Memaw Visits Peoria

We were so excited to have my mom, Memaw, come stay with us this past weekend. And she brought our beloved dog, Cooper! On Thursday night, we took Memaw out for a belated birthday dinner at Jillian's Sports Grille. We spent Friday in Bloomington, IL shopping. We drove there because it had the closest Stride Rite, and Jaxon desperately needs closed-toed shoes (we are still putting sandals on him and it's in the 60's up here). Stride Rite, because Memaw had a coupon. Turns out, the Stride Rite in Bloomington is a franchise and does not accept corporate coupons. Oh well, we got his feet measured so we could order shoes online and did some damage at the Toys 'R Us and mall in Bloomington. Despite it being drill weekend, Jason got Saturday off, so we drove to Speer, IL to check out Tanner's Orchard. Sunday was church, relaxation, and evening swimming. We had an awesome time with Memaw and we were so glad to be with Coop for a few days!


Jillian's Sports Grille:
It's kind of like a mini Dave and Buster's. We had a great dinner, then watched Jaxon enjoy playing the arcade games. He didn't have enough tickets to buy what he wanted, so he settled for a Tootsie Roll and is saving his tickets for his next visit.

Memaw and Jaxon waiting for our food. We learned just a few days before this, that Jaxon had his first ear infection. We feel pretty lucky to have gone two and a half years without an ear infection (especially living in base housing for two years). He did great with the ear drops and it cleared right up in few days.


Dakota and Memaw watching Jaxon and Daddy dominate the basketball goals.


Basketball!



Tanner's Orchard:
Friday was a gorgeous day, so we assumed Saturday would be the same. Wrong. It was a bit chilly and the wind was blowing right through us. We weren't quite as prepared as we wished, as far as layering of clothes, but we all survived the apple orchard/pumpkin patch.

We started in the kids area, which had; min golf, swings, jungle gyms, hay bale maze, barrel train rides, pony rides, tether ball, and much more. Then we headed up to their cafe for hot dogs and brats. Then on to their market to shop and eat cider donuts.


Jaxon on the tire swing.


Jax and Daddy waiting in line for the barrel train.


There he goes! He was such a big boy in the huge barrel. We were a little nervous about what he would do when the train headed into the woods and he couldn't see us, but he did great. He came out of the woods looking for us and waving his little hand as fast as he could.


Waving at us from the old bus the kids were playing on.




He thought this one looked just like Papa Schu's.




Heaven!! We sipped on hot caramel apple cider and cider donuts. The cider tasted like we were drinking apple pie. They put a layer of caramel in the bottom of the cup, then hot cider, whipped cream, apple pie seasoning, more caramel drizzled on top and finish with a cinnamon stick. Oh. Sweet. Heaven. Everyone was on a major sugar high after this!


Jaxon LOVED his cider donut.



Memaw and our kids.