We Love the Land of Lincoln

Having dispensed of our official duties, our circus departed D.C. with Doug in tow. He was a quiet traveler, although he did require secondary screening at the airport. Those pesky famous generals are such a security risk! Mostly he hung out on the back of the stroller. I have to confess, though, that he took quite a header when I lifted Madeline out of the Maclaren. Fifteen pounds of metal head is more than enough to overbalance an umbrella stroller. Fortunately for me, Doug has battled worse than strollers; he survived unscathed.

Having made the flight across both an ocean and a continent, we decided to make the most of our presence on the mainland. Jim had some of that you've-spent-so-much-time-deployed-in-the-last-few-years-that-we-recognize-we-owe-you-something-leave (there's an official name for it, but it's ancronym and it escapes me) to use, and we decided we'd use it to hang out with our Illinois family. This decision delighted our entire circus, but Kathleen's delight was most evident. Whenever we'd ask her whom we were going to see, she'd yell out, "COUSINS!" (Sorry, everyone else, but you get second place to your children and grandchildren!)

We started off the week with Uncle Eric, Aunt Katherine, Sarah, Ethan, and Melissa in Dwight.

Katherine and Eric had been with us in D.C., and as the flights worked out, we actually beat them home! Eric's mother was home with the children, though, and she gave us a marvelous welcome, complete with a delicious home-cooked dinner. Kathleen couldn't get enough of her cousins or their dog, Belle.

We watched Ethan play ball and helped pick out flowers at the nursery.

Kathleen grew especially close to Melissa. When we did eventually have to leave, she spent most of the two hour drive asking to "go Melissa home."

But, sad as we were to leave all those fun cousins, Kathleen perked up when we got to see Matt, Alison, and Lizzie at Aunt Margaret and Uncle Craig's house.

There she fell in love with her cousins and also with their toy dishwasher. I'd never seen such a toy before, but Kathleen could hardly be parted from it! We watched Daddy and Matt play basketball -- Madeline especially liked cheering for them.

Various members of our circus also chased down the ice cream man, enjoyed a delicious cookout, toured Aunt Marg's new hospital, visited Grandpa's farm, and watched Lizzie practice softball.

We also got to visit Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed a beautiful lunch at their house. Kathleen got very excited about some pinwheels...

but Madeline decided to take a little snooze.

And then, before we knew it, it was time to leave. We bid a tearful farewell to our family, with promises to do our best to return (for longer!) late this summer. Kathleen will keep us faithful to that -- she's already counting down!

On our way back to the airport we made a special stop to see Meg and her mommy. They have a beautiful apartment in Chicago, where Kathleen and Meg had tons of fun together. Watching them play together was a delight. We had a delicious dinner, were showered with thoughtful gifts (banana bread for the early flight out!), and tried to get a decent photo of the lot of us...

We flew out the next morning. We'd been nervous about the long flight home, but it went beautifully. Kathleen slept even better than she had on the way out, and when we woke we distracted her with the portable DVD player. Madeline was a doll and spent most of her waking moments flirting with the other passengers! And then we were home. We loved our time in the Land of Lincoln. We promise we'll be back soon!