The Heaths: 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!