Illinois Family Vacation

Jen and the kids took a trip to Illinois from July 25th to 31st. We went with Jen's sisters (Judy and Nikki) and their families, and Jen's dad and Janet. We all headed out to attend Jen's mother's side - 50th Family Reunion. See below for our Illinois adventures:

A Day in Chicago ~

When we first arrived in Illinois, we spent the day in Chicago. We enjoyed taking the Architecture River Boat Cruise through the city, walking around town, taking the L train, going to the top of Sears Tower, taking the subway and eating at the Rainforest Cafe. It was a very full day - with all 7 kids. They were troopers walking all over town. It was a really great day and good weather. This is something I've never done after all of the times I have been to Illinois.


Champaign, IL Visiting with Grandma Hill ~

We had a great time in Champaign visiting with all of our family and with Jen's Grandma. The weather was amazing and beautiful, little humidity which made it very nice to be outside. We spent some time at the Sholem Aquatic Center - it was relaxing in the lazy river and Shane loved the waterslide. We also enjoyed my favorite place to eat in IL, Steak N Shake - with 25 family members in our party. We spent lots of timing at Grandma's house visiting with family. It's always a great time there - kids playing games, puzzles, talking and laughing, picking grapes and always looking at pictures! Every Monday night, Grandma goes to Culver's with other family members - this week we had about 25 people there. It was great to spend time with all of our family!


Kylee's Ear Piercing ~

Kylee got her ears pierced while we were at the mall in Champaign, IL.


Bales-Solomon 50th Family Reunion ~

Yes, it was the 50th Family Reunion - held on Sunday, July 29th at Crystal Lake Park in Urbana, IL. A lot of the family came out for this special 50th reunion - about 85 or so attended. We spent time riding canoes and paddle boats, playing bingo and lots of catching up!!

Indian Village Church Camp

Kylee and her cousin Mattie went to their first church camp at Indian Village in Forest Home. This is in the San Bernardino mountains, for a whole week July 15-21. Jen went as a counselor for the week as well. It was quite adventurous and we roughed it for sure, but it was a fun filled week. We hiked everywhere, lived in a tipi (which had asphault ground, was open to the outside, and we had a little mouse who liked to visit us at night and early morning!), had lake days, polar bearing, counsel fire, tipi talks and learned lots of fun songs. It was a great week and the kids all did get a little closer to God and each other!

Kings River Camping Trip

We had such a fun time camping with friends, the Beu's and the Dupleich's, along with several other families, at Kings River. We just relaxed by the river all day - playing in the water, catching tadpoles and fish, floating down the river, wakeboarding, riding on sea doo's, playing ring toss & bocce ball. Our dog Storm loved going camping with us and playing in the water! It was an awesome trip.