunday, we drove down the road to the old farm house.  This house was built in 1863 and Grandpa's grandparents (Paul D. and Floy) were the first in our family to move in - 1917/1918.  Great Grandpa Harold was born in this house in December of 1919.

This is the farm where Grandpa grew up and where Great Grandma Velda and Great Grandpa Harold  lived until they built her current home "in town" in 1972 (about a mile away).  

The house and land still belong to Great Grandma Velda but she leases them both out.  The land is still being used to grow corn.  Lots of corn!

We spent a fair amount of time wandering around, checking everything out.  Like these corn cribs,

(Great Great Grandpa Paul D's initials on the door)

the old hog house,

the old tree behind the hog house,

the barn,

and the wash house.

Grandpa even got the door open a little so we could peek inside at the old machines...

and the refrigerator that was in the farm house while he was growing up.

Then, we had to take some pictures of the family back on the farm, 

and the farm house with Great Grandpa Harold's bird bath that he made as a young adult.

Nana wants to move it to her house in Texas.

The farm house has had many add ons over the years but in "recent" years has been maintained only by the current tenant and will be torn down when he and his wife move out.  (Great Grandma Velda is just waiting and can't believe he still wants to live there!)

Then we left that farm to drive around Waukee and find Great Grandma Velda's childhood home.  This one, that her father Orville B built in 1916, has been very well maintained but is no longer in the family - sold by her older brother so that his family could build a house in town.

We continued our tour and saw where the corn grown on Great Grandma's land is stored these days...

as well as the bank on the Waukee "triangle" (Grandpa pointed out that Waukee is too small to have a town SQUARE) where Great Grandma Velda used to work...

and Great Great Grandpa Paul D. and Great Great Grandma Floy's house "in town."  (Daddy has memories of visiting this house.)

The total area covered between all of these "historical" (for our family) places was not very much and Great Grandma Velda and Grandpa could tell us stories about every single farm and farmhouse we passed.  We saw where Great Grandma Velda's one room school house used to be and traced her walk to school - we also heard about how her mother would have to call down to the neighboring farm to tell them she and her brother were coming because the neighbors had a big ferocious dog that they would pull in the house.

When we got home, the storytelling wasn't over and Daddy sat with Great Grandma on the couch to look at old pictures.

Like this one of her parents, Orville and Susan B.

This one of Orville's mother, Sarah Anne, and second husband.

Orville's mother, Sarah Anne, and twin sister, Mary Ake.

This one of Great Grandpa Harold's family - Great Great Grandpa Paul D, Great Great Grandma Floy, Great Grandpa Harold, Great Uncle Johnny, Great Aunt Suzanne.

And Great Grandma Velda's family - Great Great Grandpa Orville, Great Great Grandma Susan, Great Grandma Velda, and Great Uncle Galen.

Then we took a few pictures of our own.  The family in attendance...

and Great Grandma with her great grandbabies.

Shortly after that we were out the door and feasting on a delicious dinner at Great Uncle Jeff (Nana's brother) and Great Aunt Donna's house.  Once our meal was complete, the kids hurried outside to play...

(second cousins: Daddy's cousin, Stacy's, daughters - Ava and Mya)

and then undress...

for some sprinkler fun!

Then we enjoyed some time sitting out on the patio (pictured L-R: Daddy, Nana, Everett, Ava, Stacy, Mya, Great Aunt Donna, Emily)...

(picured L-R: Great Uncle Jeff, Grandpa, Stacy's husband Dan)

until dessert was served.

It was Everett's first apple cobbler a la mode and he thought it was mighty delicious.

Emily just elected for the ice cream...

and, not surprisingly, finished every drop...

before getting dressed and joining the girls on the swing set.

It was a great day, full of lots of family time and great history!

*last names will be added when I print this post in a book because I think they are important in this instance... I intentionally leave them off of the blogs