Last Illinois Post

Our last full day in Illinois was on Sunday.  The entire family came over to visit before everyone went back to their corners of the US.  The newlyweds were out of town on a mini-honeymoon and my cousin Darren had left on tour with a band in Germany.  Besides them, the whole family was there.  

My Aunt Trish made pancakes and bacon for dinner.  I showered and took a nap with Aiden.  By the time I got up, the family had started to trickle in.  Because it was so nice out that day, we spent the majority of our time in the yard watching the kids run in the yard.  

Here is the parental viewing area:

Occasionally the kids would run around to the back of the house and one of us would have to go coral them back to the front.  Here's cousin Mikey doing his shepherding...

This was a common sight that day.  The kids would form some sort of a game, then take a break, picking at stuff in the grass.  Aiden was always hovering close by.

Mia (on the right) is so sweet.  She is only three, but her speech is as clear as mine.  It amazes me every time I see her.  She was so good with her baby cousin Hailey.  She played ball with her, but was very gentle.

My cousin Kim and I went through photos from the wedding on my uncle's iPad.  I felt like I was the only one in the family without an iPad.  It was quite the handy gadget.

Here's Alex being mauled by the little kids again.  I don't know what it is about him, but they LOVE him.

Ariel held Hailey for a bit.  Such a ham, that one.

We tried to get all the kids together for a photo.  Everyone cooperated except for my son.  He slowly worked his way towards the driveway.  I'm starting to think he might be really shy.  He covered his eyes, as if he was imagining he wasn't there.

The kids ended up on the couch playing games on the iPad again.  They shared so nicely.  Aiden was even able to sink a destroyer on the game Battleship.

The next day, my cousins Chris, Mike and Mike's family left for Arizona around noon.  Our flight didn't leave until that evening, so we got on the road a couple hours later.  I was sad to say goodbye.  I love all these people and wish SO MUCH that we were able to visit more often.  Hopefully our next trip will be to Arizona!