Vacation Pictures

Well, I just wanted to let you all know that we made it home safe and sound yesterday. What a wonderful week Uncle Laurel and Aunt Wendy showed us! We were sad that it had to come to an end. Ada Grace really got the hang of saying Aunt Wendy & Uncle Laurel!

Anyway, I took around 300 pictures and today will be working on getting them edited and labeled so hopefully tomorrow will be able to start sharing our fun times with you!

This is what we did:
Tuesday 10th: flight from Rapid to Denver, then on to Chicago Midway. Aunt Wendy was there to pick us up. She had a wonderful meal for us that night and we all went for a walk to one of the parks before going to bed somewhat early.

Wednesday 11th: went to Cantingy (might have the spelling wrong) anyway, there was a war museum there, we toured the house on the grounds, saw the rose & idea gardens, and just had a great time. Church in the evening.

Thursday 12th: went to Spring Valley Nature Center where the kids loved the turtles and Aunt Wendy and I were attacked by a bird! There was also an old fashion farm here and we saw chickens, turkeys, horses, cows, geese, and all the site that go with a non electric/running water farm. We also went to the "Splash Park" Ada Grace LOVED IT! I have not seen her have that much fun before. We also were able to feed the fish. After supper we went for a long walk.

Friday 13th: went to Huntley to the outlet mall. Were able to get some good deals... We also went back to the splash park for a short time and fed the fish again. After supper we went for a long walk.

Saturday 14th: got on the train and went downtown Chicago. Jason and I went to the Sears Tower (Jas hadn't been before) and then walked the Magnificent Mile, saw the "bean," walked to Navy Pier, and VERY QUICKLY walked back to Union Station to catch the train back. Laurel, Wendy, & Jason then went to a Flyers baseball game while I stayed back with the kids, gave them baths, and put them to bed. They brought home DQ Blizzards for treats. YumYum!

Sunday 15th: went to listen to choir practice (Laurel & Wendy sing in it), Sunday School, Church, out for lunch with Pastor Black and his family, they came back to Laurel and Wendy's for dessert, Evening church, and then a snack. Wendy, Jason, and myself stayed up until almost 2 am talking about family history and different things. It was a wonderful day!

Monday 16th: We slept in! Aunt Wendy watched the kiddos (she took them to feed the fish, visit her friends at Curves, and to the park) while Jason and myself went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch and, of course, CHEESECAKE! It was wonderful. We looked around the mall for a while afterwards and found a gift of thanks for my wonderful Aunt and Uncle for their hospitality. When we returned the kids were just getting up from their nap, we packed as much as we could for our early departure the next day, ate supper, and pretty much went to bed.

Tuesday 17th: The alarm went of at 2:50 AM (1:50 our time) and we both showered, I did Ada's hair and got the kids dressed, packed our remaining items, Aunt Wendy and I fed the kids breakfast, and we were on the road by 4:15 (3:15 our time). Our flight left at 6:25 and we were on our way with a stop in Denver and finally we saw the Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota! Stopped by the mall to get Ethan a new pair of Nike's since his are getting a little snug, grabbed some Hardee's and drove home. Jason mowed the lawn while the kids and I took a nap. Had Subway for supper and went to bed early!

Today: back to life as usual! Last night Jason figured out we walked around 20 miles on our trip! That is incredible, walking here and there. The most miles were racked up on Saturday, Uncle Laurel figured it out that we walked at least 8 1/2 miles if we walked in a straight line. That wasn't including the walking in stores and things of that nature! WOW! Talk about test driving our new stroller! We really did have a great time!