Our visit to the Land of Lincoln got off to an amazing start. Our little circus left for Illinois on a Friday -- before holiday air traffic got too congested. (We had decided to spend about ten days in Illinois, allowing us to visit family and return home to California before Christmas. A little unorthodox, but then, so are we.) The girls behaved beautifully on the flight to Chicago, which came complete with a stop in Denver. Kathleen and Madeline were so good! They really exceeded our wildest expectations. And when we arrived in Chicago we were met by Aunt Marg at the baggage claim, while Uncle Craig circled in the van. Our suitcases were among the first to appear on the carousel, so we were out and loaded into the van in record time. Unparalleled success!
We arose the next morning and hit the road again. We drove into the Quad Cities, where cousin Lizzy had a basketball game. We travelled with Lizzy, Ali, and Aunt Marg. Uncle Craig and Matt joined us later that morning. (We'd had to miss Matt's game, but we planned to see another later in the week.) By sheer luck, cousin Sarah also had an event in the Quad Cities that day -- a gymnastics meet that evening. She was with her parents, Uncle Eric and Aunt Katherine, and her brother and sister, Ethan and Melissa. Knowing that everyone else was there, too, Aunt Angela and her fiance came to join the fun. Everyone in one place. Hooray!
For a variety of reasons, Aunt Katherine, Uncle Eric, Ethan, and Sarah weren't able to join us, but everyone else went out to lunch after the basketball game. It was cold and windy in the Cities that day, so we were all bundled up.
We just love that hat!
From lunch, we divided up into two groups. Mama, Aunt Marg, and Aunt Angela went to peruse wedding dresses. The rest of the group headed for a place called Jungle Bungle. I'd never heard of such a place, but it is a child's dream come true, especially on a wintery day.
From all reports, everyone -- from toddler to teen -- had a great time.
When tiredness began to catch up with little Maddie, Matt sweetly offered her a bear he'd won. It cheered her some, even if it doesn't look it here!
After the afternoon's exercise for the kids, we briefly hit the mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping before racing to Sarah's gymnastics meet. We didn't take any photos there (we didn't want to distract anyone -- well, that and we were pretty busy wrangling some wired toddlers), but Sarah did a great job, taking third place in her age division! We weren't able to stay to see the awards ceremony, since we'd already headed home to put some tired, tired girls to bed. We're awfully proud of her, though.
What a first day!
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