"Oki-Virginia"
Worst flight ever!! 2 delayed flights, one cancelled flight, 4 layovers...but 46 hours later, we finally arrived in Virginia!!!
One of the kids favorite things to do was "help" Grandpa mow the lawn.
They even had their own John Deere tractor.
We got to see our best friends, the Brownfields:-)
Of course, we had to go to Chuck E Cheese...a couple times.
Just goofing around...
A pit stop at the Lynnhaven mall...the 2 story carousel.
My momma and I before our night out....
Ralphie May....hilarious!!
My girls and I....
All of us...
We packed up again and headed on a road trip to Illinois. The 6 of us got up in the middle of the night and started the journey. A little over 1000 miles traveled and 18 hours later we made it all in one piece!!
Our 4 town tour began in Keithsburg.
The kids and I on the Mississippi River:-)
The girls with the M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-P-P-I.
Our time in Keithsburg was spent with Tommy's family. True country style! Never realized how much my kids were "city boys" until I saw how many "1st's" they experienced here: Mudding in four wheelers, riding their own sized 4-wheelers, playing with frogs, seeing a snake 'outside of the zoo', playing IN the mud, playing cornhole and hillbilly ladder golf, skipping rocks in a river, and eating at a Tasty Freeze.
Our next stop: Galesburg, my hometown. This was so nostalgic!!
My old elementary school and schoolyard playground, Quik Stop, the penny and nickel candy store vanished, Knox Office (a childhood hangout..lol), the tunnels, trains and train tracks, old baseball park and the playground there, the hospital I was born at, my old house and hood, Seminary St., the Landmark restaurant, Calico gift shop, the strip, the bowling alley, Happy Joe's, Casa Sierra, Sandburg Mall, the train inside the mall...the list goes on and on....
Carl Sandburg's birthplace...a side stop my mom and I were interested in seeing. 
The kids at Happy Joe's.
Elijah and his cousin, Bryar, inside the Hurricane simulator at the mall.
But the absolute best part of being in Galesburg: getting to spend time with my Daddio!!!
Next stop: Loda, IL, my brother Brad's house.
Noah and his cousin, Bryar:-)
Another first!!!! The merry go round!!!
Riding in the golf cart...abiding the backyard speed limit in this picture:-)
Kid sized four wheeling: Elijah and his cousin Baylee.
A first for all of us: drive in movie theater=awesome!!!
Last Illinois stop: Geneseo, Illinois for the Hall Reunion. Noah with his cousins Gracie, Maddy, and Allie at the hotel pool.
A friendly match of arm wrestling. Who won? Elijah or Aunt Michele?
No reunion for us would be quite complete without some ball playing.
All of the cousins: Gracie, Elijah, Noah, Baylee, Allie, Bryar, and Maddy.
The Hall Family...only missing a few people: Eric and Kristine, Tim, cousins Brian and Darren and their family, Aunt Allie and Uncle Maury. 
All of us...except Eric and Tim:-(
No famous dancing from Ryan this time...but fear not, Cousin Scott and him did try to teach the kids something new...lol!!!
Absolute awesome time from Virginia to Illinois and back. The kids and I were definitely not ready to return to Japan.
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El Niño Y Tu Pilin
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