Illinois!!!!

Our trip to Illinois was great this year.  We decided to drive the 24 hours instead of flying.  We weren't sure how the kids would do, but it was not that bad.  Alyssa only threw up twice on the way there and both times were in Colorado.  She made it the rest of the way without being sick at all. (I am really glad that I bought some puke bags at the hospital, they came in very handy!)  I wish that I could say the same for Pat.  I think the energy drinks he drank all night made him sick.  He drove through from 1 p.m. until 2:30 a.m., then I took over in Kansas.  I have to say that Kansas wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be.  I think that at 2:30 in the morning it was great!  I drove until we hit Springfield, IL and then Pat drove the last 2 hours to Forrest.  The kids did great.  They fell asleep around 9 or 10 that night and slept until around 5 a.m.  They mostly watched movies and played games.  They only asked if we were there yet a couple of times.

  

This is as we drove into the driveway and started unloading kids out of the car.  They were so excited to get out and see everyone.  We were excited too, but I think the exhaustion was winning over excitement.

We were able to take a little nap, and then we got to have dinner with Dutch, Kelli, Hannah, and Hunter.  Poor Hannah, I don't think Alyssa left her side the whole time she was there.  I think she probably got tired of Alyssa asking her so come and play outside.

 

The next day we went to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago!!

    

There was so much to see!  They had a really cool dolphin exhibit, but they were not doing the actual show because the dolphins were still too little to perform all of the tricks.  We were able to go in and watch them play around and then you could go below and see them swimming.

  

    

There was a baby giraffe that the kids thought was pretty cool, but the spraying elephant fountain won out!  Of course they were soaked, but at least they weren't complaining about being hot!                                   

  

Everyone just hanging out, deciding where to start our adventure.  Alyssa had the map and wanted to be the leader, of course.  (It took me about half way through the safari part to realize that the brake was on the stroller.  I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time pushing that thing.  I really got a workout!  Pat thought it was hilarious.)

They were having a Dinosaurs alive exhibit while we were there, which ended up being the highlight of the zoo.  They had animated life-size dinosaurs.  They were pretty cool!
 

 

Landen loved them until Pat decided to stick his arm out for the dinosaur to eat.  He started freaking out and yelling at Pat to keep his arm down.  After that he wouldn't let Pat put him down for fear that the T-Rex would eat his daddy for dinner!

  

We were able to visit a lot of family while we were there.  My kids love to go to Kevin and Martha's pig farm.  

  

It took them a little while to warm up to actually touching the pig. But once they did they didn't want to leave it alone.

 

It just took the mention of a tractor to get Landen to leave.

     

I think this was his favorite part of the farm.  Of course he had to be the driver.

He was excited to see the "big" tractors.  He only has the small ones to play with.

   

Playing around at the park.  It was a little cold this day, but that didn't stop the kids from having a good time.

Pat and Kristi hanging out at the park.

 

Playing with Hannah

 

Chasing rabbits in Grandma Schaffer's yard.

 

We were able to see Dutch and Kelli and the kids quite a bit.  We had a lot of fun visiting, and of course the kids loved wrestling with uncle "fuzzy".  I think that they had the advantage because Pat only had one arm to fight with!

It was really sad to leave.  We only get to see everyone about once a year and the time seems to go so fast while we are there.  We made the 24 hour trek home, once again everything went well (nobody got sick this time!)  The kids were great and even though we missed the lightening bugs by a couple of weeks in Illinois, we saw some on the way home in Missouri.  Pat had been talking about them and wanted to show the kids, so we pulled over on the freeway so that he could catch one. (I think that they are really pretty cool splattered on my windshield, they make it light up and glow)  We put it in a water bottle with some holes and watched it light up the whole way home.  I have to say that it was a little distracting while I was driving in the wee hours of the morning, but it did bring a lot of excitement to Brock and the monson girls when we got home.  I am surprised how long that little bug has lasted (it is still alive today, although I don't think it is going to last much longer). 

 All in all the trip was great.  We had a wonderful time and it was so nice to spend time with Pat's family.  We love them and miss them so much and hope that they will one day soon be living closer so we can spend more time with them.