About Me
My name is Tami and I live in central Illinois with my husband, Larry and three children, Caleb (6), Camden (4) and Emma Grace (2). I hope you'll enjoy reading about my life as a wife/mother and about our family's adventures.
Halloween 2009
The kids were so excited for Halloween this year. It is exciting to watch as they get older how much more fun the holidays are getting for them.
This year the costumes were a fireman (Caleb), Indiana Jones (Camden) and Tinkerbell (Emma).
We walked around our neighborhood for about an hour.
Caleb got cold and wanted to go home, so he started dancing on the sidewalk to keep warm.
Camden charged on to each house for more candy. He would have stayed out all night if people would have continued passing out candy.
Emma’s bucket was so heavy with candy she could barely carry it. But, we didn’t dare try taking it from her or she told us, “Don’t take my bucket”. She is a very independent girl.
After going through our neighborhood, we went to the grandparents for the kids to show off their costumes and get more candy. Then it was home to eat a few pieces of candy and off to bed for three exhausted children.
Tags: 
Halloween, 
trick or treating
Rockin’ the Red
We took the kids to the ISU Homecoming Parade last weekend. This was their first parade and it was great to experience it through their eyes.
Caleb and Camden were very excited about all of the candy that was thrown their way. We got so much we donated it to our church’s Harvest Fall Festival this weekend.
Emma was a good sport and hung out in her stroller the entire time. She had a great time waving at all the people and collecting her own bag of candy.
We were fortunate enough to run into a friend of the boys. Elijah and his family moved a couple of hours away 2 years ago and we don’t get to see them often enough. It was great for the kids to get to spend some time together.
Tags: 
ISU Homecoming Parade
Fall Weekend
Last weekend, our family took our annual trip to Tanner’s Orchard. This is a weekend we eagerly look forward to once the weather starts getting cooler.
The kids favorite part is the huge playground. They also love the cider barrel train rides.
If the weather hadn’t been so cold this year, they probably would have played longer. But, we were freezing and got inside quickly to get all of our goodies and enjoy an apple treat.
We, of course, got a 1/2 bushel of honeycrisp apples, a family favorite.
The weekend before, we went to Rader Family Farm. It is a pumpkin farm that has expanded this year and they had some fun things for the kids to do.
We need to get back there soon to get our pumpkins for Halloween.
Tags: Tanner’s Orchard, family fun
Zoo Adventure
The summer is quickly coming to an end and school will be starting soon. So, the kids and I decided to have an adventure last Thursday. We still have several things left on our Summer Fun List and going to the zoo is one of them. We usually go to our local zoo, but decided to head to Peoria to the Peoria Zoo.
At the beginning of the summer they opened the new Africa exhibit.
We packed some snacks, the boys grabbed their binoculars and off we went.
We saw some different animals that we had never seen before, the mandrill, the Angola colobus and the red river hog. We also saw more familiar animals, lions, zebras, rhinos, antelopes and giraffes.
There is a pathway/bridge that goes around the giraffe exhibit and leads to an observatory.
Once we got to the top of the observatory, we were looking down at the giraffes and had a great view of them. They were so close, it almost felt like we could reach out and touch them.
We also went through the Australia exhibit, where we saw a black swan. The boys liked seeing the wallaby and the emu.
We had a great time and are very fortunate to have great zoos within driving distance. We are already planning to go back and take daddy next time.
Tags: 
Peoria Zoo, 
Africa, 
summer fun list
Happy Fourth of July!
Our 4th was rainy and cold, but we did some fun things with the kids anyway. Most of the day was spent hanging out around the house. We invited the grandparents for dinner and that gave my husband a chance to try out our new grill. For dessert, we had ice cream sundaes (from our summer fun list), with homemade hot fudge sauce.
It was only misting by the time dinner was done, so the boys all headed out to the back yard to do some fireworks. Their favorites are the pop-its. We then headed to our town’s fireworks show.
We ended up not going to the park since it had rained all day. We parked behind an old grocery store and put the kids in the trunk of the minivan. Caleb ended up getting out and walking around with Larry (who was taking pictures). Camden still does not like the noise and hid out in his carseat once they started.
This was were Emma spent most of the time. She was a scared by the noise, too.
Our fireworks show started late and so it was way past the kids bedtimes. I don’t know how it was possible, but Emma almost fell asleep towards the end of the show.
Overall, we had a great day as a family despite the rain and cold.
Tags: 
4th of July, 
fireworks
Meeting the Lincolns
Last weekend, we took the kids to Springfield to visit Lincoln’s Tomb and the Abraham Lincoln Museum. This was one of the things from our summer fun list.
Our first stop was the tomb.
The boys were fascinated with all of the statues of Abraham Lincoln in the tomb. They were very good and understood the need to be quiet and respectful.
Going through the tomb did not take long and then we headed to the museum.
We went through the exhibits (photos not allowed) and saw one of the shows “Ghosts of the Library”. We skipped the “Lincoln’s Eyes” show, since we figured shaking seats and loud noises would be too much for the kids. After lunch we went to “Mrs. Lincoln’s Attic”, which was all for the kids. They had a dress up area, a cabin kitchen, a dollhouse replica of Lincoln’s Springfield home and toys from that era.
The boys really liked the dollhouse and played there for quite awhile. Caleb also enjoyed dressing up in the soldier costumes.
Emma played in the cabin kitchen, cleaning the floor and cooking in the fireplace.
We had a really great time on this day trip.
At the museum store, the boys picked out the Confederate and Union soldier sets to bring home. They have enjoyed reenacting The Civil War since then.
Tags: 
Abraham Lincoln Museum, 
family fun
Summer Fun List
I saw the idea for making a summer fun list at Mom Advice and decided to make a list with my kids. The boys had fun telling me all the things they would like to do this summer. I just hope we can complete everything on the list.
- Go to the movies
- Go to Tipton Park
- Attend VBS
- Ice cream sundae night
- Go on a family bike ride
- Summer reading program at the library
- Go to Springfield and visit the Lincoln sites
- Get ice cream at Carl’s
- Go to the zoo
- Campfire night
- Campout in the backyard
- Go to the farmer’s market
- Family movie night
- Water fun night
- Plant a tomato plant
- Go to Children’s Discovery Museum
- Family game night
- Make root beer floats
- Go to the county fair
- Go to Sugar Creek Arts Festival
- Go to Sweet Corn Blues Festival
Tags: summer fun list, 
family time
Smoky Mountains – Part 2
On Friday, we headed through the Smoky Mountains to Cades Cove. It was a couple hour drive, so we stopped at several sight seeing areas to take pictures and to let the boys run off some energy.
Before heading into Cades Cove, we stopped at a picnic area for lunch. It was right beside a creek and the kids enjoyed running around and playing.
Driving through Cades Cove is a one-way, one-lane road and takes several hours to get through. On the 11 mile road, there are several places to stop and tour the old buildings located in the park. There were several houses, churches and an old mill.
We saw several sightings of black bears, wild turkeys and other wild animals.
While this is not the best picture of a black bear, it was the closest we were to one. The rangers were making sure everyone stayed in their vehicles, so pictures were taken through an open window. This bear was about 15 feet from the side of the road and caused quite a traffic jam since everyone else was also taking pictures.
We had a great day seeing the mountains and can’t wait until we can go back again. There is so much we couldn’t see in one day.
Related Post: Smoky Mountains Part 1
Tags: 
North Carolina, 
Smoky Mountains, 
Cades Cove, 
family vacation, 
camping
Smoky Mountains – Part 1
My family, along with my in-laws and sister-in-law, went on vacation to North Carolina last week. We had a 9+ hour drive and the kids were great about the long car ride. This is the longest they have ever had to be in a car for a trip, but they did find plenty to occupy them and we stopped a lot.
Since retiring a year ago, my in-laws travel the country in their RV. So, we stayed in a nice campground backing right up to a creek. My family and sister-in-law got to stay in a cabin right next to their RV spot. The kids could get up in the morning and go next door (the in-laws are early risers). They would sit by the fire and drink their hot chocolate and we got to sleep in a little.
On Friday, we headed out in the RV and drove through the Smoky Mountains and went to Cades Cove (another post will be coming on this).
The kids loved being with Aunt Sara for a few days. We had not seen her since Thanksgiving (she lives in NYC). Luckily, we get to see her again in a couple of weeks when she comes home for a family reunion.
On Saturday, the kids stayed with my in-laws and my husband, Aunt Sara and I went on a little shopping trip. My favorite stop was the Lodge Store. I got to get some new cast iron to bring home.
We also stopped at Smoky Mountain Knife Works to let my husband look around. He didn’t have enough time to find anything, but we did find a plastic Swiss army knife for the boys and they had fun playing with them.
Caleb’s birthday was the day we left to come home, so we had a little party on Saturday night for him, complete with a Star Wars cake.
We headed home on Sunday and drove straight through (we had taken 2 days go come down). It was a long drive, but again the kids did great and were fast asleep when we pulled in the driveway.
Tags: North Carolina, Smoky Mountains, Cades Cove, family vacation, camping
Spring Break
For spring break this year, we took the kids to Chicago for a few days.
On Wednesday, we headed to Michigan Avenue to do a little shopping. This included going to the Lego Store and letting the kids pick out a new Lego set to bring home. We walked from our hotel, which was quite a trek, and needless to say we wore the boys out. Camden ended up riding on my husband’s shoulders most of the way back to the hotel. Emma was happy to ride in her stroller.
On Thursday we headed to The Field Museum. The boys especially liked the pirate exhibit, the underground exhibit (experiencing what it is like to be a bug underground) and of course, seeing Sue the dinosaur. We also got to explore the Ancient Americas exhibit, which the boys actually enjoyed.
That afternoon, we headed to Blick Art Store. This is a great art store and they have a section for kids where the kids got to pick out a new art project. Also, a trip to Chicago is never complete without a stop at Garrett Popcorn. We each got our own bag of popcorn and enjoyed eating it for several days.
That night for dinner, we went to Ed Debevic’s and the boys had a blast. We weren’t sure if Camden would really appreciate the atmosphere, but he actually opened up and enjoyed it. The kids really enjoyed when the servers would get up and sing their songs.
On Friday, it was time to head home. But, not before we went to IKEA. We were exhausted by the time we got home, but we had a great time.
Tags: 
spring break, 
Chicago, 
The Field Museum
Miscellaneous
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