Dad's Retirement Weekend

We spent a wonderful weekend in Wisconsin celebrating my Dad and his retirement.  It was a BUSY weekend full of fun activities and family time.  Of course, it went by much too fast!  We left here about 5:00 pm Thursday and arrived in WI about 11:00 pm.  Of all that time spent on the road, Jeremiah slept approximately 1 hour!  Sheesh!  So he started off the weekend tired!  And there was no rest for the weary the remainder of the time we were there.

Jeremiah was excited to see his cousin Josie again.  They had so much fun playing together this weekend!

Friday morning we went over to Brookfield Christian School to see the program/parade that the students and teachers performed for my Dad.  It was so great! 

Dad's baby years-- Preschoolers dressed up as babies, pushing strollers.  Adorable!

Dad's growing up years

Bob Wiers: The College Years

First job at Racine Christian School

Can't mention Racine without having some Kringle (which Dad and Mom each have in hand)!

The marriage and family years (this would be the point at which I came along!).

The Calvin Christian School in Escondido, CA years-- woohoo!  Life was just a party at the beach all the time!  Seriously.

 A tribute to Dad's love of baseball.

And the Brookfield Christian School years.

This picture is hilarious-- we have always joked about Dad getting the school mail.  Every. Single. Day.  Except Sunday.  So this student carrying a stack of "school mail" was just perfect!

And then the retirement years-- yes, that is a picture of my Dad on a motorcycle.  I am SURE that will be his first post-retirement purchase.

Josie wasn't too sure about the picture of young Grandpa!

After the program, we headed out to the playground to let Jeremiah and Josie run around.  J went with Auntie Abby to check out the geese (because Mommy refused to.  Geese bite, you know.)

Friday afternoon while the little ones napped, Ben, Matt, Abby, Adam and I went for a Beer-History Tour at the Pabst Brewery.

Ben took a seat at the desk in Captain Pabst's office (he was a steamboat captain, FYI).

 It was a great tour-- very informational, funny, and you don't go home thirsty!

It was so much fun to watch Jeremiah and Josie interact and play together (it had been almost a year since they had seen each other in person!).  Here they are having some iPad fun.

 Yes, Jeremiah has several of Josie's hair barrettes in his hair.

 Friday night was the big program/open house for my Dad's retirement at my parents' church.  It was a really nice evening, and the program portion was very funny at times, and also very touching.  It's easy to see how many lives (students, teachers, parents, etc) my Dad has touched in his many years at various schools.  Also, it is very evident that he is known for "being nice." :)

Phew!  That was a busy day!  But no, we did not rest!  Our family was given tickets to the Brewers/Cubs game on Saturday, and we also got to go to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event before the game.  So we were at Miller Park by 9:00 am!

Jeremiah was a little antsy during this part of the day.  A cereal bar helped a little bit.

We heard Corey Hart and a few of the other Brewers players, as well as the manager, speak about their faith.  It was very cool!

 Yes.  Corey Hart looks exactly like my brother Matt.  Except with a beard.

 And we won an autographed devotional book!

After the FCA event, we had some time to kill before the game started.  So, we headed to the playground in Miller Park!  J and J had the run of the place for almost an hour!

That (along with 2 late nights in a row) must have worn Jeremiah out!  After lunch, while we were waiting in line to buy some peanuts, he fell asleep on my shoulder and proceeded to sleep through the first 4 innings of the game!  I'm not going to lie-- it was awesome.  We never would have made it to the 8th inning if he hadn't slept!

It was a great game-- we even got to see a grand slam!  And of course, the kids loved when Bernie went down the slide!  Although, Jeremiah must have been a bit scared of Bernie because a few times over the course of the weekend he said, "Bernie won't get me?"  I guess he is kinda creepy looking.

Saturday night we threw J and J in the tub together-- they thought that was hilarious!

Then Sunday was Mother's Day!  It was very nice for all of us Wiers siblings to be able to be with our mom on this day-- we have not all been together with her on Mother's Day since 1995!  I think she liked it.  My hubby did a nice job of spoiling me on Mother's Day also, just a bit early before we left for WI with a new ring, cards, and flowers. :)

We enjoyed a nice church service at my parents' church, and then a family lunch at Panera before we started going our separate ways.  Ben left for Chicago, we headed out for Iowa, Abby and Neil took off for Chicago, and Matt and Josie left Sunday night for California. 

WOW.  It was quite a whirlwind weekend, and went by way too fast!  It was so nice to be with my family and celebrate my Dad's wonderful career (45 years!) in Christian education.  Quite an accomplishment!  We love you Dad-- so glad we could be there to help celebrate with you!  Jeremiah is looking forward to many more visits now that you will have so much free time on your hands! :)