Imagine yourself as a baby. Ok, good. Now, imagine yourself
as a baby forcibly strapped into a car seat for seven hours as you traverse a
couple of states while riding in, wait for it, a Traverse. Still with me? Good.
If you're not following along, I'll break it down. This
weekend marked Ethan's first long-range trip as the four of us loaded up the
Traverse and headed out to Illinois for a weekend of fun with Bethany's
brother, Ryan.
Friday marked our first "fun-filled" day of travel
as we loaded up the kids and everything that goes along with that and set out
on our journey at 8:00 am sharp. With Ryan's home outside Bloomington, IL being
six hours away if one drives straight through, we knew we had quite the journey
on our hands. That thought was made further evident when we heard a tiny voice
in our back seat exclaiming, "Mommy, I need to go potty" less than
ten minutes after leaving home. After a short break in Liberty, we were back on
I-35 heading towards Cameron.
For the record, the rest of the driving portion of our trip
was relatively stress-free with only a few more stops sprinkled in. There was
Marceline for Ethan to eat, Hannibal for the rest of us to eat, and one final
potty break in Lincoln, IL. Right around the 3:00 hour, we reached our
destination, the world headquarters of State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, IL.
For the record, that is where Ryan works, not where he lives.
While Bethany had seen Ryan's office before, I had not.
Ditto for the kids. Therefore, since his office had undergone significant
remodels, there was no better time than the present for Ryan to treat us to a
tour of his office. Meeting us at the front gate, Ryan helped us get our
visitors' badges and we headed inside. We first wandered upstairs to check out
the awesome dining hall before heading back downstairs to Ryan's wing. By the
way, I can say 'awesome' because it features a Chick-Fil-A. Once our tour
ended, it was time to hop back in the car and head to Ryan's home in Ellsworth.
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| Yes, while I forgot to write about roasting hot dogs and s'mores on Friday night, rest assured that it did happen. |
Our second day at Uncle Ryan's was when our itinerary got
really busy with Rader Family Farms on the docket. In case you're wondering
what exactly Rader Family Farms consists of, I think their mission statement
says it best: "Illinois Agritaninment at Its Finest." The Farm was
chock full of all kinds of entertaining things for kids to do without straying
too far from the core purpose of agriculture. Some examples include the combine
slides, corn bins, rat rollers, and straw castle.
If pressed, I would have to say Ellie's and my absolute
favorite activity was the duck races. These aren't real life duck races though.
Once again, I liberally steal from Rader Family Farms with their description of
the duck races, "Hand pump the lever to move your (rubber) duck through
the water trough and win the race." It was seriously all kinds of fun. By
the time we left, we had probably taken advantage of the duck races on five or
six different occasions.
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| I. Love. This. Collage. |
Once we left Rader Family Farms, it was time for us to
return to Ryan's so everyone could take naps and/or watch college football.
Once those goals had been sufficiently accomplished, we loaded everyone back up
in the Traverse and drove to a nearby farm celebrating 'Alpaca Days'. Ah yes,
the majestic alpaca. Upon our arrival, we were shepherded into a small barn where
we found ourselves surrounded by alpacas on each side. There, while receiving
ample opportunities to pet and rub the animals, we were taught everything there
is to know about raising alpacas. Following that, we were directed to the farm
store where we were taught everything there is to know about buying goods made
from alpaca hair. For the record, we didn't actually buy any alpaca swag; we
just browsed.
With that, we headed
back to Ryan's where Ellie and her uncle spent some quality time playing outside
together before dinner. After several exhausting minutes of throwing frisbees,
playing catch, and wrestling in the lawn, Ellie and Ryan came running back
inside the house for chili and cinnamon rolls. Following dinner, Ellie and
Ethan got to spend about an hour playing before it was time for bed as Sunday
was going to be a busy day.
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| "Here's looking at ewe, kid." |
On Sunday morning, we didn't have to hit the ground with our
feet running since Ryan's church didn't actually start until 10 am. Therefore,
we could take our time and relax a little in the morning before heading to
nearby Lexington. Church was definitely a different experience for Ellie as she
got to actually be in the main sanctuary with us for worship before being
whisked away for children's church just prior to the sermon.
I'd be lying if I said Bethany and I had high hopes for her
making it through an entire church service in a new place without some kind of
incident. The joke was on us as she nearly made it and would have if not for
falling into a picket fence decoration in the children's classroom with minutes
to go in the service. In fact, she was so distressed about the scrape on her
arm that she was delivered back to us in her teacher's arms. No worries though.
Once we arrived back at Ryan's, it was time for a quick
breakfast/lunch of pancakes and eggs before naptime arrived for the kids. While
I probably should have taken a good nap given what awaited us that evening, I
instead found myself desiring to watch the Chiefs-Lions game while taking a
short nap at halftime.
While I spent the afternoon watching the game with Ryan,
Ellie and Bethany spent time outdoors enjoying the three Clydesdales being
temporarily housed at Ryan's place. In a new experience for both Ellie and
Bethany, they got to watch as Ed, the owner of the horses hitched them up to a
wagon and gave them practice walking around Ryan's estate. Following that, the
horses got a nice bath with soap and everything.
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| This is Kate. Or Kat. I don't remember which. |
Before we knew it, our time at Ryan's was dwindling to a
close. Bethany and I had made the decision to leave Illinois at 6 pm so that
Ellie and Ethan could sleep on the way home. That decision would also result in
fewer stops for us on the way home; a decision that was probably very
detrimental to my bladder seeing as how we made one, single, solitary stop on
the journey home. Our very sleepy crew finally pulled into the driveway at our
house a little after 12:30 in the morning. With that, we all retreated to our
beds and called it a night...and the official end to our weekend at Uncle Ryan's. #DaddyWrite
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