Ten on Tuesday - Tug Fest Edition

Give me some credit, I'm only a week late.

1. The ride over was pretty uneventful - although now a days Alice gets very restless when she's in her carseat for longer than an hour. We stopped the car a few times to get her some things from the back to play with. I forgot to bring a wide assortment of items for her so in an act of desperation I gave her a baseball cap that just happened to be in the car. Of course that thing amused her longer than any of the books or toys I brought for her.

2. Sonic was the theme of the weekend. Every day we were there we made a stop for a slush or some food. I've learned I don't like their watermelon flavor, I would give my right arm for their real lime slush, their coffee coolers are worth every palpitation, and Santa needs to bring my SIL a GPS for X-mas.*

3. My nephew deserves a medal for allowing me to take scads of pictures of him. I had just read about a certain technique the day before and he came equipped with a kick ass glowstick so I had to take advantage. To tell you the truth, I think he had just as much fun as I did.









4. As usual, the fireworks were the best around. Of course I am used to Jacksonville fireworks so that may be why I think they are so fabulous. Alice was nodding off in my arms during them, I'm just going to blame that on sheer exhaustion though.





5. Yep, it was definitely exhaustion. We had barely left for the hotel when she was out like a light in her carseat. She slept the whole way there, didn't flinch when I took her out of the carseat, and didn't even open her eyes when I laid her down in the bed. We didn't even bother putting her in her PJs.


6. The next day was the Tug and like usual we didn't venture down the road to get the full view. I always enjoy the company back at the house much more than seeing Illinois kick Iowa's butt (we swept this year, BTW). Besides, we can see quite a lot and hear everything from the comfort of the front lawn. This year two couples got married on either side at the same time (on Friday) and the very last tug on Saturday the wedding parties tugged for the chance to win a trip. This would have been the only thing I would have cared to see as the groomsmen were wearing bridesmaid dresses and the bridesmaids were wearing tuxedos. The Discovery Channel was there this year so if I'm lucky I'll still be able to catch it.

7. Later that day we went with my BIL to a well known greasy spoon for their signature dish - a mountain of ground beef, fries, texas toast, and cheese they called The Magic Mountain. Otherwise known to us "southern" folk as a horseshoe. There was no way I could convince Joe that unfortunately this wasn't an original idea - didn't stop me from eating it though, of course.

8. Alice swam like a fishy in the hotel pool that night with everyone joining in but Auntie Kathy. That's ok Kath, I understand. But next time you will get in, even if I have to throw you in! ;)


9. Nothing eventful happens on Sunday. We all pitch in (well MOST of us) and clean up the yard and enjoy a fabulous breakfast prepared by Matt's Aunt Eva. Not only did we go home with leftover food in our car, but Alice now has her very own doll house courtesy of Uncle George and Aunt Eva. You see, nearly 30 years ago they bought a kit for their daughter and Uncle George just never finished it. It's been sitting in the basement collecting dust, and since they don't have any granddaughters to enjoy it, they thought that Alice might. It needs a lot of work, but we'll get it done. Cross your fingers because we're shooting for it to be done by the next Tug Fest!


10. We had one last stop at Sonic on our way home - Alice missed out as she passed out before we left Port Byron. We enjoyed the peace and quiet nearly all the way to Aurora.

*Annie and Margaret ended up making what should have been a half hour round trip into two hours. Surprisingly enough my MIL's slush was still very icy (so were the hamburgers)!