This is how we spent the our last two days in Illinois:
We packed up the van, said goodbye to Paca and Teresa, and went to church with Gavin and Kristen in Decatur.
Then we drove to Bloomington-Normal to visit my parents. We went for a walk on the Constitution Trail by their house.
Later in the afternoon, some of us went to a faculty concert at Illinois Wesleyan University. That was where I went to cello camp before my undergrad years.
Dinner, with aojiso from my parents' backyard:
Monday morning we went to Miller Park in Bloomington. It had a brand new playground and splash pad I had never seen before.
We also walked over by the pond to see the ducks.
Friendship bridge with Asahikawa, Japan:
Lunch:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on VHS:
Dinner:
A feverish Paula:
Mika peeking out of the window that used to be my bedroom:
Roasted corn in the backyard:
Black raspberry ice cream, to finish off our tastings of central Illinois flavors:
I loved black raspberry ice cream growing up. Thank you, Jii and Baachan!
Tuesday morning we hit the road back to Colorado. The kids did a decent amount of sleeping in the car:
And by the end of the trip, Wylie was unbelievably sticky. I think his fingers are literally stuck together in this picture:
Before arriving home, we also collected enough Incredibles toys from McDonalds Happy Meals to represent our family: Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, three Violets, and a Jack-Jack.
It was great to be back in Colorado after such a huge trip. But it's also so great that Forest and I made it to Kauai. Now that it's been a year, it feels even more like a dream. Dream or not, I don't think I will ever forget it.
