"I like road trips," Sam said, both before and after our all-day sightseeing around Moline, Illinois, and north an hour to Dubuque, Iowa.
We began the day with breakfast at La Primavera, a homey Mexican restaurant in downtown Moline. I ate a pork quesadilla and drank hibiscus tea, and then followed Henry as he ran in loops around the attached Mexican grocery, with its cans of hominy and clerks unpacking boxes of taco shells.
We promised the boys we'd take them to the John Deere Pavilion, to crawl into the big tractors. We even found an excavator, like the ones Jonny sells.
While the boys played on the tractors, Jonny ran the excavator simulator. He could smoothly dig dirt with the shovel and toss it into a pile. When Henry and I tried the simulator, we promptly got flashing red signals, "Stop! Equipment damaged!" We kept banging the shovel into the cab of the truck. There is more to running heavy equipment than I imagined!
The National Mississippi River Museum, in Dubuque, was a great place to spend a cold, overcast afternoon. Dave and Jonny took long walks in 15 degree weather every morning, but I wasn't so hardy.
The museum had displays about the river itself, with its history and topography, but Sam and Henry were more interested in the displays about the animals and fish that live in and near the river. Sam climbed inside a child-size turtle shell.
Henry climbed inside a child-size beaver dam.
Thomas was quite content to stay bundled up in his car seat, with just a swig of mother's milk now and then.
We finished the day at the Bierstube in Eau Claire, near Bettendorf. The area was settled by Germans, and so there are some great German restaurants. Jonny ordered a selection of sausages and I had jaggerschnitzel (breaded pork cutlet with mushroom sauce). We didn't have the self control of Dave and Jenny, who ordered salads.
Sam waited patiently for his kids meal by drawing pictures.
We all shared the giant pretzels, dipped in mustard sauce.
Henry may graduate to sausages and schnitzel some day, but right now he adores his applesauce.
And Sam liked the garlic bread.
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