Day 8 – And Now, Week 2

Day 7 was to be the end of Yeager Boys Home Alone II. Amy’s 7-day trip to Holland was to end for her boss Gary. The trip had gone smooth, very smooth, the two remarked at dinner Wednesday night while in Germany. You can do that in Europe, run to another country and come back and not think twice about it.

That changed overnight Wednesday as a volcano in Iceland created the worst air travel conditions since 9-11. Virtually every flight west from Europe has been cancelled going on 3 days.

The comments this blog has received included, “really, stuck in Europe, on the company dime?” “Ah, too bad.” Or, “I can think of worse places to be stuck than in Amsterdam.” All respect to Coffeyville, Kansas, but being stuck in Amsterdam is better than being stuck in Coffeyville.

Right now, she’s scheduled to take a flight Monday from Amsterdam. I’m not holding my breath. Her travelling party will likely go back to the factory for a few days of work if Monday doesn’t work to fly home.

That doesn’t make it any easier for Amy when she wants to be home. So do the 2 others she’s travelling with and the 3 more added today, also trying to get back to Des Moines.

Levi and Noah hanging at Grandma's.

She wants to see these two.

We are fine. We’ve survived Day 3, when blood came running out of Noah’s nose (story on Day 4), to Days 1, 2, and 5 when Levi decided sleeping wasn’t for him.

We’ve taken this show’s encore on the road. I guess Whitesnake couldn’t make the weekend show, so we’re being held over.

Sunset over Shady Grove

The travelling road show is in Shady Grove for a few days. If you’re a burglar reading this, the garage code is 1234. My address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Oh, and the dog only took 4 arms last year. He must be getting milder since I adopted him from Michael Vick.

Levi slept the entire way north, so he was nowhere close to going to bed. Noah was just excited to be wound up by Farmer Papa. When the finally went to sleep, the boys did well.

Noah tries on Lawrence's Army hat.

Our day was full of distractions, including a trip to Aunt Eve’s place in Fairbank. The soon to be 97-year-old left the farm in the fall of 2009 and now we’re sorting through the house. Actually, my mother is sorting, pitching, burning, finding and discovering what living in the same house since 1947 looks like. Mom and Aunt Lynda think they’ve spent at least 6 weeks working in that house. Mom has done countless other things to get Eve to doctors, specialists and now her new living arrangements in Independence.

Noah and Farmer Papa talk farming. Kent gives no bull. Yeah. Right.

Dad started planting corn Friday, so he was back in the field Saturday. So Noah got to see Farmer Papa in action.

And during the afternoon we got to watch the St. Louis Cardinals play the New York Mets. We started watching and Dad came in for a bit and left about the 5th inning. He went out to plant some corn. He came back around 8 and had planted 35 acres with his little 8-row planter. The game was still not over.

The near 7 hour contest is finally done. For the record, the flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis is 9 hours. She would be almost home in that time.

Day 6 rains down volcanic ash on our fun

Who knew that a volcano in Iceland would lead to a lot more fun for us here in Ankeny?

This is what happens when you sleep, Levi.

After a great night of sleep by the smiling gentleman pictured at left, following Day 5, which didn’t happen on Day 4, I turned on the news in the morning to see that volcanic ash is shutting down airports all over Europe. Including Amsterdam. That’s where Amy was to fly out late Thursday. Emphasis on the word was.

That has changed our plans a bit. Amy will get a couple of extra days in Europe and I get a couple of extra days with the boys by myself in the YBHAII.

Now we have to make alternate plans, but that will be the fun part.

Where to go? Plenty of nice offers from friends and family to help out, but we may make another trip to Grandma Honey’s house. That was hit in the first round of fun back in February.

Noah and Levi still smiling after a few days with their dad.

After another bit of help from Wil and Paula, the boys and I will head north to Jesup and Shady Grove. Farmer Papa just had a birthday, now Noah can now say Happy Birthday in person, instead of in this video. Dad is in the field, so maybe Noah can enjoy a tractor ride or something. Today, though, it was Papa Fish and not Farmer Papa.

Another great day to be at Principal Park in Des Moines and the I-Cubs.

I declared today in the name of Ferris Bueller and took the day off. The Memphis Redbirds only come to Des Moines twice a year and today was the last game of the homestand. I enjoy seeing the future of the St. Louis Cardinals organization. The regulars were not in Section 10, so I sat next to Uncle Jerry Grady. Jerry will be retiring from IPTV in a little over a month after close to 35 years in the production department. More on Jerry as we get closer to the big day.

Before the game started, I ran into former Wartburg football player Mark Hargrafen. Harv as he was known at Wartburg is now a cardiac nurse in Des Moines. Turns out, Harv is good friends with a friend of Jerry’s, so we sat and chatted for most of the game.

It is a small world afterall.

By the way, Cardinal fans, Rich Hill, now pitching for Memphis, did not look good. Rough outing for Rich.

Time to start packing and getting ready for the trip north. We’ll see what new adventures Day 7 brings us.

Day 6 Travel to Shady Grove

We made a trip north today.

Noah in a really big boy bed.

North to the other side of family and Grandma Honey and Farmer Papa. I finished work on our Iowa Journal discussion on mental illness and a feature on the basketball and other abilities of Harrison Barnes, then loaded up the boys and hit the road.

We are here. Noah is excited to sleep in the big waterbed with Dad. You can see how big the bed is. I got that bed when I was in 2nd grade, so I was about the same size as Noah.

Friday is a fun day for the boys with Grandma and Grandpa while I head to a meeting.

The boys will get to enjoy a day in the Shady Grove neighborhood. Should be fun.