I made my first batch of jam this weekend! I had to find a recipe that only needed a hot water bath since I still don’t have a pressure cooker! I had a listener call to say they were going to drop one off for me…but it never showed up…so I wait for the pressure cooker. But I did find a recipe for Strawberry Rubarb Jam that should be really yummy! I keep meaning to try it - but I sleep to late in the morning to have time to even make my toast with jam! It sure looks pretty in the jar….I added the fabric for a little bit of flare!

It kicked off last night with the Rich Shield Memorial fireworks after the bluebirds game! Today we have the parade at 1pm and don’t miss me Beseda Dancing at 8:30 tonight in Sokol park. The polka mass happens tomorrow…as well as the crowning of the Czech Days Queen! Hope to see you there! I will be announcing the parade today by the manor if you want to stop by!

We are on the bus traveling toward home today. We will wrap up this trip by tonight and all go on our ways having seen some great places and meeting even greater people. See pictures from our last day of events together in Chicago. What a great trip it was!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.136146219796013.34204.109725402438095&l=d5239bb653

We met both Senator Johanns of Nebraska and Senator Thune of South Dakota. More photos below:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135595576517744.33929.109725402438095&l=7ea7f978ee

We visited the Smothsonians today…at least a couple. We hit up the Museum of American History  & then the Museum of Natural History. After that we went to the Holocaust Museum….and those that wanted to stay spent a few hours at Union Station and traveled on an open air bus for a night tour of the city! DC just has a whole different feeling at night - takes on a whole different life! See some of the pictures from today at the link below…we get to go through the capital tomorrow!

They organized this line themselves!

It was HOT, HOT, HOTTTTT today…and promises to be near 100 degrees again tomorrow! More pictures from today at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135402599870375.33843.109725402438095&l=0a16594149

I got my computer cord today…. so here is a quick catch up on our pictures:

The 16 brave souls that traveled from DC to our hotel via the Metro last night:

The travelers on our bus:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135201736557128.33747.109725402438095&l=6415c10059

Gettysburg Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135205229890112.33749.109725402438095&l=22cd1681a6

Arlington Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135207463223222.33751.109725402438095&l=707090aac6

The Monuments & Mt. Vernon:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135254546551847.33781.109725402438095&l=7cc0a0070e

We spent the day with a guided tour of downtown Chicago. Now we are on our way to Indianapolis….and may be going through some Thunderstorms to get there. Looks like they could have had some bad weather pass through this afternoon… lots of leaves and branches on the ground - some hail and wind. Hope we stalled long enough to miss it!

We did get a chance to wander around Millennium Park today… and my favorite part was of course the Bean (aka Cloudgate). It is like taking your picture in a fancy funhouse mirror…

Nona and Larry traveled with my to NYC 2 summers ago!

More pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.134502616627040.33434.109725402438095&l=c1e6a70802

Before I left for DC yesterday…we did manage to move a few things into our new house - just before our first wedding anniversary tomorrow! There is still a lot of little stuff to move…but it is at least started and now waiting in boxes for my return.

See what some of the unpacking looks like! So neat to see the furniture in our house - now I can’t wait to actually get to come back and use it!!!

More Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.134449256632376.33413.109725402438095&l=5d96aa956d

I am all about bangin’ on random things with sticks… so check out these guys jam out making sweet sounds of summer!

We leave on the bus in just 3 hours! Follow all our DC travels HERE!

I have pictures of the new carpet in… I already have a few pictures of some of the furniture on top of the new carpet…. but I keep forgetting my camera at the house! Plus - with all the moving and getting ready to leave for DC tomorrow… I cannot seem to find everything I need to pack! Half is here in Yankton and the other half at the new house in Tabor!

And my husband would kill me if I said this on the radio today…so I will leave it here for the few that stop by every now and again - we stayed in the new house last night AND decided we needed to lock all the doors (not really sure why) but he came to regret that in the early morning hours today! I left the house at 4:15 this morning - as we have no plumbing yet and needed to return to my apartment to shower this morning. My husband - still noting the lack of plumbing - decided to venture out this morning not fully dressed yet only to discover that once I had left - he was unable to get back into the house! Luckily most of his things are still in his parents house - which is only a block or so away….and luckily it was 4am and very few critters were awake to see his venture to gather some clothes! Now to figure out how to get back in….