Late last month we planned to take a "mini vacation" to see my brother in Carbondale. We strive to take a vacation (however big or small) each year with the kids. Last year we went to Wisconsin and Minnesota, but we wanted to do something on a much smaller scale this time. It's a good way to also let us unwind and make sure Chad takes vacation from work, since it's so hard to get in the Monday through Friday routine and never feel like you can miss a meeting. Our plans were to go to Flora for the Halloween parade/Fall festival and then head to Carbondale and spend time with my brother while also allowing the kids to "swim" at a hotel. Well, after two really rough nights of sleep for Luke in Flora, we decided that all four of us trying to sleep in a hotel room may just make us crazy....okay, may make mommy crazy!
So, instead we stopped off at Curtis Orchard in Champaign on the way back home and had a blast! I'm really happy we didn't end up in Carbondale because we may have missed out on this impromptu experience.
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| Meredith entertaining herself on the drive down to Flora. |
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| Chad's handiwork at getting a picture of Luke while we're driving (he is directly behind Chad in the passenger seat, rear facing). |
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| The kids with Great-Grandma Reed. I found it creepy that I don't know who's hands are on Meredith in this picture! |
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| Hanging out with Great-Grandma Perry. |
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| Luke and Grandma Perry at the parade. |
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| Meredith with Great-Aunt Carolyn and Casey. She LOVED that dog! |
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| Luke getting a sink bath. |
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| Our little piggy. |
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| Meredith looked at this picture and said, "Mom's a cow; I'm a pig". Gee, thanks! |
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| We weren't sure how she would do riding a pony, since she tends to scare pretty easy, but she loved it! |
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| My big girl! |
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| This chair is just the right size for Chad :) |
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| We decided to splurge (I would never spend that much for apples) and pick our own apples to take home. To say Meredith was crazy excited would be an understatement. |
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| Showing off her apple. |
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| Good thing Daddy is tall! |
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| She was fearless walking over the apples on the ground. |
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| Now we have apples for homemade apple sauce and apple pie! |
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| Luke was indifferent to the experience! :) |
