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!

We're Funny

Right as I was planning to leave the reception with my insanely sleepy son, my cousin Michelle suggested we get together for a cousin's photo.  We were unsuccessful at corralling the groom, as he was busy doing groom things.  And we were missing our cousin Katie in Arizona because she was 9 months pregnant.  I say was because she had her baby Friday.  Grayson Michael, 10 lbs, 2 oz.  YIKES.

Besides those two, this is all of us.  Being goofy.

I was trying to get everyone to hold me for the first photo, but they didn't understand.  Obviously.

By the time Jason showed up, they were on board with the concept.  Except we weren't strong enough to hold him.  Instead I think we just overstretched his hamstring.

And here's the best shot.  Some people aren't looking at the camera, some people are being goofy.  But at least we're somewhat organized.



From left to right:  Ariel, Alex, Mike, Michelle, Chris, me, Kim, Matt, Darren and Jason.  The little one in front is Mike's daughter Lily.  It was an excellent trip.

Saturday in Elgin

The Saturday after the wedding was pretty laid back.  My cousin Matt came over with his two daughters Mia and Hannah, so Aiden was outnumbered.  My Aunt Trish has a nook by the front door (everyone uses the side door) where she keeps a toy box for when her grandkids come to visit.  The little kids pulled out almost every single toy.

The kids all LOVE Alex.  They were constantly hanging around him.  SO CUTE.

We spent a lot of time in their giant front yard.  There was lots of room for the kids to run around and throw around a kickball and football.  Matt even got out there and showed off his cartwheel abilities.  After five minutes of stretching, of course.

Aiden, Mia and Hannah enjoyed walking the "balance beam"...

Rolling around the yard with cousin Chris.  He put down his martini for this part.

Best line of the day: "I don't like this horsie."  Said by Mia after trying out the Aiden horse.

For dinner we had homemade pizzas on fresh flour tortillas.  They were amazing.  I definitely need to make these at home!

Aiden adored my cousin Mike's daughters Zoe and Lily.  He followed them everywhere.  They were so sweet with him and let him play along.  They even took turns with him playing games on the iPad.

It was a struggle to tear him away from all these kids at every nap and every bedtime.  It was really stressful for me because I was the only to put him down every time.  I never got a break from his crying and that ate at me a little.  I felt like I couldn't catch up on my sleep.  But it was worth it!

Musatto Wedding

We left for Illinois last Thursday evening.  Travis was unable to get off work, so it was Ariel, Robert, Aiden and I.  I chose a late flight thinking Travis would be dropping us off, but we ended up driving ourselves and parking the car at the airport.  We got to the airport on time, but quickly found out our flight had been delayed.  The Ramby's were flying to Ohio that same night and their flight was delayed as well.  That worked out really well because the boys were able to run off some energy together.

The flight ended up being two hours late.  I brought Aiden's car seat on the plane, so I strapped him in when we got on board.  Since it was way past his bed time he fell asleep as soon as we were in the air.  The flight was extremely turbulent because there were thunderstorms over our entire flight path.  Ariel and I are both terrified of flying and we both get air sick really easily, so we sat in terror together.  

My dad picked us up from the airport in Chicago in a rental car and we headed to our hotel.  He missed our turn onto another highway.  Since we were headed toward the city, he decided to just keep going and give Robert a tour of a city he'd never visited before.  It was close to 2 in the morning by this point, so the streets were mostly empty.  But Robert got to see a lot of famous stores and restaurants.

The next morning, Gpa, Aiden and I ate the hot breakfast the hotel provided.  Ariel and Robert joined us shortly thereafter.  Aiden was taking forever to eat, so I headed back to the room to shower and get ready.  After everyone else was ready, we drove over to my Aunt Trish and Uncle Chris' house.  And it was a FULL house.  Already staying there were my cousins Chris, Chris, Darren and Mike, Mike's wife and two daughters, and my mom.  

We ate lunch and sat around, catching up with each other.  My cousins Chris, Mike, Mike's wife and daughters (Zoe and Lily) are from Arizona, so we really don't get to see each other all that often.  It was so awesome to get to spend some time with these people.  

Around 3, we all piled into a few cars and headed to the church for the wedding.  Aiden had refused to take a nap so of course he fell asleep on the ride over.  I had to wake him up and of course he was miserable.  He wouldn't stop crying.  We sat in the back of the van while he cried it off.  He finished just in time for us to sneak in the back of the church.  We sat on the side so we could easily make a quick retreat if need be.  I was terrified the entire time that he might start screaming or crying at any moment.  Thankfully he did well throughout the whole ceremony.  It was a beautiful Catholic ceremony in a very elaborate church.  

After the ceremony, we stood outside the church for a few minutes while the bridal party took photos.

Aiden and Zoe on the church steps

The reception was a few cities over right on the Fox River.  There was a dam right outside the picture windows so we had a great view of the water.  

Robert and Ariel at the reception

Chris and Laura, the groom and bride

Laura asked one of her high school students to play the ukulele at the reception.  She sang as well and it was   very cute.  I looked over at Aiden at one point and he was holding his fork like a little ukulele and playing along.  After a minute, he held it like a microphone and sang a little tune.  That kid constantly entertains me.

My mom and I out on the deck

It was pretty chilly out, maybe 50 degrees?  I was cold.  And of course the kids wanted to run, so we took them outside.  Brrrrr!  I am so not used to the cold.

My dad, me, Alex and Ariel

Somewhere around 10 pm, Aiden tripped on his blanket and fell down.  My cousins Mike and Chris tried to stand him back up, but Aiden was a limp noodle.  They laid him back down and he stayed there and closed his eyes. That was my cue to hit the car.  I was pretty tired as well, so I called Alex and asked if he would mind if I took Aiden home.  He said they would find a ride home and we went back to Aunt Trish's.  Straight To Bed.  Soooo tired....

Need to organize photos...

Aiden and I went to Illinois this weekend for my cousin's wedding, hence the lack of proper posts.  I do not have my thoughts or photos organized as of yet.  I can say that I came back 3 pounds heavier with a northern head cold.  Oh and also lots of excellent memories.  Hopefully I can get those memories posted over the next few days.

We got back Monday night, but I took Tuesday off so I could get everything in order before heading back to work.  I had a doctor's appointment first thing yesterday morning and I got my flu shot.  I spent the rest of the morning running errands for Travis and I.  When I got home I was exhausted.  So I slept for almost FOUR HOURS.  Ha!  I didn't want to get up, but I forced myself out of bed to go pick up Aiden from daycare.  I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and doing laundry. 

I'm in the middle of the nasty, dribbling part of a cold.  My sinuses are on fire and I have a box of Kleenex attached to my hip.  It's always tough for me to be sick.  I generally have a lack of appetite, but that doesn't mean I can just stop eating.  My body doesn't work that way.  Since I didn't have much of an appetite this morning, I only had a tiny bowl of Cheerios.  When I got to work I realized I was going to need more than that so I stopped at the coffee shop and got a protein shake.  I wish I had five bucks to blow daily because I would totally get this shake every morning.  It has a banana, peanut butter, nonfat milk, protein powder and the barista recommended a shot of chocolate.  AMAZING.  I'm not allowed to bring food into the lab I work in, so I've spent the majority of the morning standing in the hall with that shake.  Can't. Put. It. Down.  If I could chop ice as finely as they do, I would make it at home.

Anyhoo, hopefully I'll get to organizing my brain so I can post about the trip.  It was GREAT to have an entire weekend to visit with my extended family.  We rarely get to do that.  I wish we could all afford to do it more than once every 5 to 10 years.  What are you gonna do?

Talent

I don't understand how people can make their bodies do stuff like this...

Amazing

How cool would it be if you could watch your dreams again after you wake up?  Researchers are making strides towards achieving just that.  If you 'd like to read more, check out this article from Berkeley.