Last week we got up at 5:00 AM so we could get to we Living History Farms by Des Moines good by 9:00. They have 3 farm places. The first farm was how the Indians lived. There was a buffalo hide that they were tanning. Pots and gourds and utensils they made and a small garden. You walked along a path to the next 1850's farm. They had a milk cow, chickens, ducks, and sheep. The guys were out in the field with a scithe(?spelling) to cut the weeds/grass...They let us try it out. The women were in the house making meals over a fireplace fire. The bed in the house was 1/2 the size in length. Instead of lying down, they reclined against a cabin wall. They were making apple crisp for dessert. As we walked along the path to the 1900's house, we found mullberry trees...which was Michael's favorite thing. The 1900's farm had work horses in the barn, sheep, an old corn crib with a crank machine to shell the corn, a horse drawn manure spreader, carriage, wagons, and planters. They had a grape arbor and apple trees and pear trees. It was fun seeing the old fashioned things and how they were used. By the end of seeing the farms we were hungry and tired. We ate at a restaurant near Living History Farm called the Machine Shed. Portions were huge and it all tasted good. We went back to Living History Farms and visited the 1900's town with board sidewalks. The blacksmith was making knives and swords...James and Michael got to help make the forge hotter by turning a crank that blew air through the forge. The store/pharmacy had live leeches and the pharmacist made pills. There was a one room school house, church, bank, coffin maker, times period house and a mansion. Someone made brooms from straw. We had beautiful weather. It was fun seeing all the stuff. By that time everyone was tired. We took a quick trip to the gift shop. Back at the Holiday Inn the kids went swimming and then crashed. It was a fun day.

Family Picture

Last week we spent a day at Adventureland, by Des Moines. Here's our picture.

Rie M

Sarah was painting with watercolor last night. I thought her picture of Rie was pretty good, so here it is.

Rie flies to San Francisco on Saturday, so her time here is getting short.

She's been a joy to have. We will miss her when she leaves.

- The Hooyers

Trip to the Omaha Zoo

Here's the first animal we saw at the zoo. An Austrian pygmy heifer, only 4 inches tall.

OK, so this isn't a picture from the zoo.

Rebecca and Rie were out taking pictures and took this one at Paul's place.

Charity and Rie in the haymow at Grandpa and Grandma Sandbulte.

I think they were looking to find some brome to take to the zoo to feed the pygmy heifers.

More preparation for the zoo trip.
Our big game hunters, James and Rie, sighting in their guns.
You never know when some wild animal will escape and charge you.
(See picture below)

It's true. Goats will eat anything, rocks included.

"The Jungle"

Jim S. and the kids met us at the zoo.

That's Gracie between Rie and Charity.

Levi is next to James.

My cap made the picture, too.

The butterfly house was new.
The fact that it was air conditioned was a big plus, too.

Another "jungle" picture -- the lower level this time.

Charity, me, Jim, and the twins.

We had just seen some huge fish, and Gracie is entranced with tiny guppies.

Michah is checking me out instead of the animals, .
Go figure.

Kings of the hill - Michael and Levi.

Cool hat Michael.

Here's the kids and me resting after a hard day at the zoo.

For more zoo pictures, go to Sarah's blog.

Rie's Pictures

Here's some pictures from our new guest from Japan. Rie is staying with us through August.

Above left: Charity and Rie

Above right: Rie visited the Mall of America before flying in to Sioux Falls.

Here's the "Bucket Brigade." James, Rebecca, Michael, and Rie. --->

Not sure who is holding the piglet, but this was taken at Grandpa and Grandma Sandbulte's farm. The kids spent part of a day there in the haymow, playing with the pigs, and swinging on the tree swing.

Sarah and Rie at Oak Grove Park. James and Michael came along with them and ran the trails.

We have two new ponies now. Sorry no pictures of them here.
The kids (mainly the boys) are riding them almost every day. It sounds like Dillan wants to ride them a bit, too. They're a nice size for the smaller kids, so hopefully they continue to get ridden a lot.

Rebecca + Roommates: Euro Journal Entry

(Rebecca is wearing the "Italy" jacket.)
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Day 8: July 14, 2008

Hey parents! Today we spent the day in Lucerne, Switzerland. We got to sleep in until 8...and then enjoyed the luxuries of an actual shower. We loved having big towels. The breakfast here at Anker Hotel was good... we had delicious bread and fruit and stuff.

At 9:30 we went on a walking tour of Lucerne. We had this sweet guide named Blanca who was raised in the mountains near Lucerne. The walking tour was rainy and cold and we were all sopping wet by the end, but it was nice change from the humidity of Venice.

We went into a palace in Lucerne that had beautiful stone pillars. We then went across this beautiful wood bridge from the 1400s. There were cool paintings on it depicting swiss legends... part of the bridge burned down but was rebuilt. We saw a monument for swiss soldiers, The dying Lion. Mark Twain once wrote "This is the saddest rock I've ever seen". The tour ended there and we made our way to a swiss shop to buy souvenirs and presents.

We took a boat and then the cogwheel train to Mt. Pilatus (or as we liked to call it Mt. Pilates).. the height was a bit terrifying but the view was incredible! We went down the mountain in a cable car. We are all agreed we would like to live in Lucerne even though it rained..

****Paula, Elisabeth, Rebecca & Hannah****

Nymphenburg

This was taken from the Euro tour web-site....

Munich guided sightseeing tour. Nymphenburg palace: lots of good, beautiful paintings, room of beauties. Crazy drivers! I have never seen so many u turns in my life. Also I went to the bathroom next to a computer hard drive. The food was good though and not to expensive. Dachau: To be completely honest we are speechless. The feeling as we walked in was one I will never forget. Everything was just silence even the talkative girls hushed their voices. As we drive away the only thing I wish more from the experience was more time. From being there I have a sense of sadness but I am also determined to do all in my power to keep the holocaust known so it will never happen again. However words will never be able to describe the experience. After visiting Dachau we went back to Marienplatz and did more shopping and exploring. It was fun and unique. For dinner we went to Hard Rock Cafe; the food was awesome! On our way home we took the tram and called it a night.*****Devan, Sara & Angelica****