Are you ready for a long post? I should have posted these pictures in little snippets over the last few days but we’ve been having too much fun to sit behind a computer… the result is a back up of pictures! So… here goes!
Our car trip up was not only one of the quickest, but also one of the most pleasant. Rover has decided that he is okay with a car seat {even a flowered one} which thankfully makes for far less screaming!
In case you are new, my parents {whom we all call Mom & Daddy Boy} own a farm in southern Illinois near a small town where they were both born and raised, but Erika and I have never lived here. My dad has worked hard at restoring the property and farm house. He rents the farm land to a local farmer who rotates soy beans and corn {this year it’s soy beans}. Most of my extended family still lives nearby and we get together often usually in the school house that sits on their property. We love coming here and try to make the long trip twice a year. Last summer we spent all of July {if you want to read about our time last summer you can click on July 2009 on the sidebar} and everything about it was wonderful and so far this visit has been just as wonderful. Especially since Erika, Chance and Sloane are here too!
Daddy Boy always goes all out when it comes to food and always prepares enough to feed a small army. Usually Chasey and Bird Brown, PhD are never far from his side!
Rover has been particularly enthralled with all things green, which there is no shortage of around here…
I’m pretty sure we’ve logged more hours on the Gator in the last 5 days then my parents have in the last 2 months.
Life is slow here and I love it and so do the kids. They have enjoyed playing in blow-up pools on the patio, climbing mulch mountains, picking blueberries, and helping “Mom” in the kitchen. Unfortunately the GIANT blow-up slide we brought didn’t want to hold air which made it impossible to slide down! Oh well, the kids didn’t seem to be disappointed at all.
And JM has done quite a bit of weed eating… in the nude, of course.
As for the adults, we have enjoyed having the company of life long friends from Chicago down for the weekend. Growing up, we lived in Chicago on two different occasions and Anne {and her family} have been friends for life. We were so thankful she and Jeff made the trip down. Just the fact that they beat Erika and DaddyBoy in Scrabble was worth it!! I also wanted to steal Jeff’s shirt… might be my favorite shirt of all time!
We’ve also been: watching hummers, throwing horseshoes, gutting the cottage, swinging on the front porch swings in the chilly {yes chilly} mornings and enjoying all of our surroundings!
Daddy Boy is never short on “BIG” ideas when we get here. This time he figured it was time to gut the cottage {pictured behind Morgan on the mulch pile}. The cottage {which will become what Daddy Boy calls the “Camp House”} sits between the farm house and school house and was in need of a little TLC. They recently installed new windows and added columns out front but the inside of the 1 bedroom house remained untouched. Chance and Justin went to town on it Friday and had it down to the bare bones in a matter of hours. Daddy Boy has been taking full advantage of Erika and Chance while they are here… the after dinner hours have been spent taking Daddy Boy’s post-it note floor plans and elevations for the cottage and putting them in AutoCad.
I love this picture of Daddy Boy because this is how I think of him… smack dab in the middle of a major renovation! He is ALWAYS up to something.
And so is this squirrel. I had a picture of her breaking it down, booty-style in the gutted house but she MADE me delete!
As you can see there’s never a shortage of things going on. The kids love it here… I dare say it’s better than Disney World!
Daddy Boy had a birthday yesterday and I think the kids all thought it was their birthday too. He graciously let them open his presents, blow out his candles, and even shared his delicious cake with them! We love you Daddy Boy thanks for all you do for us and for making our summer vacations always so memorable! Happy Birthday, we love you and we love being here!
Before I sign off… will you please keep the family of Hannah Grace Harrison in your prayers. She passed away yesterday morning at the young and precious age of 4. Jarrod and Marci have clung to Jesus through her whole battle and their post yesterday, although heart wrenching, shows that their source of strength is Jesus Christ and their comfort is in her now complete healing. Hug your children, savor the moments you have with them… every day we have is a gift from our gracious Heavenly Father!
Also can you tell us where Ericas gray plaid shirt is from? Enjoy the rest of your trip!
