Our Last Few Days in Illinois

Story told by: Brody

We had a great end of our trip in Illinois!

We went bowling one morning with Grandma and Grandpa! The bowling alley had the coolest dragons for rolling the bowls down the lanes!

Lainey was all smiles with Grandpa.

And Henry was all smiles with Grandma.

And I was all smiles when it was my turn to bowl. But for every other moment, I, well, wasn’t all smiles. Not in the slightest.

The bowling crew! (This was one of the only pictures where I wasn’t full-on smacking Mommy in the face.)

When we got home we bundled up to get some energy out with Grandpa outside.

After naps it was time to cheer on the Cougs in the Holiday Bowl!

Go Cougs! Unfortunately the game didn’t end as we had hoped. But we still love our Cougs and look forward to the start of next season!

We got up early the next day to make the three-hour drive down to St. Louis. We met Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Steck at Culver’s for lunch.

I finished my lunch, and loved my ice cream dessert!

Henry can’t have ice cream, but he enjoyed a bowl full of M&Ms with Uncle Jar Jar.

After lunch we went to The Magic House. This was the coolest place! Mommy grew up going to this place, so she was excited to show it to us.

Henry immediately made it to the top of this structure. Lainey spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out how to get up there, but never made it. She doesn’t have Henry’s monkey gene.

Since school wasn’t in session, The Magic House was SO crowded. This is how Mommy and Uncle Jar Jar felt about the crowds.

These snowmen moved. I made sure to keep my eyes on them.

Checking out in the market with Grandma.

Waiting to make a deposit in the bank.

The goal here is to pull the bubble up as far as you can. You had to do it verrrrry slowly.

After The Magic House, we met up with everyone at Great Uncle Dave’s house. Great Grandma and Great Grandpa brought some Christmas present for us!

Lainey was thrilled to get a troll!

Doing the troll’s hair with Great Uncle Dave.

I had fun with Mommy’s cousin, Jennifer.

We had some delicious pizza, and then got a group picture. Thanks for hosting the crazy get together, Uncle Dave and Aunt Kaye!

Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s house the next day, we had a morning to hang out for a bit. Being from a small town, we were amazed to see a mail truck delivering the mail TO YOUR HOUSE!

No PO Boxes here!

I got cold, so while Lainey and Henry ran around outside, I hung out with Uncle Jar Jar.

Mommy, Lainey, and Grandma went out for a girls’ day, so Lainey had to bring her new purse (that she commandeered from Mommy’s joke Christmas gift).

Girls-only lunch!

Lainey was getting worn out, so Mommy and Grandma dropped her off back at home. Since the boys were still asleep, Grandpa took Lainey to the animal shelter to check out the kitties.

Mommy and Grandma had success at the mall getting some new purses! (Thanks to Daddy for such a fun gift Christmas gift for Mommy.)

Then they went to get pedicures.

It’s always a treat to get to take a bath in Grandma and Grandpa’s huge tub.

Lainey really wanted her nails painted, so Grandma did that right before bedtime.

On the morning we left, Grandpa went out for one last yummy Midwest treat of Dunkin’ Donuts. Yum!

Then we snuggled up with Grandma to watch part of the movie “Prancer.”

Uncle Jar Jar is a good snuggle buddy, too.

After driving to the airport in Chicago, it was time to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. That made all of us really sad. (I’m not in this picture because I was already strapped to Daddy’s back in the Ergo.) We will miss them, and can’t wait to see them in May (for my birthday!!!)!

We got through security very quickly, so we had lots of time to kill before our flight. After running around for 30 minutes, Mommy helped to pass more time by giving us candy.

And then we colored.

And played cars with new friends. After this, it was time to get on our flight. I didn’t scream quite as much on this flight home, but I did throw up all over Mommy (well, I did get a little in the vomit bag after Mommy realized what was happening). I did this last year as well, so Mommy and Daddy think I must suffer from air sickness. Next time they will know to come equipped with Dramamine and ponchos.

Once we landed, after not napping all day, we were passed out in the car within 30 seconds. We got to Na Na and Ba Ba’s house in Tacoma about 11 p.m. and promptly went to sleep.

The next morning we went to visit Daddy’s Uncle Charlie in his care home. We loved playing in his wheelchair with Ba Ba. This is the only picture Mommy got of the visit. After this, we started our long trip back across the state to get home. We got home on Saturday night around 9 p.m. We had such a fun trip seeing SO much family! And now we’re happy to sleep in our own beds again!