Micaela says hello to Great Grandma Charlotte
Kisses for Great Grandpa John
"Grandma, can you do this?"
Riley was thrilled with her new playmates
I have no idea what she did, but Micaela made everyone laugh
Riley loves to jump rope (jump with a rope in her hands may be more accurate)
Egg hunt!
Searching for eggs
Showing Grandma Cathy her haul
Blowing bubbles with Mommy
Play doh!
Micaela is styling!
Maggie came with adorable dresses for her newest great niece
Riley playing in the birdbath (yuck)
Coloring eggs!
Grandma Cathy with her granddaughters
I took the girls to the Discovery Museum in Normal; Riley is the perfect age for this place
Micaela just took in all the sights. I think she must be learning so much, just from observing all the activities we do with her older sister
Riley went shopping for vegetables
And then made an Avanti's pizza
Painting on the glass wall is so cool!
She really enjoyed the theater exhibit this time, both being on stage and handing out tickets
The final part of our stay in Illinois was spent at my Mom's house in Normal. Mom prepared a pre-Easter celebration of decorating eggs and having an egg hunt. So fun! Great Grandpa John and Great Grandma Charlotte joined us for a few days and the girls really enjoyed spending time with them. Micaela completely entertained her great grandparents and Riley had Grandpa running all over outside with her. Great Aunt Maggie joined us for dinner one evening too. I'm glad we were able to introduce Micaela to so many of her family members.
One morning the girls and I went to the Children's Discovery Museum in downtown Normal. I really love this place. Riley is truly the perfect age to enjoy all the exhibits. We brought our lunch (a lot of kid places force you to buy their food, this is just another positive of this particular museum) and spent hours exploring the museum. However, Riley was completely unimpressed by the large models of a tractor and a combine that you can climb in and drive. After driving in a tractor with Grandpa Leon, she said, "That's not a tractor" and moved on to the next exhibit.
I was also able to spend a morning with a friend from U of I, Heather (Wafler) Lake and her son Carson (the other 2 boys were in school). She lives in Carlock just north of Normal so the girls and I enjoyed a fun playdate and lunch at her house. It was wonderful to catch up with her, meet her family and let Riley play with another kid her age. Its great to reconnect with old friends!
On Wednesday Leon and Cheryl brought Seamus (he had been staying on the farm during the week), picked up Riley, Micaela and I and drove us all to Appleton, WI. I'm so glad I didn't have to do that drive alone! We were so happy to be reunited with Daddy. We stayed in a hotel for a few days while we closed on our house. The semi with our stuff arrived on Friday and on Saturday we spent the first night in our new home.
The last few months have been very crazy and stressful. The decision to leave California and start a new job and life in Wisconsin was not made lightly. Since mid-February, when we decided to make the change, its been a whirlwind of finding a new house, shutting things down and preparing to sell our old place, and making the the move. It was very difficult to be nomadic, moving from house to house without Daddy for 2.5 weeks with 2 little kids, but we survived and we're now very happy with our new situation. We cannot thank our families enough for all the help and support they gave us during this time. There is still a lot of work to be done before we are settled in the new place, but we're making progress. We're so excited about our future!
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