Wow! What a weekend!

So, Friday morning Chris said he wanted to get out and go for a drive. As I was getting the boys ready, he suggested that I pack a bag for a night...we might just go somewhere and spend the night in a motel. So I packed our bag (with 1 change of clothes) and off we went. I wondered what he had up his sleeve, but we were off on our adventure. About the time we got into Kentucky (about 2 hours from home), we were talking about how stressful the last few weeks had been. Chris has a lot on his plate right now, and it was finally just getting to him. I saw the look in his eye and said, "You want to find someone else to preach Sun, don't you?" He didn't feel like he would be much good in the pulpit this week, and decided that some refreshment and time with the boys and me would be the best choice. He called and lined up a couple of our preachers from the congregation to fill in for Sun services and let one of the deacons know he wasn't going to be there. Then the adventure really began......

He just had this look in his eye, like we were going somewhere we've never been. I wondered why he had headed the way he did because we really haven't found anywhere we really like that way. Somehow, I just knew (what can I say, I know my husband!); I looked at him and said, "You're totally going to drive to Chicago, aren't you?" And, off we went! We rerouted ourselves into Illinois and made it just north of Champaign that night. Amazingly, the kids were fabulous!

The next morning we drove into Chicago. First stop, Wrigley Field! I had always wanted to see it since I just love baseball!

Then we headed to the Sears Tower. Wow! That thing is huge! It was fun to have such a fantastic view of the area. Lake Michigan was absolutely beautiful. As we walked through downtown Chicago, it was amazing to know where I was based on movies I'd seen. Many a chick flick has been filmed there!

After getting a slice of yummy Chicago style pizza (Caleb ate more than I did!), we went to Navy Pier. It juts out into the lake. Of course, I loved the lighthouse. Caleb liked the rides. There was shopping and restaurants and carnival rides and lots more. It was a really fun place! Caleb and I went up in the 150 ft high ferris wheel! He was a little scared at first, but was loving it after a minute. He and Joshua rode the Thomas the Train. Too cute! What a busy day!

Then we headed to Kenosha, WI for the night. We ate at this place called the Brat Stop.....yummy! One of the best brats ever! After swimming (indoor pool, of course, it was freezing there!) and washing some clothes (remember the 1 night thing?), we crashed!

It was pretty rainy on Sunday, so we drove around and looked at some beautiful places in Wisconsin. Wish we could have explored some more, but oh well! We headed back into Illinois and spent the night there.

Monday we woke up and headed to our last stop...the apple orchard. Chris found this really neat orchard south of East St. Louis, Eckert's farm. It was some kind of operation! They had a restaurant (yummy), a store, a gift shop/greenhouse, ice cream stand (also yummy!), and they roded you to the apple orchard to pick your own apples. I really wanted the fujis, but they won't be ready till this weekend. So we picked the sweet crisps. They are really good! I'd never heard of them, but they're one of my faves now! Caleb was excited to pick apples off the tree. Joshua wanted to help, too. I was afraid he'd eat one of the rotten ones off the ground, but he was a good boy! Then we got to pick a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Finally, we headed for home.

One more stop on the way home...we found this beautiful covered bridge and just had to pull over!

We got in around 8 last night....just in time to get baths and get to bed. Then it was up for school this morning! Back to normal! It was crazy....but loads of fun!!!!