Our Journey

Our Journey

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Redneck Thanksgiving

I've been meaning to write this post for some time now... well at least since Thanksgiving. My dad has somewhat of a reputation for thinking outside the box. Especially when it comes to celebrating the holidays. From riding bicycles to go pick out a Christmas tree to renting a stretch Hummer Limo to celebrate Thanksgiving...
Yes, this Thanksgiving, 2013, Dad rented a stretch Hummer Limo to take a tour of Redneckville, IL. We were going to be hitting all the classic stops, kids included. Limo was fully stocked with snacks and drinks, and we were set for the day. Trust me, we got plenty of stares... :-)

First stop for the day was Moonshine, IL. Population 2. Yep, you read that right. It's a barn like building that serves as a kind of general store/hamburger stop. Good burgers too! Just don't try to get 2 doubles with bacon like my brother Bob did. They were HUGE and he needed HELP! This place is apparently big with the biker crowd, but today there were none, but there were other tourists doing the same thing we were... getting some hamburgers and sightseeing.

Bob with his double with Bacon


Next stop after Moonshine was MVP bar near Newton, IL. (These are all within an hour of our house) Despite running around in this area growing up, I had never been to MVP. The place is notorious for it's rough crowd! It's apparently tame enough during the day to bring kids along. After being there during the day, it's easy to see how the place gets it's reputation. Tough to believe that places like this really do exist...
self explanatory

concert venue




the bar walks out onto the sandbar in the Embarras River

DJ Booth

the pig...

that's a monster!!!





Next stop was the MUG Tree in Yale, IL. Just a tree along the road in the middle of nowhere that has a bunch of coffee mugs on it. Interesting!


Pretty self explanatory really...


4th stop on tour was a supposed "petting zoo" at an apple orchard nearby Greenup, IL. It really just turned out to be an apple orchard with some animals... It provided good entertainment for sure, and Cayle and Santi enjoyed it. 

Not working out so well...

Maybe a better method...

Finally!

Dad seemed to want to ride everything today... Too much time cooped up in the Limo probably...


A baby goat!

Lindy crashed on mommy's lap during this stop

5th stop on our tour was a Winery in Greenup, IL. Much classier place than our previous 2 stops... It was really nice! We would have a glass or 2 of wine here, then visit the covered bridge down the road about a mile. 




attempting a family pic...

Covered Bridge

Some drinks may have been consumed...


My Brothers

Michael reflecting on the days happenings...

We then headed back to my parents for dinner and several games of pool. Quite the unique experience and opportunity to see lots of things that I had never seen before. We all loved the limo, especially Cayle!
goofing off at Moonshine



Grandma and Grandsons


Apple from the orchard


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Impromptu Photo Shoot with LL

It was a perfect situation. I had just put a new outfit on baby girl (meaning she had no chance to get food or dirt on it yet). And she was in a super happy and cooperative mood. So I got the camera out to embrace my inner photographer...












Pic from my run

It was a cold, quiet, and beautiful 8 miles, and the kids slept the entire time!

 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

The show :(

We put on quite a show today at church. Yikes! Both kids were fine for breakfast and getting ready for church. We got inside church and seated and it was pretty much straight downhill from there. 

Lindy typically struggles with being still, but today was an especially difficult day for her. She was like a bull in a china shop, and it sure wasn't pretty.  She cries so loud when she's told "no"- maybe she will be an opera singer one day? I took her out to the cry room, which had no heat and was 56 degrees. Not good. 

Cayle had a difficult time with Lindy using his colors and his sippy cup. So when he finally broke down in tears, I had to take him to the back of church.  By this time, I was in the back with Cayle and Nick was in the back with Lindy (for her second time within 30 minutes!).

What a rough start to the day! Needless to say, both kids came straight home from church and were sent to bed for naps. A good nap can fix anything, right??? 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

December

Probably one of the best parts of having kids is making our own family traditions. We are having a ton of fun with the kids and helping them understand the meaning of the holidays we celebrate.
Starting December 1, we have had a different activity each day. Last Sunday was cool because it was Dec 1- the first day of activities- and it was the first Sunday of Advent at church. Cayle enjoyed the huge Advent candles at the front of church. And he's loving finding out what we will do each day for our Christmas activity.
So far, we:
*decorated the house, inside and out :)
*colored in the Christmas coloring book
*sang Christmas carols - which actually turned into a Cayle/Lindy dance party...
*went to the library and checked out Christmas books and videos
*set out our shoes for St. Nicholas (see the haul below)

*made Christmas ornaments (sorry, they're a surprise!)
*had breakfast with Santa and cut down and decorated our Christmas tree





Sunday, December 1, 2013

54 degrees

Today and we were able to get out on the TREC trail for a little walk after running to the store for Christmas supplies. It was super nice out!