Galena

If you've never made it up to Galena, IL, I highly recommend it. This has been (I think) my fourth visit up here, and it's still very enjoyable. We came up here this Memorial weekend for a family wedding, and stayed in a hotel with a water park indoors. The Country Inn and Suites is a very nice hotel, especially if you have kids. Our boys loved every minute of it!

The trip took us about 4 1/2 hours, but it went by very smoothly with our two boys. We were prepared and brough a couple electronics, and lots of books! We also stopped for lunch with the rest of our family.

There were lots of things to do in Galena, we went out to eat on Saturday night to Vinny Vanucchi's and had some great Italian food. Here's a couple photos before we ate. It was also nice hearing an accordion playing as we window-shopped.

Since we were in Galena for a family wedding, there was a complimentary bus/trolley ride to the farm where they were being wed. The boys loved riding the Charter bus and the trolley!

They even had apple cider for the kids in champagne glasses.

Also, the bride was brought down the farm in a horse drawn carriage. How romantic! We got a photo of it in the background of my sister-in-law and her fiance!

In between swimming at the hotel, and hanging out with family, we tried to get a nap in here or there.

Of course, we always try to stay at hotels with a continental breakfast, and I'm so proud of our family for staying green while everyone is using styrofoam. We use our picnic set we got from our wedding and use that when we go down for breakfast, and just wash them when we get back to our room. We sometimes get funny stares, but other than that I think we're making a difference.

And don't forget the plethora of snacks that we always bring with on trips outside the home! This time we hid them in the hotel dresser drawer.

And before we check out this morning, we had to make one last pit-stop at the pool before we left.

How did you spend your Memorial day weekend?

Go Green: Picnic Style

I got an email today on how to have a picnic and produce zero-waste at the same time! Brilliant! I wanted to share that email article with you today, so that you can prepare as you set out on your Memorial Day festivities.

Go Green: Picnic Style

Thanks, Ebay Green Team!

Celebrating 8 Years of Marriage!

My husband and I just celebrated our 8th year of marriage this week, and we were very excited to find the opportunity to get away together. My gracious mother took on the role of grandma and babysitter for us, while we drove up to Starved Rock and camped out (without the kids!!!) Sometimes it's very necessary as a married couple to spend some time away from your children to really appreciate them.

I have to admit, that I didn't think of going camping for our anniversary, all on my own. I actually "googled" cheap ideas to celebrate marriage, and camping came up as one of the ideas! Brilliant, I thought to myself! My husband and I both love to camp, and what better way to relax and enjoy each others company than to do something we both enjoy.

I asked around to see what other people could suggest we do while we celebrated while going camping, and someone from church suggested that I bring some fancy glasses and a bottle of wine. Thinking ahead, I knew that we probably wouldn't be allowed to bring in alcohol to the camp, so instead we brought some good ol' Ginger Ale.

Here are some fun photos that we took on our anniversary camping trip:

If you're wondering what we cooked on this special occasion? Well, some simple items, really.

And to bring that hunger about, we went on a nice hike before lunch:

So, that's it for now, just wanted to share some photos from our anniversary!

Colorado Vacation Adventures

I now know that I have visited the most beautiful place in the United States, Estes Park, Colorado. It was seriously the most gorgeous place I have visited. We stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies, and this was the view from our cabin:

Here's a photo of our cabin that we shared with 4 other families.

This is our group of friends from Greenville College, and have been meeting together for the past 8 or 10 years (I can't remember). It was great to catch up with everyone and see how life is going. Luckily all the kids were in bed when we took this photo, otherwise it would have been crazy.

We had planned beforehand that the girls would have a day out without children, and then vice-versa, where the boys would have a "guy day." The girls decided to go out and get a 1/2 hour massage, while the boys went on a "hike.".

Here's a photo of me relaxing on the hammock before our massage.

While the girls were out window shopping, we spotted an elk that was eating out of a dumpster. After a car made him move, he headed our way. We were so close! This photo is without the zoom!

Here's my husband and our boys on a day hike with the guys. Isn't it just beautiful?

So, overall, our vacation to Colorado was so much fun and we'd recommend the YMCA of the Rockies to anyone! It's good to be home at the same time, and back to our normal routine.

Cruise Pictures!

For those of you who didn't know, my husband and I took a little vacation on a Carnival Cruise! It was mainly to celebrate our 7th anniversary, but I think it was more just to get away from our everyday routine and really appreciate what we have and the family we have.

We had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it. It was our first ever cruise and everyday we found a new part of the ship that we had never seen before. There was food available every time of the day and lots of soft serve ice cream that could cool you down after soaking in the sun.

Our cruise ship was headed to Cozumel, Mexico. Where my husband and I signed up to enjoy kyacking in see-through kyacks. We also did a little snorkeling and saw some pretty cool fish. We even saw people playing with dolphins!

There were 4 pools on the ship, and we were surprised when we jumped in them that they were filled with saltwater! I guess that makes sense, since we were traveling in saltwater.

I had the best meal ever on the ship. My husband makes fun of me because it was a traditional steak and potato meal, but seriously, the meat was cooked to perfection and there was hardly any fat on it. And it was served with some tasty veggies. I think overall it was just a treat to not have to cook for 5 days!

So, if you can afford it, I would recommend taking a cruise someday. It's really an adventure I'll never forget.

Spring Break

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't posted in awhile.  I forgot to let you all know that my family and I were headed out to Galena, IL for Spring Break.  My husband's uncle owns a home out there where family can stay and retreat.  So we took him up on the offer!  Here's a snapshot of the inside of the house.

Our vacation started out visiting with family in Chicago and also going to my cousin's wedding. It was fun visiting and being able to see where they live.  

We enjoyed walking the streets of Chicago.  

Experiencing Zechariah's first "train" ride on the "L".

Since Galena was only a half and hour away from Dubuque, IA, we went to the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium there and that was a hit with the boys! Here they are looking at the Otters through a window:

We also had a good time visiting all the cute shops in downtown Galena.  My favorite shop was the "Kandy Kitchen" and I think Zechariah enjoyed it just as much as I did.  My favorite memory was of him going from barrel to barrel picking one piece of candy out of each barrel and putting it in his bag.  Precious!  Jason thoroughly enjoyed the "Galena Canning Company" where they had free chips and pretzels out for you to dip into all kinds of salsas, jams, melted chocolates, etc.  Here's my husband with his HUGE jar of Raspberry Salsa. The man loves salsa!

So, that was our vacation in a nutshell.  We had a fun time, and are glad to be back home.