Home Again

The Six Pack "on the rocks"

We arrived home last night in time for the BIG storm. Never seen one so big. The thunder and lightening were awesome! William did not agree.

Our trip was a lot of fun. We finally arrived at Glacier Canyon around 4:00. Just in time to check into the condo and grab a bite to eat. Then went to two water parks. Glacier Canyon has a great outdoor lazy river. It has several levels, shoots you down a slide and even up a conveyor belt. Made me queasy (even after two Dramamine) but the kids loved it! We then went to an indoor park- just as much fun.

On Sunday, we went to the Wilderness outdoor park, visited with family and swam. The kids were tired and crabby so we left in the afternoon and headed toward Madison. Spent the night there, swam in the hotel pool and then headed back home.

We stopped in Palatine and drove through Mommy's old neighborhood. It was nice to see the old houses and the neighborhood. (Brenda, we drove passed your old house too. Looks a lot different!) William explained to Claudia, "These are Mommy's old houses, but they are new to the people who live in them now.". He's better at explaining things to her than I am. Plus she listens to him.

House #1 and House #2

Brenda's house

We then drove to St. Michael's Cemetery to see my dad. As we drove through the front gates (aka the "flood" gates), my eyes swelled with tears. Never fails. It's been almost 7 years and and it still makes me cry.

The kids asked where we were. Brian told them were going to see Mommy's Daddy. Claudia became confused and told Brian, "You're our Daddy.".

William set her straight by explaining, " We're going to see our Grandpa. He died and now he's in the cemetery." Like I said, he's much better at explaining things to Claud. I don't think he understands the whole death thing or why we put people in the ground but he was happy to be there.


Brian showed the kids Grandpa's headstone which they later referred to as "Grandpa's Rock". William showed Grandpa his baseball bat. Claudia did a little dance on the rock. Notice her shoes as on the wrong feet.

We left the cemetery for supper. Stopped in at Woodfield Mall (still smells the same) and ate at the Rain Forest Cafe. The kids had fun. Since the place is noisy and full of kids, Brian and I relaxed.

Left there for a quick stop at Land's End and Nordstrom Rack. Claudia found a really cute lavender sweater and a bright tie-dyed raincoat at Land's End. William found a long sleeve top with a bi-plane which he "had to have". I found a really cute linen dress and an awesome necklace at Nordstrom but he prices were high. $74.00 for the dress and $95.00 for the necklace. Loved them but didn't need them.

It was nice to drive around the neighborhood, Plum Grove Estates (land of sprawling 1960's ranches), but it wasn't the same as I remembered. Even though the majority of the homes have been updated, have beautiful landscaping etc... it somehow seemed dated. Schaumburg, too, is looking old. The store fronts look a little less then perfect, the roads need to be repaved and it's way too congested. It was fun to drive around and visit but I'm not in a hurry to go back!