CHICAGOOOOOOOOOO!!

This weekend was a whirlwind of AWESOME! Amy, Danny and I boarded a plane in the late afternoon and arrived after a blissfully quiet plane ride late at night in beautiful Chicago! We were welcomed to Aunt Mary and Aunt Nancy's beautiful bungalow-style home with authentic Chicago pizza and yummy treats. We woke early the next morning for the hour-long drive to the town where Aunt Nancy, Rhonda and Linda would participate in the Ride for MS. Mom, Aunt Jenn, Ally, Bella, Danny, Amy and I were to act as the pit crew and travelled from rest stop to rest stop, cheering them on and providing water and snacks if wanted.

 We're going on an adventure!

 

 I needed models to pose with the cool dinosaur fossil in the background. See the sauropod (probably brachiosaurus)?

 

 Ally has the ultimate lazy-girl life hack

 

 Rhonda, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Jenn, and Linda

 

 Beautiful rows of corn. I love the beautiful countryside here!

 Aunt Mary and I with the now-infamous bug spray, lol

At the first rest stop, Aunt Mary asked if anyone wanted some all-natural bug spray. I volunteered and assumed the position, facing away from her with my arms spread. We were both surprised by a powerful squirt of fluid instead of the light mist we were expecting, but I got a little suspicious when I felt the stream flow down the back of my shirt. Still, I turned around so she could spray my front half and some of it got into my mouth. Definitely not the normal taste of bug spray. I checked the bottle and it was all-natural Raid - what you would use to spray wasps and other flying insects. You were supposed to spray the bug from a distance of three feet and point it away from people. Oops. Aunt Mary was horrified and so apologetic, but I just thought it was funny... til I started feeling a burning sensation in my eyes. I called the poison control hotline (from my Utah phone number in Indiana and got connected to an office in Tennessee - huh?!) The poor guy had a thick accent and kept telling me to wash it off or go see a doctor. Lots of help. Luckily, this first stop was located at a beautiful farmhouse and I asked the owner, after a brief explanation, if I could borrow some dishsoap and a water source. She grabbed the Dawn soap and led me to a hand-operated water pump. I rinsed my face and skin as best I could and felt better in no time. This is going to be an awesome story. ;)

At the lunch stop, we set up a big tailgate party with lots of friends and delicious food. It was great to talk to everyone and make new friends and Amy was able to take a motorcycle ride on Mr. Jim's awesome Harley. Our Chicagoland Lab Rescue team biked an impressive 75 miles that day! We stayed at a hotel that night while we were waiting for round two the next day and were able to sample a local delicacy called the Chocolate Cake Shake from ___. Mitchell had them on his mission and loved it, but I'm not a fan of soggy chocolate cake in my chocolate shakes. :) Still, it was an authentic experience and I loved that. The next day, Aunt Nancy, Rhonda and Linda had a shorter run of 30 miles and then we all drove home for a delicious BBQ. Aunt Mary let me take a cutting of her fantastic lemon-scented roses to try to grow back home and I was able to successfully get that through the airport security and onto the plane. :) Cool! They're soaking in water right now and hopefully will start to sprout roots in a few weeks. It was great to have a spontaneous trip to visit family, see new sights and make new friends! Thanks Mom!

Gotta pose with the cute calf! 

Posing with a tractor for Derek :)

Bella rocking her cool orange shirt with the cool orange tractor

The tailgate party!

Amy on Mr. Jim's hog

She's so cute when she gets excited ;)

Crossing the finish line - victorious!

Hail, the conquering heroes!

Group picture in front of a cool bell on the local college campus

I love Aunt Mary!

 

The last rest stop - Back row: Aunt Jenn, me, Mom, Bella, Aunt Mary, Aunt Nancy. Front row: Linda, Danny, Amy, Rhonda and Ally

Ally's 10th Birthday

Ally is 10! Boy, do I have another funny autocorrect story. I texted Aunt Jenn and asked her what kind of "things" Ally liked. I received this polite response - "No thongs please. She's a sweet little bookworm." My phone had autocorrected "things" to "thongs" and I'm pretty sure I almost gave my aunt a heart attack, haha!! We chose a couple books to pass along for her birthday and the kids had a blast at Peter Piper Pizza. It was great to see all our family members again and Ally sure is growing up into a wonderful young lady. :)

Derek loves car games

Val was a big help feeding Clara some birthday cake while Rob looked on

Gotcha! This kid loooooves to eat. He seems to have a growth spurt every other week!

Jilli got several pairs of vampire teeth with her ticket earnings

Beth is always thrilled to hold Clara

"Why the scowling face, Clara?"

Ally scored some great gifts - I gave her a couple of my favorites, Mandy and The Trumpet and The Swan.

Bryce and Clara loved this helicopter ride