We took our big trip to visit U. Hans & A. Susie in May/June, departing Friday @ 9AM to drive to Spokane. We flew to Denver, had a couple hr layover, landed in MN about 10PM, had a quick sleep, and drove all day (10hrs) Saturday to finally arrive, refreshed and energized(or not)! :) The trip went extraordinarily well actually, and we had such a lot of fun enjoying farm life in Illinois, for the next week or so. :)
The kids got lots of stories read to them every day/night!
They had a big combine ride...
and some Gator cruisin' time.
We also saw a few turtles meander through.
We inspected this big old snapping turtle from every angle, since we have never seen one this big and old. :)
We admired its long claws.
Then we poked and prodded it with a stick, until it snapped at us and made us all jump. :D Then we had to make it snap a few more times, just because it was so much fun. :)
He was looking like he could use some water.
Until the rocks became more interesting...
There was Picnic time!
Thanks for such a fabulous time U. Hans and A. Susie. We hope we can do it again next year. :) (And we hope that you hope so too.:D)
On our way back home we spent a little time in MN with some more relatives! I took no pics but these 2, as my memory card was full at that point. Instead we are counting on collecting some pics from Uncle R, one of these days, to remember our fun evening walks, the trip to the park and the zoo, and all the time the kids spent fighting er playing together, or whatever they did while their 2 preggo mothers took naps and were generally spoiled by Aunt D. :)
It was a fabulous trip, but good to be home again, even if we did get home at 2:00AM and already had one sick kiddo. :) It worked out great to have a late flight in that all 3 kids slept on the last leg of the journey...but how do 2 parents get 3 exhausted, sleeping, kids out of an airplane once you land. Well, it goes something like this... You wait until every one is off the plane, then when the flight attendant asks if they can help you, you have them stay with the semi-conscious child who is supposed to be waking up, while you carry the toddler out to the stroller waiting at the end of the ramp, which you somehow set up while holding a sleeping kid. Then you go back for the last child while Dad attends to the stroller and the other sleeping kid. The oldest 2 actually staggered groggily through the airport with their rag quilts from Naomi tied around their shoulders like capes, once they woke up enough to stand without collapsing. We went out and picked 35lbs of strawberries the next day, since I figured I'd be stuck at home with sick kids for the next week anyway. It gave me something to do in all my spare time. Haha. The trip took us a couple weeks to recover from, and by then all our sickness had come and gone and we had more company. :D
Chillin' with Grandpa Blake
And lots of cousins and Aunts and Uncles....
Surprising A. Maureen for her 50th!!!
A. Cheryl preserving the cake from certain destruction in a very kind manner. :D
cousin Nathan trying to make friends with a very uncertain Miss Kate.
The influence of older cousins on my children. ;)
And of course we couldn't miss canning time!! Helping to can pears and beans. (the pear canning pics somehow got deleted.)
The not-so-responsible Nathan, a little too happy to have a knife in his hands. :D
and his responsible older sister taking care of Elliott.
Miss Kate even got to help a little as she loves to snap beans.
And the inside crew...working well together for over 50 years. :)
The second half the trip was spend at Boppa and Gramma Jo's as aforementioned.
