My niece, Killian, called me out for being to slow getting blogs posted, especially this one, as it pertains to our time with her and her family. Sorry, Killian! Here you go...
In Indiana, we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express for the first (and only) time of our trip. We were so impressed! For starters, our room was enormous, and for breakfast, they had an automatic pancake maker. I think the kids (and adults) liked watching the pancakes be made as much as they liked eating them.
Upon entering Western Indiana the previous day, we had moved into Central Time and gained an hour, but we chose to pretend we hadn't in order to get an early start heading into Chicago the next morning. The ploy worked well; we arrived in Chicago by 9am Saturday morning and parked next to Millennium Park. There was a big convention happening at a park across the street. As people streamed past us, we realized (by noticing their themed shirts) that it was a Pokemon Go! Convention. Ha! I didn't know such things existed.
Once in Millennium Park, we made our way first to the famous Cloud Gate/Bean.
We wandered around Millennium Park for awhile, then made our way down the street to Maggie Daly Park. As we walked, we marveled at the nearby skyscrapers. Hearing a helicopter nearby, we looked around until we found it tucked between two buildings. It was hauling beams from the ground to the top of a skyscraper under construction. That was fun to watch!
Maggie Daly Park was a huge hit with the kids. They had a huge playground with all kinds of fun, kid-approved areas and activities.
I think my kids would have been happy staying there for hours and hours, but we had only a very limited time in the city, so we had to pull them away before they'd had their fill.
We crossed over to the water way to see the other side of Lake Michigan. We considered walking down to Field Museum and Adler Planetarium (where we had reciprocity benefits), but again, we were short on time, and it would have been a long round-trip walk.
Instead, we headed back into the city to see the Chicago Cultural Center. The architecture and designs were impressive, but there must have been at least 10 weddings happening, so the place was packed. We didn't stay long.
We found a restaurant that served Chicago-style deep-dish pizza just as it started to rain. We ordered two large pizzas, because at home, we easily go through two homemade pizzas. It took a long time for the pizza to be cooked, so everyone was ready to dig in once it arrived. Unfortunately, though the idea of a deep-dish pizza sounded appealing, most of us weren't big fans of the final product. We only ended up eating a little more than one full pizza.
When we were done eating, it was time to drop Mark off at the airport. He'd been with us for a full month, but had to return to work. While sad to be missing out on the rest of our adventures, he wasn't too sad to be going home alone to have a couple weeks to recover from being around everyone 24/7. This trip is a lot of things, but "relaxing" isn't one of them. We joked that his Father's Day present was getting to be all by himself. Except, it wasn't really a joke.
After saying good-bye to Mark, we continued across Illinois to visit my brother, Sean, and his family. They live right next to the Mississippi River in a tiny town called Orion. The highlight of our drive to Sean's was passing our last toll booth of our trip. I was sick to death of toll booths!
Sean and Paula and their three kids live in a beautiful little farm town. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up in California. We were so excited to arrive and see family. This had been the longest stretch of our trip on our own. As has become expected, the kids connected quickly. Aubree and Killian were off to talk and watch Studio C episodes. My boys and Sean's boy (Jameson and Brendan) loved the chance to be loud and wild in the play room. Nellie was terrified of their Rotweiler, Ruger, so she stayed super close to me. Although it didn't take her, or any of the other kids, very long to realize that Uncle Sean is a big teddy bear. Throughout the long weekend, scenes like the one below were common.
Saturday night we were entertained by a rockin' Midwest Thunderstorm. Sunday morning, Killian joined us for church since her softball tournament had been cancelled due to too much rain the previous night. Though we were sad that meant we wouldn't get a chance to see her play, it was so fun to have her come to church with us.
We kept Sunday afternoon very low-key. We needed a more relaxed day. The kids got to play with their cousins, and Sean, Paula, and I had a chance to catch up. The boys found a lot of joy in tossing ice cubes to Ruger.
Even though it was Father's Day, Sean grilled us pork chops for dinner.
Even better, he taught Bryce some of his tricks. This was the point where I started my campaign to try to get him to move his family to Washington. I know the Seattle-side of the state isn't his preference, but all weekend I kept whispering, "Moses Lake," every time I walked past him. It would be so amazing to have him closer! Illinois is way too far away.
Nellie, still scared of the dog, took full advantage of the fact that she was the youngest. She decided Aunt Paula was her very special buddy. And bless Paula, because she went right along with all of Nellie's schemes.
For Father's Day, Aubree and Killian made a special dessert for Sean. They had a hard time finding a recipe for which they had the correct ingredients, but finally decided on Cheesecake Brownies. The end result wasn't quite what they were hoping, but the effort was appreciated.
On Monday, Sean and Paula both took the day off work to play with us. Hurray! We started by visiting the John Deere Commons. John Deere is a big deal in these parts, and their "visitor's center" was amazing!
They had a huge variety of different tractors and machines, and the kids could crawl in all of them.
They also had a bunch of simulations, hands-on exhibits, and educational videos and displays. Bryce was fascinated by the technology (not surprising). He probably could have stayed a couple more hours learning and investigating. If you're ever in Moline, Illinois, it's definitely worth checking out.
After leaving the John Deere Commons, we walked over to see the Mississippi River. They've had SO much rain this year, that the River has been at record flood levels for months.
Next, we drove across the river to Iowa to go to Costco. Believe it or not, this was a fun treat for everyone. We were a spectacle, but it was a lot of fun to go through the store and try samples with cousins.
Our final stop for the day was Whitey's Ice Cream. Thane and Nellie chose Smurf Ice Cream. Thane liked the name; Nellie just wanted it to be blue. Super tasty ice cream!
When we got back, Sean put the kids to work putting rocks in the dog kennel. Well, to be more accurate, the kids asked to help. This is just another reason Sean needs to move closer!
We had such a good time visiting with Sean, Paula, Killian, Jameson, and Brendan. This was the first time we've ever been to their home, and it's a different experience than just seeing them at reunions/big family get-togethers. We were all sad when it was time to leave on Tuesday morning (although I don't think Nellie was sad to leave the dog behind).
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