This past weekend, we made a trip down to Illinois to celebrate two special birthdays. Rob's grandmother turned 100 on the 5th of July and my dad turned 60 on the 7th. I think it's safe to say that we're "caked out" right now.
Rob was able to get time off from both of his jobs, so we took off on Friday morning for Normal. We had a very uneventful trip down, thanks in part to the van. It has really made traveling so much more pleasant! We had a yummy lunch at Rob's parent's home, then Rob and the boys went to the church where GG's reception was to be held to help out with the set up. I kept Anna back at the house so she could rest and hopefully make it through the rest of the evening. And I really didn't want to chase her around everywhere :) She and I watched Snow White and part of a Shirley Temple movie while I mounted some stamp sets.
When the boys came back, I was busy packing up a picnic lunch to take over to my sister's house. I got to meet my sweet nephew Logan for the first time...what a cutie!! We all ended up eating our "picnic" in her dining room and then went to State Farm park. My brother-in-law works for State Farm, and one of the perks is access to an awesome, huge park, complete with it's own aquatic center. We swam for almost 2 hours and had a blast. Again, the boys were very competent in the water and we even let them go to a different pool area than where we were. They had a water slide that ended in a pool with only a 2 1/2 foot depth, so Anna and her cousin Kenzie had a ball sliding into the water. There is also a lazy river and a large kiddie area. Anna found the tunnel slide in the kiddie area and spent a LONG time going down it. She even got caught by a lifeguard when she tried to climb UP the slide! Needless to say, the kids were very tired that evening. Easiest time I have ever had putting them to sleep at Grandma's!
Saturday morning we kind of puttered around and did a little bit of shopping, namely for Matthew since I somehow missed packing him a polo. We went to the reception at 1pm for family pictures and I'd say that overall the kids did pretty well. They, along with one other cousin, sang to GG. They were all so sweet!
Once we saw the kids' behavior start to degenerate, we decided to leave. (Better to get out of there at the beginning of bad behavior than the middle of it!) We tooled around Toys R Us and got some ideas for Matthew's birthday. They had some good clearance deals, so we let each child pick out something cheap. Then we headed back to Grandma's to change clothes and meet over at GG's house for supper. The kids were so well-behaved and for once, we left GG's because it was bedtime, not b/c of poor behavior. They had a ball with their Uncle Dan doing an animal hunt in GG's basement.
Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to Pontiac for Birthday #2. We dropped the kids off at my parents' church and my mom met us at the door to sort the kids into their classes. Rob and I headed over to their house to set up a surprise for my dad. We made a four-tiered "cake" out of cans of Diet Coke and decorated it with ribbon and signs. While there, we got to meet my new niece Annie, born back in March. I also left a surprise for my mom and put our family picture onto the wall with our pictures. (And don't worry, family, pictures are coming. It's just taking us awhile to get them all printed.)
After church, we had a great lunch and then the kids played in the pool. Anna wasn't too keen on playing with her brothers, cousin Ezra, and Uncle Joel, so she went back into the house with Grandma. Rob and I each caught a nap and we ended the evening at the park.
We drove back to Wisconsin Monday morning and have spent the time since then recooping from the trip. It was a fun trip down.
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