About Me
My name is Tami and I live in central Illinois with my husband, Larry and three children, Caleb (8), Camden (6) and Emma (4). I hope you'll enjoy reading about my life as a wife/mother and about our family's adventures. What I’m Reading
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
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
Summer Vacation
Last weekend, we took the kids on a long weekend vacation. We headed a few hours north to Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark in Iowa. It was an indoor waterpark and was the perfect size with small children.
On Thursday, after we got into town, we went out to dinner with some friends who live in the area. Their kids are the same age as ours, so Caleb and Camden had a great time with some new friends. When we got back to our room that night, the boys and I headed down to the waterpark while Larry got Emma down to bed. We were hoping she would be asleep when we got back and that was not to be. That is what happens when we are all in the same room. It was 9:30 before the kids settled down and went to sleep.
We spent Friday morning at the waterpark and then Emma went down for her nap. During that time, the boys and I played in the arcade and walked by the Mississippi River, which was right outside our hotel.
That evening we went to dinner and spent more time at the waterpark.
On Saturday, we headed out to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.
The museum was very interesting and very interactive. Larry and I liked all of the history more than the kids, but they had plenty to keep them busy.
We even toured the old steamboat. The boys had fun running all over the boat. We then headed back to the hotel and spent more time at the waterpark. Unfortunately, Emma would not fall asleep for a nap, so we all went and played in the water.
We found a local pizza place for dinner. We then headed to the Fenton Place Elevator and took a ride up the hill. It was built in the 1800′s by a businessman who lived at the top of the hill and worked at the bottom of the hill.
On Sunday, it was time to leave. We could not leave without one more waterpark experience. The boys spent the majority of the morning going down the waterslides. Emma even went down with daddy.
We had such a great vacation, we are planning on going to another indoor waterpark this winter.
Tags: family vacation, 
indoor waterpark, 
Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark, 
Fenton Place Elevator, 
Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium
Christmas In Chicago
We took Caleb and Camden up to Chicago on Saturday for a little shopping and fun. Emma stayed at home for some grandparent time.
We had a great day, minus a couple of meltdowns. The boys had fun seeing all of the Christmas lights and going to the Disney Store and The Lego Store. I did discover a little place for a great hot chocolate, Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge. I ended up buying a few little treats for our stockings and enjoyed a wonderful drink.
The only big challenge was the train ride home. We were a few minutes out of Chicago when the train stopped and it stayed that way for 2 hours. Something happened to the brakeline and we had to wait for a replacement engine to get us home. We finally made it home at 10:00 and were greeted by yet another ice storm.
Tags: 
Chicago, 
Disney Store, 
Lego Store, 
Christmas
Where We’ve Been
At the beach:
Tags: family vacation, 
beach
We’re There Activity Book
Here is a series of travel book that looks excellent and has gotten great reviews. We’re There activity books by Elizabeth Skinner Grumbach. They are filled with scavenger hunts and puzzles of the city you are exploring. They also have photographs and eye-catching graphics to keep your children busy at the cities major attractions. There are currently four titles available:
These will definitely be books that we purchase when we take a vacation to these cities.
The Lilaguide
The Lilaguide is an excellent source if you are traveling with a baby. The guide is “based on thousands of surveys with local parents in each metropolitan area, the lilaguide is the insider’s guide to baby-friendly stores, activities, products and places to go”. They have guides for 23 metropolitan cities and a baby gear guide. This would have been a great book to have when we went to Chicago last month for a family vacation.
Has anyone used this guide and what did you think?
Tags: 
The Lilaguide, 
children, 
travel
Hopstop – Your City Transit Guide
This is a great site for any travel you might take to a major city. They currently have 8 cities available:
- New York City
- Boston
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco
- Chicago
- New Jersey
- Long Island
- Metro North Area
There are additional cities coming soon, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Maryland.
The site is broken down into 4 categories:
- City Guide – search for places to eat, drink, sleep and see
- Maps – the closest subway and bus stops to an address – it lets you map out subway routes and bus routes
- Mobile – get the Hopstop.com service remotely on your cell phone or PDA, text or email us address(es) and you’ll receive a reply with subway directions or closest subway, great when you do not have access to our website, hopstop Mobile service is FREE
- Transit Ratings – this feature allows commuters to rate subway and bus lines
HopstopMiscellaneous
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