More Pictures

Hannah and Ellie before our Indian feast we had at Tim and Lisa's the other night. There is never a dull meal in this family. We've had Indian, turkey burgers stuffed with mushrooms and homemade aioli, paella, and tonight is Polynesian I think and tomorrow night Dad's famous pizza. We don't go hungry while we are here that's for sure!
Gabi and Kea enjoying the summer evening. The weather has been just perfect here. Actually even a little chilly but I'm not complaining! It's supposed to be hot this weekend though.

The rest of these pictures are from Wisconsin. We spent a couple of nights at a cabin in Wisconsin. It was a log cabin and I just loved the rustic yet comfortable atmosphere. The lady that owns it has a real gift for making a place interesting and homey. I could have stayed there for weeks. In the picture above the little girls are enjoying a big basket full of vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls--Caryn you would have been in heaven. I took a picture of everything for you (see below). And the picture below here is of Gabi the master chef preparing our dinner with a little help from Lisa. You can go to Gabi's blog to read more about his culinary efforts at Mamaliga.

Grace and Joe were thrilled to find a basket and tub full of legos and even some Harry Potter legos!! They are really into legos and Harry Potter right now so to combine the two...just thrilling! And below, Mels liked the starfish collection.

Here's the living room--comfy couch, fireplace, stacks of books, puzzle table, a great view....
For you Caryn...Hannah painstakingly set these out while the little girls pleaded to be able to play with them. I also have a couple of close ups if you want to see more. :0)
Right next to the cabin was a steep hill down and then a creek with a rope swing. The kids loved going down to the creek and swinging and swinging. Just like in Bridge to Terabithia but thankfully no one died. And, we couldn't quite swing into Terabithia--just back and forth from the same bank.

Downstairs was a ping pong table and Grace and I tried very hard to play with very little success.
We took a golf cart to the nearby lake--Gabi and I took the little girls while the big girls ran behind.
The lake had this inflatable canoe and a paddle boat. We rigged this boat to the paddleboat and pulled it around the small lake. The little girls loved that. Corrie even took her nap while being pulled around the lake. The weather was perfect, a little cold for swimming in my opinion but it didn't stop anyone else.
I know this picture is dark but it's a cute one of Joe on the rope swing. I'm too lazy to try to lighten it up right now.

The last night we were there we all went down to the rope swing and took a turn, except me--I'm the party pooper. I wasn't sure my arthritic hands could hold me but I had fun watching everyone else. We are back in Chicago now and looking forward to a laid back weekend. Hannah's birthday is Sunday and we are celebrating tomorrow night. She and Grandma are making a Boston Cream Pie. Yum!

Pictures Anyone?

Here are some pictures from our road trip from FL to Chicago. On the way to our first stop in Atlanta we got stuck on the highway for almost an hour because of a tractor trailer accident. Ollie and Joe took this time to toss a tennis ball and have a little picnic.

After leaving Atlanta we headed west into Alabama and made a stop at a rest area where the kids collected TONS of brochures. We then went through Alabama, into Mississippi and then north into Tennessee. We camped at Reel Foot Lake State Park. At the visitor's center they had some bald eagles and owls. It was pretty neat to see these birds close up.

As I mentioned in a previous post--we put the tent up in the rain. Actually, we got the tent up before the rain started but we were struggling with the rain fly when the bottom fell out. Thankfully we got the rain fly on before things got too wet and the rain stopped for the evening so we could make and eat dinner and take a walk to the lake. The picture below pretty much sums up how I felt about all this family fun.

Dinner was Chunky Beef Stew and I must say it was pretty tasty and really hit the spot! Joe liked it in spite of what it seems in the picture below.

After a fairly decent night's sleep and a pleasant morning we took showers and got back in the car to continue our trek north. Next stop--Lambert's!


I absolutely loved this restaurant. It is truly amazing how much food they give you and in addition to what you order there are also plenty of rolls (if you can catch one) and fried okra, black eyed peas, and other "pass ons." Hannah ordered a ham steak and it came in a large skillet!

Our next stop was the St. Louis zoo where we did a quick tour of the Insectarium and another area called "River's Edge." It's a really nice zoo and totally free. Really. St. Louis seems like an interesting city. We talked about going up in the arch next time we pass through there but after passing the arch I think I'll wait on the ground. That thing is HUGE!!!
After leaving the zoo we took off for Chicago and arrived around 11:30. It was a great few days on the road (all except for the rainy tent pitching fun).