Our time in IL

We once again had a wonderful time in IL.  As always, we missed Eli like crazy while we were there, and then we got back home and now we miss everyone there like crazy.  But I am just grateful for the fact that we are able to fly back so often.  For a baby who lives so far away from her family, she sure gets to see them a lot!  She sees our family more than some people I know who live just an hour or two away from their family and we will do our best to continue that!  All three of us will be back in September!

We started off our adventure by flying into Milwaukee.  Eva was pretty good on the flight, but she is getting more and more busy, so it's getting more challenging.  Luckily on the way there I was able to bring her carseat on board, so she slept in there for most of the flight, after a few minutes of crying.  We left at 7pm our time and landed at midnight IL time.  It ended up working out that we just stayed on her AZ time schedule so she went to bed late and woke up late which was nice in every way!

Of course my grandma and grandpa came over as soon as possible the next day!  I believe Eva got to see them every day that we were in McHenry, so that made them very very happy!  Eva did a great job with everyone holding her and passing her around.  She was never too clingy with me except when it was time for her to sleep, then she made it pretty clear that I was to hold her :)

my mom saw this rolling backpack and just imagined a walking Eva rolling it through the airport so she had to get it.  So Eva tried it on for size and she even crawled around!

the first couple days we were there, it was absolutely beautiful out!  Eva got to play in the nice green grass :)

we had a playdate with my highschool friends: Melissa and her son Lucas (the 2 year old) and Nicole and her son Nolan (a month younger than Eva).

Eva just had to try Lucas' sippy cup.  Apparently she is not intimidated by older bigger boys.

I saw my friends from ISU on Saturday and Eva had an overnight with Grandma Cookie!  My mom said she did a great job and never even cried!  She was really excited when I walked in the door the next day though :)  Then we had my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over for a bit. 

refusing to show Grandpa her walking skills - that's pretty standard

persistence pays off!  she finally did it!

We left McHenry and went to Stillman Valley.  We spent the night there.  I used to spend the weekends and sleep over at my grandparents' house all the time, so I was glad that Eva and I got to do that!  She did a really good job transitioning from one house to the next.

Eva's first ice cream cone!  She kept diving in for more.  We went to Sam's with my grandparents.  I used to love going to Sam's when I was little, it was the cool restaurant back then and it was fun to go back with Eva!

she is smitten with pianos

the grapes at Grandma's house

She's being trained to harvest vegetables right from the beginning!

picking Grandma's flowers!

what are these peculiar wet spots on the ground? 

hmm, this kitty doesn't bite?!

I took this picture with my phone just so Eli could see the skies, but it looks pretty cool!

on Friday we went to Dani's for a playdate!  Jen and Claire came over too.  Claire is 3 months old and we think she might weigh the same as Eva (not that Claire is abnormally large, but Eva is just so petite!)  Haircolor wise, it looks like these two should belong to the opposite mama!

Jen's about a photo shoot away from being a pageant mom.  She entered this picture in some contest online and it was a finalist.  This really doesn't mean anything, those contests are everywhere, but we just like to laugh that she is possibly going over the edge!

Eva and her cousin Reese!  I only have three pictures of them and this was the best!  It's pretty much impossible to squeeze them into a chair and make them sit still and smile!

seriously?  can they look any more alike (minus the age gap)??  Eva is definitely a Grieff!

Eva's classic tired pose - rubbing her ear while sucking her thumb!

Uncle Greg is so funny!

This picture is misleading.  From the picture it appears that Grandma is joyfully blowing bubbles for Eva's entertainment.  In real life Grandma is blowing and blowing and blowing and nothing is coming out!  Someday Grandma can teach Eva how to sew and garden and Eva can teach Grandma how to blow a bubble!

Eva in her 'watermelon' outfit.

kisses for the kitty!

it looks like she'll need a baby doll for her birthday!

once again, smitten with the piano!

Then we went up to Grandma Barb's house where we had some delicious Lou Malnati's!  And Kristi and the kids came over. 

can this be any cuter!

see Eva's cute tiger print cloth diaper?

After Grandma Barb's house, we said goodbye to Mary and my mom brought us back to McHenry so she could take us to the airport in the morning.

Eva in the airport before our flight home!  Staying on Phoenix time worked out really well, until we had to fly home.  It was bad enough that our flight was at 7:30 am, so we had to be there by 6am, and wake up at 4:30am, but then you factor in Phoenix time, and that means I got Eva up at 2:30 am her time!  then she slept for a few minutes in the car and a half hour on the plane.  Despite that, she was super happy for the entire flight.  The flight was full so I couldn't get a seat for her carseat this time, so I had to hold her, and my arms got a big work out as she twisted and turned and climbed all over me and 'talked' the entire flight!  (after her 30 minute nap).  But it was very easy to get her back in the swing of things so everything worked out!