We Took a Little Trip

That is the reason for my absence of 10 days or so.  We went to Illinois to first visit Mike's family.  So, Ivy met her grandma and grandpa, aunt, uncles, and cousins for the first time.  She loved every minute of it.

Mike's Dad owns a very neat potato chip factory called "Mrs. Mike's". 

On this day, there was a big load of potatoes for the children to see and smell.  There were some freshly peeled potatoes ready for the cooker

Dan (Mike's brother) was doing the cooking that day.  He did not want me to take his picture, but I was able to sneak one anyway.  (He was probably embarrassed because he's so out of shape?)

We always love going to the factory and gorging on warm chips right out of the cooker.  Mike believes he gained a few pounds before we left there.

 I promised my father-in-law that I would not divulge any secret recipes or post pictures which are too revealing to these prized chips.  But, they are a very coveted item among our friends and family.  Ivy does not normally eat potato chips, but does like them warm.

Mike with his father.

Mike with his other brother, Matt (also works at the factory), his dad, and Seth.

We also had a fun time at the local park.  We rode the carousel, played putt-putt (first time for the girls), played around a bit.  It was great weather.

We're missing Jordan.  She could not make it, but had to work.

Seth always tries to scare his mom.

We stayed at Mike's mom's house.  Jack made good friends with her dog, Murphy.  We heard him snoring every night while sleeping on the couch.  Then he snored all day long.

After our visit with Mike's family, we headed east a short ways and visited friends.  We stayed with another family that has 5 children.  Ivy kept commenting how loud everything was.  There were some nights there were over 30 people in the house, enjoying the company of good friends.

Seth playing cards with friends.

While there, our friends were blessed with a horse, which they named Blessing.  Leanna did not know about the horse, but thought we were just going to see a horse.  Here is her face once her dad told her it was theirs.  Priceless.

Jack with Jacob, David, and Grace