Reagan's Visit

After our fun at Adventureland we, along with our granddaughter from Waterloo, Reagan, spent the night with Cari and Dave.  The next morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast, and then we started out on our adventure with  Reagan.  

DAY 1:

Our first stop on our way to Sioux Center was in Dexter, IA to visit Drew's Chocolate Shop. Cari told us about this so we looked for it.  The main reason we stopped was because Drew is the name of one of our grandsons so we had to honor him with this stop.  Oh and I guess I have a little bit of a sweet tooth.

This shop is in a house by the highway and they do things by hand.  They taught Reagan how to dip chocolates the old fashioned way.  Yes, we bought candy too.

I always knew it was GOOD to have chocolate.

 Our next stop was DeSoto Wildlife Refuge.  There is a really nice visitor center.  It overlooks a lake where you can view the birds with a telescope.  Reagan was so excited because there was a pelican, and she really loves pelicans.

The eagle's nest.  Guess who the eagles are?

Other exhibits.

Another exhibit, the Bertrand, displays the cargo of the Bertrand ship that sunk on the Missouri River on its way to deliver goods out West.  The river's course changed, and the ship was buried in mud for many years and was finally discovered.  All the cargo was excavated, cleaned, and put on display at the De Soto visitor center.  Unfortunately the exhibit had to be moved because of the flood last year, and they haven't brought it back yet.  It is still in storage somewhere in Omaha.  They are getting it organized, documented, and getting it all cataloged on a data base.  When they are finished, they have plans to return it to the De  Soto Visitor Center.

Our next stop was at Lewis and Clark Park near Onawa, IA where they have a keel boat on a lake.  You can get on it, enjoy it, and take pictures so we did.  It is the kind of boat that Lewis and Clark used on their journey to explore the Missouri and to find out if it led to the open sea.

We had made plans to go to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, but when we got there we discovered it was closed on Mondays, and it was Monday.  Also the Boat Visitor Center closed at 4, and it was after 4.  I guess we'll have to do those another time.

What to do?  We decided to go to the Palmer Candy Store.  Sioux City is home to Palmer Candy Company, and it's always fun to visit their candy store.  Yes, we bought candy here too.

Our next stop was Trinity Heights which is a Catholic respite area with gardens and amazing sculptures of Mary, Jesus, and many saints, and it was especially meaningful to Reagan who attends a Catholic school.  She said this was her favorite place of the day.

Our last stop before finally arriving in  Sioux Center was Le Mars, the ice cream capital of the world.  They have a wonderful ice cream parlor downtown so we thought it was appropriate to have our token ice cream.

We had a full day of points of interest, and it was a great first day with Reagan.

DAY 2:

We started the day off with a bicycle ride on our bike trail here in town.  We visited people we met on the trail which made it fun too.

We bicycled to a park at the other end of town, and then it was time for a call to Mom.

 While in the prairie part of the trail, Reagan sighted a gold finch.  She had gotten a stuffed gold finch at the De Soto Wildlife area the day before so it had special meaning, as well as the fact that it is Iowa's state bird.

After some lunch at Casey's Bakery at our mall, we headed to the swimming  pool where we spent several hours.  Reagan enjoyed the lily pads, swimming around, and going down the slides.

For a snack Reagan enjoyed pistachio nuts, which she said were some of her favorites.

In a nearby town, Luverne, MN, there is still a drive-in theater so we decided to go see Ice Age III in our convertible.  Thanks to Bob for getting the convertible in working order after its having been in storage for a couple of years.  It was so much fun to drive up to Luverne and watch the drive-in movie the old fashioned way, in a convertible.

 We stopped at McDonalds for some ice cream before going home.

Oh, I forgot to mention that after we ate lunch at Casey's Bakery at our mall, we went shopping.  We found this really cute outfit for Reagan, and I think it was made just for her.  I just had to get it for her.  See why?

The end of another fun day.

DAY 3:

Today we decided to drive to  Sioux Falls, SD to visit the Washington Pavilion, where there is a really nice science center, Kirby Science Center.  As we walked up to the building, we saw this outdoor exhibit where you can lift a small car using a very long lever.  Reagan proved it could be done.

 We had lunch at the Da Vinci dafe at the museum  In this restaurant there are multiple pictures of the Mona Lisa with a variety of smiles.  They had this so now the Mona Lisa has a "Reagan" smile.

The first section we visited was the space area

Running out of oxygen?

Trying to build buildings that can withstand the force of earthquakes.

Carefully brushing off sand to reveal the bones of an animal.  Reagan said she really liked doing this and would like to be an archeologist.

ON  THE AIR.

What sounds are like from a distance.

Fun with magnets.

We attended an outdoor talk about reptiles.

This was one of Reagan's favorites, the climbing wall that went horizontally rather than vertically.  She almost made it all across.

On the opposite side of the Washington Pavilion, there was a hanging display of  origami cranes that reached about 4 stories.  It was spectacular.

Here we are creating an animated "movie."

One of the stations in the physical fitness area.

This young lady was so patient with us as she was willing to show us how to do the origami at this station.  We had trouble figuring out the directions, but with her help, we were successful.

More pictures of the origami crane display.

We spent the whole day at the museum and didn't really do it all, most of it though.  It also included the cinedome movie of extreme sports.  Reagan didn't really like the feeling it gave you, and Bob  pretty much took a nap, but I enjoyed it.  We did NOT stay for the Shark movie.  Reagan is not fond of sharks.

After visiting the museum, we drove to Falls Park.  This is were the Big Sioux River runs through Sioux Falls, and this is how Sioux Falls got its name.  We took an elevator up to an observation tower to get a good view.  Then we went to the cafe to eat ice cream while we enjoyed the scenery of the falls.

It was another fun day with Reagan.

DAY 4:

The last day Reagan wanted to go across the street and meet the grandkids that were visiting over there.  We had been invited, but hadn't had a chance to go over yet.  She joined them in doing some art work, playing kick ball, and just hanging out.

Then we went swimming again.

Then it was time to get ready for some volunteer work.  While visiting, Bob taught Reagan some magic tricks to get her ready to perform at a community free meal event where we had agreed to volunteer.    Here are Bob and  Reagan getting their magic tricks ready to go.

We drove there in the convertible so we could have another convertible ride.

Here is the board advertising what they were serving and to advertise the entertainment.  Reagan decided her "stage name" was Bo-Hini.

Reagan did a great job of being flexible during the evening and did her magic tricks in a variety of places for a variety of kids.  Here she is with a couple of them.  Bob also went around the tables and did magic for everyone.  They both had fun.

At the free community meal, which is held once a month, they ask for donations, and with those donations they were able to buy school supplies which they handed out that night.  Also they get donations of baked goods from HyVee, and frozen foods are donated.  People are invited to "shop" and take what they need or want.  After everyone is served, people are invited to take  home left overs.  It's a great service for the community, and we were so glad we were there to volunteer. 

When we got home, Reagan wanted to go to the park just a couple of blocks from our house.  She had fun doing gynmastics, or whatever. You could tell she felt right at home climbing around. 

It was so much fun to have Reagan for these 4 days.  We drove her to Pomeroy Friday where she was going to enjoy a visit with her grandma there and with her aunt and cousins.  We will look forward to another visit in the future.