Southern Illinois

We are having a great time in Illinois visiting Nathan's parents, lots of family, and friends. The weather has been really nice most of the time, and the boys have really enjoyed the couple of heavy thunderstorms and lightning that we are not used to in Jordan. Spring is a a great time to be here. Everything is starting to bloom and is so green! 

One afternoon, the boys were having fun kicking balls around and playing with the neighbor's dog, Molly. 

A boy and his dog :).

Another evening, we went to see the high school's performance of The Little Mermaid, and it was excellent!! To get ready for the play, grandma Betty made fish cupcakes with the boys earlier in the day.  Benjamin helped grandma bake and decorate the cupcakes.

The final product, they were good!

It's been great kite flying weather! Check out this gigantic kite...

Grandpa Mark has master kite flying skills.

Up, up, and away!

If there is one thing the boys will always remember about here, it is grandpa's big red truck. Several times a day they play in the truck, and love going for rides. One nice evening we took a ride to the nature trail to throw duds (rocks).

Benjamin going for a run on the trail. He is getting fast!

Time to throw duds.

Love this sweet boy, and that he loves when I take his picture these days :).

Sweet picture of Grandma Betty and the boys.

A couple of evenings, we took the boys to the track at the high school, where Nathan used to run.

The boys ran a lot. Caleb got up to 3/4 mile and Benjamin up to a mile...after ice cream!

Benjamin stayed focused and wanted to run fast like his daddy.

Another day we went to the sale barn to look at the animals. They had a little petting zoo set up for a grade school field trip. 

The boys got to shuck a lot of corn!

At the end of the visit, we all took a hayride.

We all love a local mexican restaurant in town Chicos. I like the tacos and nachos, and I think the boys like the quarter vending machines. This time they got mustaches :).

We have eaten our fare share of ice cream this trip. The favorite is lemon ice cream for Dairy Mart!

We have had some beautiful weather to get outside and walk.

The boys like being read books by grandpa and grandma before bedtime.

Caleb recently learned about photobombing :).

Another evening we went to Don and Suzanne's house for dinner. They recently moved back to Salem, from Oregon, where we visited them last year. It was nice to visit with them and Suzanne's mom, and we had a fun evening.

Another day, I convinced Nathan to go to Cracker Barrel for lunch. My favorite and probably only thing I order, regardless of the time of day we go, is the grilled chicken tenderloin plate with baby carrots, hash brown casserole, biscuits with apple butter, and sweet tea. It did not disappoint and I think everyone was happy with their meals.

After lunch, we were lucky to meet up with Stephanie and her kids for a short but sweet visit on the porch of Cracker Barrel.

Earlier this week, Benjamin got tubes in both ears. He had had a lot of fluid in his ears and trouble hearing well, so we were thankful he could get this procedure done while we were home. They gave him new pajamas, a puppy dog, and lots of great care. Before the procedure, he was telling jokes to all the nurses in the unit, and our nurse even let him hold her badge and open all the doors to get to the operating room. 

After he woke up, all he wanted was ice cream and his puppy. By the time we got home, he went straight outside and just wanted to play for a couple of more hours. His resiliency was amazing, you would have never known he had surgery that morning! We are so thankful the procedure went well, and he now has relief.

We had a lot of nice family visits throughout the week, stay tuned for another blog on those visits :).

Yay for America!

We are happy to be in America for the next few weeks! Here we are waiting to be picked up for the airport.

Checking out the planes.

The boys were excited to be on a plane again. Thankfully they are excellent travelers and are used to the long flights!

Our first stop was Virginia for a few days. One evening we visited Manassas Battlefield for sunset, one of our favorite places. The boys loved running through the fields, climbing all over the cannons and wagons, and the beautiful weather.

I took my obligatory trip into Wegmans to admire the produce, while picking up dessert for a friend's house one evening.

I don't have many pictures, but we visited with Heidi and Jake, the Kerns for a soccer game and dinner, and Megan and Benjamin. The boys had lots of fun with the other kids, and it had been several years since our friends saw them or met them! Benjamin learning how to play Lacrosse :).

Zoey (11), Mackenzie (16), and Delaney (14), hanging out watching a movie. Crazy that Zoey was about 18 months old when we first starting spending time with their family!

Another day, we went to the Air and Space Museum and it was a big hit! First stop was the IMAX theater to see the 3D Journey to Space.

Next stop was the observation tower to watch the planes coming into Dulles Airport. 

Afterwards, we walked around the museum and the boys really wanted to see the space shuttle.

One evening, we took the boys to a pet shop and we looked at puppies. Despite the picture, the boys really did enjoy the little puppy!

In other news, we sold our townhouse in Haymarket. Nathan and I bought it in 2010, and made many nice memories there. Both boys lived there, and Caleb had many firsts there, though Benjamin was only 2 months old when we moved. It was a great place for our family and we are thankful for the time we had at 16103 Pitner Street! 

Next stop was Indianapolis, and we had a nice couple of days visiting with friends. One day we went to the children's museum with Nathan's good friend from college, Bart, and his son Hugo. They recently moved back to the US from Thailand and it was good to see them!

It was so crowded because it was spring break, but we saw a few of the exhibits. The boys enjoying excavation site from China.

Sliding down the chocolate slide

Outer space Benjamin

That evening, we visited with Tom and Erin for dinner, and got to see Jenna, Rex, and meet baby Bryn.

Another morning, we visited Jeff and Carol, and got to meet Christopher and Nicholas.

It was a fun first week back in the US, filled with lots of good visits with friends, visiting places we love, and eating lots of Chick-fil-a:). We just arrived in IL and are excited for a fun and relaxing couple of weeks!