Family Trip

I should probably call it a vacation but since it wasn't quite as relaxing as I like to think a vacation should be, I will say our family trip.  Travis took some time off of work and we flew out to IL to see my family and hang   out in good ol' Charleston.  Every time I go back the town seems smaller and like there is less to do.  It is weird.  But it was so much fun to see some friends and family.  The kids had a blast and Carson cried when we came home and pulled into our neighborhood at 1 am.  He thought the airplane was taking us back to Grandpa Norm's house.  He was so bummed.

Thanks to my dad for taking some pictures while we were there.  Here are a ton of pictures from our trip.  I didn't take my camera so some of these are cell phone pictures.  It gets the job done!

The boys on the airplane.  I sat with Carson and Porter in one row.  Travis held Hudson in the row behind us.  The kids did really well on the 3 1/2 hour plane ride.  It felt way quieter than church.  Go figure.

We went hiking at Fox Ridge State Park.  We did the shortest family friendly trail which led us to a little playground. 

Carson spent a lot of free time picking flowers and saving them in this water bottle. 

We also visited Lincoln Log Cabin, but didn't get any pictures.  They boys' favorite part there was the HUGE cow.

I love this picture of Porter.  He is so cute and his face makes me smile.

We just watched the boys play outside most of the trip.  I am pretty sure every single grandkid has loved this  little green tractor at some point.

Hudson and his cousin, Cameron. 

I don't know if the kids have ever been on a merry-go-round like this?  But we went to Morton Park a couple times to switch things up from being in the yard at Grandma and Grandpas.

Eating breakfast.  You should have seen the food I vacuumed up before we left.  Porter is a messy kid--lots of chips.  Carson also found this Winne the Pooh bear at Grandma's house and immediately claimed it.  He carried it around the whole time and it was filthy when we left.

This is one of Porter's new faces that he makes all the time.  I love it and am glad we captured it.  He looks a little angry, but I think he is happy.

Hudson ate his weight in Frosted Mini Wheats. 

Hudson also started doing this with his mouth and was talking like a baby on this trip.  Carson has been copying Hudson and talking like a baby for over a year and now Hudson is copying Carson who is copying Hudson.  Ugh!

The boys' cousin, Taylor got his license last year!  We put their carseats in his Jeep and he took them for a ride with the top down and doors off, out in the country.  Porter asked for his sunglasses and they were both asleep within a couple minutes.

So we drove to Lerna, IL to get an ice cold soda beverage from The World's Fastest Pop Machine (or something like that).  We tried to push the button and catch the can with the same hand.  I missed it.

The boys spent alot of time on scooters and bikes.  Porter graudated to a bigger bike than the one we have for him at home.  We have been thinking about giving his to Hudson and getting him a new one anyway.  I think he likes going faster, but he did fall off once and hit his head.  He can't quite control how fast he goes on the turns. 

There is Carson with that bear again.  Carson also got a lot better at riding the scooter.  At his cousins house they have a big long drive way that is a little bit downhill.  I think that helped him learn how to balance and do it better.  I thought he was going a little fast, but he loved it.  Now we need to get him a new scooter too.

Also at the cousins' house.  Porter had been talking about this bucket of cars since last year when we visited.  He got them out right away and started lining them all up.  He was in heaven.

They called Copper, "Popper."  He kept following the boys around and trying to get their food.  

We ate at Los Potrillos way too many times!

A trailer in my parents driveway that the boys had fun playing in.  Also a great way to keep them contained for a while.

On the last day of our trip our plane left at 9:50 pm, so we spent the day in Chicago.  I sat in the back of the van with Porter and Cameron and we watched The Princess and the Frog.  Hudson fell asleep and didn't say a word with Grandpa sitting next to him.  Once Megan took Grandpa's place, Hudson felt more comfortable and wouldn't stop singing.

We thought about bleacher seats at a Cubs game, but decided it wasn't worth the risk (money) if our kids weren't going to sit through any of it.

So instead we went to Shedd Aquarium and saw lots of creepy things.  The boys were a little crazy in here, but we survived, thanks to the help of all the cousins, aunt and uncle, and Grandma and Grandpa.

I love Hudson's face in this one.

But I like this one better. Even with his finger almost up his nose.

Our family picture with the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan in the back.

I think this is about the cutest picture of Porter.  What a little sweetheart.  Lake Michigan and Navy Pier in the distance (you can see the ferris wheel). 

Porter had to wear his bright neon orange "3" shirt practically every day of the trip.  I make him wear it pretty much anytime we are in public so I can keep track of him.

Wyatt and Megan with the boys.

Waiting for our cars after the aquarium.

I really wanted to go see The Bean.  We got some cool pictures and it was pretty crowded.  It is such a silly thing but it is still pretty cool.  

 Then we ate some ridiculously awesome deep dish pizza at Giordano's and hurried to catch our flight.  I missed out on Garrett's Popcorn, but will have to get that next time.
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Carson and Porter remembered everyone and warmed right up in no time.  The first night Hudson was talkative and putting on a show for everyone (I think mostly because he was so tired from traveling all day).  But then he was really shy around everyone. He wouldn't talk even if they were in the same house.  After catching some lightning bugs with Taylor and Megan he warmed up to the kids.  He played ring around the rosie with Megan for a while that night too.  He is so funny with his shyness.
Porter was in love with Megan.  He kept just walking up to her and giving her hugs.  I think he likes girls.  

While we were in Charleston, I also go to eat more delicious food (Pagliai's and Monical's) and see friends that I haven't seen in a while.  I got to see Taylor, Cameron, Megan and Josh run the 800 together for a race that was in the evening during the Illinois State Track Meet.  We also got to see Cameron play baseball and Megan play softball.  I got a lemon shake-up from Big Al and got to visit with him for a while (one of my 7th grade teachers).  We went to church, grilled some good food and played some games.  The boys played in the sprinklers one day.  And we basically spent a week outside.  It was a lot of work being away from home and off our routines, but it was so much fun.  We are missing everyone, but glad to be home.