what we did on our summer vacation (part 2)

Our second week in Illinois was just as fun as our first.  Some highlights from our stint in Daddy's hometown, where we stayed with Craig, Margaret, Matt, Ali, and Lizzy:

Clowning with cousins.  Though Madeline may have wailed when leaving her cousins in Dwight (Muh-wissa, especially), she and our other littles certainly cheered up when they realized there'd be plenty of people to play with in Kewanee, too.

What a splendid crew!  (John David should've been in bed, and doesn't particularly enjoy sitting for photographs, anyway.  But he had fun, grumpy expression notwithstanding.)

The girls (from left): Ali, Maddie, Lizzy, and Kathleen.

Yet another attempt at a group photo.  My children were just excited to have an excuse to be on the stairs...  (Well, John David would rather have been climbing on the stairs, obviously.)

I mentioned it before, but Matt and Madeline seemed to have a special connection.  She would not leave that boy alone.  And she thought that hiding in the pantry was hilarious.  Matt's a really good sport!

Another cookout, complete with the whole family, tons of tasty food, and (of course!) more basketball.  We had a truly wonderful (warm!) afternoon.  The cookout was a great chance for us to see more extended family that we haven't seen in quite a while.

Ali pulled some Indy-watch duty at the cookout.  Have I mentioned how much I loved having cousins to keep an eye on my children?  I very nearly left all my belongings behind and stuffed one of them in my suitcase instead...

The cousins have an awesome basketball hoop.  Having warmed up in Dwight, Maddie was ready to slam dunk!

But after a bit of playing, some folks needed to be carried off the court.

Tuckered out from basketball, John David (supervised here by cousin Ethan) retired to the garage for storytime with Grandma.

A gorgeous new house!   Our cousins had built and moved into a new house since we'd last been in Kewanee.  It's a beautiful home (with more than room enough for all of us to visit -- score!), but as far as our children were concerned the best thing about their cousins' new home was the field of horses behind it.

Everytime we went outside, John David would take off running across the big backyard, trying to visit the horses.  Once he got to the edge of the backyard, he'd just stand out there and sign horse.  He didn't want to be too close to those giant animals, but he certainly wanted to be nearer than the back porch.  The girls loved to visit the horses, too.

Donkey on the loose!  There was a crotchety old donkey that lived with the horses, and one day he escaped.  He was headed for the road and we were worried he'd get hurt (or someone driving would get hurt).  The owner wasn't home and wasn't answering phone calls, and though Margaret had called the police, they weren't coming very quickly.  Jim took the matter into his own hands; armed with an apple, he coaxed the stubborn animal back into his pen -- our very own donkey-whisperer!

A visit to an apple orchard.  Visiting Tanner's Orchard is practically a tradition on our Illinois trips.  We've visited with just Kathleen, and then Kathleen and Madeline, and now with all three.  Even though it wasn't quite apple season while we were there, we still indulged in some cider slushies and some apple cider donuts and took home a bag of crisp, crunchy apples, too.

Apple is one of Indy's favorite signs.  And one of his favorite snack foods, too.  He's like an apple orchard poster child.  (Of course, I might be a bit biased.)

We had tons of fun on the big playground, especially in the morning before it got too warm.

Lizzy helped John David climb up the pirate ship...

but he slid down all on his own.

Kathleen took Grandpa for a "drive" in the vintage fire truck.

Goats!  Madeline very bravely fed the goats.

John David was super-excited by the goats.  At first he tried to eat the goat food himself (much more upsetting to me than to him), but after a bit of watching the bigger kids he stepped right up and fed the goats, too!

A hay bale maze proved better for leaping and jumping over than actually wandering through.

Kathleen the superhero.

Exploring Daddy's old stomping ground.  We spent time at Jim's childhood home, too, catching up with Grandma and Grandpa, snacking, and checking out some of the toys that live at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Posing with Grandpa.

Snuggling with Grandma.

The girls tested out their tree-climbing skills on the very tree that Daddy learned to climb as a small boy.

Madeline proved fearless, as always.

We had other adventures, too, that I somehow never captured on film. We took the kids to eat at a Japanese (teppanyaki) restaurant for the first time, which was an enormous success.  Madeline was a bit intimidated by the loud noises and the bursts of flame, but she did just fine on Daddy's lap.  Kathleen and John David loved every minute of the whole thing.  And the kids and their cousins spent an afternoon playing at a big, indoor playground (an excellent choice of activity given the triple-digit heat that day).   To be fair, no photos could adequately capture all the fun we had on our midwestern vacation.  

Thank you, Margaret, Craig, Matt, Ali, and Lizzy!  You were great hosts and we can't wait to come back again.  (You know the girls have already been asking to go to Illinois!)