Riley the Pilgrim
Playing with cousins Eric and Ivy before Thanksgiving dinner
Ivy is 6 months older than Micaela and they were great playmates
Riley liked playing with the "big girls" Sarah and Emily
Emily had a full lap at story time
Cousins Emily, Chad and Sarah
Love this funny picture
Emily, Kevin, Micaela, Sarah, Eric, Ivy, Riley, Chad and Jen
Cheryl, Leon, Grandma Annetta and our hosts Aunt Betty and Uncle Dale
Time to celebrate Micaela's birthday again…Minnie mouse!
Riley and Micaela loved meeting cousin Garrett
Riley and cousin Dylan hanging out
Micaela, Leon and Minnie
Garrett was very busy, reading stories to Riley…
…and watching TV with Micaela
Another story reader! Riley was in heaven.
Grandma Cathy and Micaela
Riley and Daddy put flowers on Great Grandma Ruby's grave
Micaela examined the headstone
Wow, look at all of Grandpa Leon's trees!
Let's get this wreath
The girls got extra candy canes since they knew the owner
Megan and Royal were married with a beautiful backdrop of things she grew herself
Exchanging rings
Mr. and Mrs. Rice!
Megan dancing with her dad, my Uncle Matt
Grandpa Charlie taught Riley how to play tic-tac-toe
Everyone loves to color
Uncle Dan and Riley
Aunt Chris, Grandpa Charlie and Aunt Peg
Micaela and Great Grandma Jean were both happy
Micaela loved throwing toys for Coco; Coco loved chasing toys thrown by Micaela
Yet another picture of someone reading a story to Riley
Great Grandma Jean walking through the cemetery with the girls
We said a little prayer at Great Grandpa Kelly's grave
Our ride for the trip…a cherry red Jeep Wrangler, fully equipped for off-roading
We had quite an eventful Thanksgiving, starting with our drive down to Illinois on Wed. In the north suburbs of Chicago the alternator on Chad's truck died. We were hoping we'd still make it to Rantoul but it was at least 2 hours away. After consulting with Leon we decided we didn't want to get stranded in 20 degree temperatures with 2 little girls, so we found the nearest Dodge dealership. Unfortunately it was 3 pm the day before Thanksgiving so they were swamped with appointments but low on workers. We had no choice but to leave the truck there and take the last car Enterprise had to rent, a candy red Jeep Wrangler. Luckily we ended up at a swanky dealership that had a kids' playroom, popcorn and hot chocolate so Riley and Micaela were quite content during all the time this took. (The downside of the swanky dealership became apparent when we got the bill). Our 4.5 hour drive ended up taking 9 hours and we were exhausted by the time we finally arrived in central Illinois but we were grateful we made it and could spend our holiday with our family.
On Thanksgiving day we were invited to Aunt Betty and Uncle Dale's home in Eureka, IL. Grandma Annetta and Chad's cousins Sarah, Eric and their daughter Ivy and Emily and Kevin were all there as well and it was wonderful to catch up with them. We hadn't seen them in years and had never met Kevin. The girls loved playing with everyone and we had a really delicious meal. This is the first time Chad and I haven't hosted Thanksgiving in 11 years and while it felt a little strange, it was very relaxing…I can get used to this!
Friday we took the girls to the cemetery where their Great Grandma Ruby is buried. Riley has had a lot of questions about graves and death so we thought this would be a good chance to talk more about it and for us all to pay our respects. Next we went to a huge machine shed where Grandpa Leon sells Christmas trees and wreaths. He's been doing this for 42 years and it was fun to see his operation. Since we didn't have our truck we couldn't buy a tree, but we did get a wreath to give to Great Grandma Jean. It was nice for the girls to have a big space to run around in for a while and we all loved the smell…nothing like fresh Christmas trees!
That afternoon Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Dale came to Rantoul for dinner and a birthday celebration for Micaela. We're glad we were able to spend some time with them and very appreciative that they came to us. After our long drive on Wednesday we wanted to spend as little time in the car as possible.
On Saturday we had breakfast with Earl at Ott's where we ate their famous haystacks: toast topped with an egg, bacon, hash browns, more toast and sausage gravy. It was delicious! Not surprisingly, we didn't eat again until dinner.
That afternoon my cousin Megan got married in Galesburg. The wedding was very much in her style as the wedding party wore jeans and the alter was decorated with pumpkins and other things Megan, an assistant grower at a nursery, had grown herself. She and her groom, Royal, were very happy. I was grateful for yet another opportunity to catch up with family members that we haven't seen in a while. Riley and Micaela loved all the attention and did great with 5 days of being surrounded by rarely-seen family.
Sunday morning we visited my Grandpa Kelly's grave. I haven't been to the site since his funeral so I was glad to have some time at his gravesite. Then it was time for the long drive home. Instead of being able to drive straight though Madison to Appleton we had to go back to Chicago to get our truck, transfer everything from the jeep and drive from there. I'm amazed at how patient the girls were for this long drive. While it was a great trip full of family time, we were all very glad to be home, sweet home.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment