Of a road trip and the 4th of July

Wow, June 29th. That was my last update. Time flies when you are on vacation. I am in Illinois, visiting relatives. You see, I can live in Canada very happily for the rest of my life. Really, I'd rather live in Canada for a long time. We love our life. However, I have to be home for the 4th of July. So, I threw the kids in the car and we jouneyed a long 11 hours down to Palatine and stopped to see our friends, Karen and Bruce. The kids had a great time playing in the pool in the backyard and on the slip and slide. We have a slip and slide at home, but Karen and Bruce have the right lawn for it, no bumps! Then we picked the DH up at the air port and headed down to Champaign. Why did he fly? (why did I get the joy of the kids cooped up in the car?) Work calls and he answers. Thus, I drive and he flies. At some point, they'll pay him large enough bucks that we can all fly. Until then, I drive.

So, why did a 9 hour trip take 11 hours? I've got one word for you: I 90/94. The engineers in charge of road construction in Illinois must be men. My apologies to my male readers, especially my DH and my brother, both of whom are engineers. They are both wonderful, intelligent men. But honestly, why would you have 8 lanes coming out of a toll booth into 2 lanes, followed by a reduction into 1 lane (the left) and then switched to the other lane. (obviously, the right)? This is while they are working on the other FIVE lanes. Hello? Why don't you work on 3 lanes and then the other 3? This is on one of the busiest toll ways in the US. Further more, why did you raise the toll and make me pay for sitting in one lane of traffic for 2 hours to get 10 miles. I paid for this? You have got to be kidding. The state of Illinois thinks that they can "make this good" through an advertising campaign advising people to take alternative routes. All righty, you figure out alternative routes while I find a place that my 4 year old can pee. Really people, this is out of hand. I can't imagine what that toll road is like during rush hour. Road rage? Most likely!

On another note, Aaron spent the morning with his Aunty Angela while I went garage saleing (is that a word?) with my niece and her Grandmother. (and no, DH, I didn't buy too much!) My niece is moving into an apartment on the U of I campus in the fall. We bought her a large, antique steamer trunk to serve as a coffee table. Even better, you can store blankets inside. And, even even better? She can decoupage the top! Artsy fartsy roommates unite!! Aaron made his own lunch today under Aunty Angela's watchful eye. This was after he went to the park and collected items on a nature walk. (mom is going to be way boring after this trip!) Here is his lunch menu:

Aaron's Lunch
blue berries
bread
apples
shredded cheese
crackers

Make a sandwich out of all blue berries, crackers, cheese, apples, and bread. Eat it.

He made her write it down so mom could duplicate it. You should have seen him trying to explain shredded cheese to her. I buy cheese in large blocks and grate it because shredded cheese costs about $6 a bag. She got sliced cheese out and he had to describe the shredding process. She finally figured it out!

Max is out at his friend, Nick's house. (improper grammar? I am way tired) Nick's baseball team was in the Little League finals, so Max went to hang out and cheer him on. I called to check on him this afternoon and he didn't want to come home. So I let him stay. Tomorrow, I will pick him up and we'll visit GG (great grandma) and have lunch with Grandma Sue. And so the world turns. You might get another update before we return to Ontario. I was on dial up for a few days and it almost killed me! Until then, TTFN.