Illini Soccer {and Young People with Backpacks}

Last Thursday we drove down to the University of Illinois to watch the Fighting Illini women's soccer team. It was a great experience and all three of the girls loved it. Illinois beat Michigan and there were all the highlights one could hope for in a live soccer match :: flip throw-ins, a yellow card, PKs, and our little girl kickers where a little amazed that even at a collegiate level handballs and offsides are a common part of the game.

{This is the only picture of our University visit!}

The night of the game was perfect, and really it was the last nice day weather wise we might have this fall ... Mild with a slight wind.

We stayed at the Illini Union Hotel, which doubles as the student Union. It was fun to be there on a weekday, so that we could see college life in action. When Bei Bei peaked out of our third story room Friday morning and glimpsed students with umbrellas rushing along the zig-zagged wet sidewalks of the Quad to make their 8 am classes, she quipped, "There sure are a lot of young people with back packs out there!"

{I love that girl!}

We did our obligatory trip to get new T-shirts.

EHJ got a fun one that reads :: I SEE ORANGE PEOPLE

Bei Bei opted for the chanting :: I-L-L I-N-I, the raucous cheer of every Uof I sporting event

and MGJ opted for a subdued university logo.

Like I mentioned. We took exactly one picture.

But in our mind we have many more.

And great memories of showing the girlies around our old stomping grounds. (Remember last year when we revisited our first meager apartment in married student housing? We drove by building #2112, and glimpsed lamplight in the familiar windows we once artfully hung bed sheets in as treatments.) We were glad we used the Nikon a little more liberally on our last trip to the campus, because this year the Alma Mater statue is MIA ... off being refurbished somewhere, and it really looks naked near the Illini Union!

Thursday night we ate at a great ethnic joint on Green Street and got a pre-game Bubble Tea. Friday morning we popped around the corner to a Korean place where we ordered take away for lunch. Bi Bim Bap and Bulgogi are not generally synonymous with 'car friendly', but we made a go of it and managed to even wield chopsticks on our route to our State Capital where we had a date with Mr Lincoln.

Iowa Roadtrip :: Old Capital Building in Iowa City

Life's a Beach ...

@ Silver Beach :: St. Joseph, Michigan

Independence Day Weekend 2011

Summer Roadtrip

A good old fashioned trip seemed to be the perfect mid-summer idea. And, it was!

The short jaunt to Michigan went quickly. The Three piled in the back and were content to sit shoulder to shoulder. We climbed in the packed car around 10 am Saturday, and tumbled out in the cute downtown area in St Joseph, MI, ready for a late lunch and set to hit the beach three hours later.

We've begun our foray into road trips cautiously. For five years in China the farthest we ever traveled by car was the 40 minute trip to the airport ... EHJ, we learned on longer road journeys in the Philippines (where the curvy roads and thick smell of diesel fumes proves daunting for any traveler), Australia, and on Hawai's Big Island, gets carsick ... When we drove to Minneapolis for Easter we broke it up with a stop (both directions) in Madison.

But this successful road trip, where when we hit the IL state line today we all were a little disappointed our long weekend was coming to an end, was a success. And with sandy reminders throughout the car, we'll be remembering it for weeks to come!

Easter in Minnesota

I've spent much of my life heading north for Easter holidays and spring breaks. And although the pay off of seeing family and friends made it worth it, I was often the one bundling up in a parka and mukluks, to head to a colder climate for spring break, while my college buddies were shod in flip flops and headed to the beach.

This year, however, heading north for Easter paid off weather wise. We had an absolutely gorgeous day on Sunday, complete with a GPS guided (geocaching) egg hunt. The girls spent an enormous amount of time throwing a tennis ball to their second cousin, a whimsical chocolate lab named Miss Wilma. It was a perfect spring day!

Being with family (my sweet 85 year-old grandma, my sister, and my auntie and uncle, cousins, their spouses and meeting the new baby) was wonderful. For all the trips we've taken and places we've seen, sometimes nothing beats a good old fashioned road trip to see family for the holidays!

• Sitting corporately in a long row of relatives for an Easter service
• sharing conversation over a ham dinner
• watching as generations spend time together
• (and being a part of that time) was especially special this year.

Hope your Easter was as happy and Sunny!!