Kathleen's new favorite word-sign combination is "cousins." We'd been in Illinois for about twelve hours (and for most of that she'd been asleep) when she started using the sign for cousins and a very strong "C" sound to indicate those amazingly fun children who seemed nearly as excited about her as she was about them.
Our adventure to the midwest was great fun. We got to see Kathleen's Golby grandparents and her aunts and uncles and, of course, the cousins. We stayed the first few days in Dwight, with Aunt Katherine, Uncle Eric, Sarah, Ethan, Melissa, and Kathleen's newest favorite canine, Belle. While in Dwight we had gorgeous warm weather, and we took full advantage of the sunshine. Here are Kathleen and her Aunt Katherine relaxing in the backyard:
There was a lot more playing in the backyard with the cousins; Kathleen loved the swingset and all the people to help her with it. We also watched Melissa's t-ball game (she got three hits!) and had a cookout with the whole family. After the cookout we had the opportunity to go the gymnasium where cousins Sarah and Melissa take tumbling and gymnastics. Melissa's class gave an exhibition, and after that Sarah showed off some of her skills, too. (The last time Jim and I saw her compete we weren't even married! We'll have to make it to some meets when we move back to the mainland.) Kathleen even got to try out some of the equipment, which delighted her. Here she is practicing for the 2020 summer Olympics:
After our time in Dwight, we jumped into a minivan with Uncle Craig, Aunt Margaret, Matt, Alison, and Elizabeth and moved to Kewanee. There, we continued to play outside in the sunshine. Here's Kathleen shooting some hoops with her cousins:
We all went to mass together, ate out together, had some more cookouts, and played and laughed a lot. Aunt Annie came up from Peoria and added to the fun -- especially when she brought along her Wii for everyone to try out! We had a delicious lunch in historic Bishop Hill with the grandparents, Aunt Margaret, and Rosie Pratt. Kathleen loved racing around the house with the doll stroller and climbing in out of the play house. She also loved riding around the neighborhood in the wagon, as her cousins pulled her. She and her co-conspirators agreed to pause for a quick photo:
If Kathleen looks slightly less smiley in her photos than usual, that's only because she was truly exhausted. She ran herself ragged with her cousins and wasn't willing to miss a minute of playing with them, even for a nap. Of course, that exhaustion worked out pretty well for Mommy, since Kathleen slept for almost two hours on the plane back to San Francisco!
Thanks to the whole family for making our visit to Illinois such a success. As always, it was too short! We miss you already and can't wait until the four of us can come back to visit together.
Our adventure to the midwest was great fun. We got to see Kathleen's Golby grandparents and her aunts and uncles and, of course, the cousins. We stayed the first few days in Dwight, with Aunt Katherine, Uncle Eric, Sarah, Ethan, Melissa, and Kathleen's newest favorite canine, Belle. While in Dwight we had gorgeous warm weather, and we took full advantage of the sunshine. Here are Kathleen and her Aunt Katherine relaxing in the backyard:
There was a lot more playing in the backyard with the cousins; Kathleen loved the swingset and all the people to help her with it. We also watched Melissa's t-ball game (she got three hits!) and had a cookout with the whole family. After the cookout we had the opportunity to go the gymnasium where cousins Sarah and Melissa take tumbling and gymnastics. Melissa's class gave an exhibition, and after that Sarah showed off some of her skills, too. (The last time Jim and I saw her compete we weren't even married! We'll have to make it to some meets when we move back to the mainland.) Kathleen even got to try out some of the equipment, which delighted her. Here she is practicing for the 2020 summer Olympics:
We all went to mass together, ate out together, had some more cookouts, and played and laughed a lot. Aunt Annie came up from Peoria and added to the fun -- especially when she brought along her Wii for everyone to try out! We had a delicious lunch in historic Bishop Hill with the grandparents, Aunt Margaret, and Rosie Pratt. Kathleen loved racing around the house with the doll stroller and climbing in out of the play house. She also loved riding around the neighborhood in the wagon, as her cousins pulled her. She and her co-conspirators agreed to pause for a quick photo:
If Kathleen looks slightly less smiley in her photos than usual, that's only because she was truly exhausted. She ran herself ragged with her cousins and wasn't willing to miss a minute of playing with them, even for a nap. Of course, that exhaustion worked out pretty well for Mommy, since Kathleen slept for almost two hours on the plane back to San Francisco!
Thanks to the whole family for making our visit to Illinois such a success. As always, it was too short! We miss you already and can't wait until the four of us can come back to visit together.
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