Finally Home

After 2,068 miles put on the van, we are back home. We arrived around 3am this morning. Needless to say, we're all pretty tired. It was, however, a fun trip. It was nice to be able to spend the week with Marc and his kids too.

While we were in BG, we went to the Long Grove Strawberry Festival, which is always a fun time. We also went to Bobbi's birthday party. It was nice to have everyone there. We saw a lot of family that we haven't seen in a long time. On Sunday, we all went to Portillo's for dinner and asked someone to take this photo of all of us. For whatever reason, Daniel is missing in this picture. :( (you can click on any of the photos to make them bigger)
(l-r) Rachel, Bobbi, Me, Jacob, Marc, Megan, Hannah, Kristi, Ed, Katie, Maurice, David, Ev and Mike

We went to the Jelly Belly Factory up in Wisconsin and also up to Brookfield Zoo. The kids especially loved the Botanic Gardens. That was shocking to us. I loved this picture of the kids at the zoo (that's a seal behind them).

Here is a picture of all of the kids at the Jelly Belly Factory. For whatever reason, Jacob was not happy in this picture.

I broke Bobbi and Ed's washing machine while we were there. That necessitated everyone going to the laundromat. That was an adventure to be sure. Here is a picture of Megan and Kristi goofing around when they were supposed to be helping us do laundry!

We also got to see Ken and Donna and their kids, as well as Dave, Patty and their kids. They're all getting so big. We got them all lined up in age order for this photo.
(l-r) Eric, Jacob, Katherine, Daniel, Adam, David, and Hannah
We also managed a picture with all of us!

All in all, it was a great visit and it's weird to be home after being away for so long. This evening, we all sat in front of my neighbor's house and lit off fireworks drinking beer (yeah, beer and fireworks mix really well!) and talking. It's good to be home.