Our Illinois Trip

I must warn you, this post is picture heavy. We spent 8 days roaming around Illinois, visiting friends and our favorite places, and I'm just sharing a smidge of the pictures that I actually took.

I heart taking pictures.

Thankfully, I have a digital camera, because could you imagine how much money I'd be spending on film and development?!?! It'd be billions, I tell you.

As you might remember, we started off our trip in Chicago to celebrate my dear friend Melissa's wedding. While we were there, we took advantage of exploring the city. Poor Julia hadn't been to Chicago since she was 6 months old, so it was all new for her.

The girls were most excited to have their Nina and Papa with us.
Melissa had booked an architectural boat tour of Chicago as part of her wedding weekend. It was so interesting and we got to see a part of Chicago we'd never seen before. They also served lemonade and cookies, so the girls were content.


After the boat tour, we walked over to Navy Pier for some lunch and rides. Julia saw the ferris wheel and fell in love instantly. She could not wait to ride it.


After the ferris wheel, Jana and Ebeth rode on the swings...
and Julia took a ride on the carousel.

The view from our hotel rooms was gorgeous. I just love Chicago. I need to make sure I don't go so long without visiting.


Why is she so big?
After Chicago, we headed to DeKalb to visit some of our favorite places and friends. Julia was so excited to get to play on a playground. The poor thing hasn't been able to play at a park because of the super hot Texas weather.

Elisabeth went to visit her dearest friend, Avery. It's so fun to see them reunite.
And then, we finally made it to Pekin where this little red head was waiting for us. (Look at those curls!!!!)
Owen is 15 months old now, and though he is protesting the walking (he is a night time walker only), he made sure to be involved in all the big kid playing.


And then there was my Ethan, who is sooooo tall and still moves too fast to get a ton of pictures (although, he does stop and smile for pictures now if you can catch him fast enough!).

Owen loved Evan. He would seek him out for nap time snuggles or reach for Evan if he saw him. It was super cute.
Julia got to take Ethan to preschool one day. Ethan showed her off to everyone. :)

We got to see my grandparents, which I always am excited about.


We went to the Marigold Festival for the first time in years and Julia got to watch her first parade.
We had a great trip. It's hard to only see family once a year (as Elisabeth declared on the car ride back to Texas), but it does make the time you do see them more special.