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<\/a><\/p>\nIn Indiana we saw my cousin, Patti, and her family.\u00a0 They live in a house on Lake Michigan so we enjoyed the sand and water and of course the kids had to have a sleepover at their house!\u00a0 Luke, Brian and Chloe love their cousins!\u00a0 We also went to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and saw some cool things when we hiked the Cowles Bog Trail. In Illinois we saw many more cousins, grandparents and aunts.\u00a0 Staying at the Cedar Lake Conference Grounds Campground was awesome!\u00a0 It was so peaceful and the kids had lots of private roads to ride bikes. \u00a0My cousin, Don and his wife, Wendy invited us over to go tubing on Luke’s birthday. \u00a0The kids had so much fun and Luke had the special treat of getting to drive the boat. The kids and I also visited Cantigny Park and Museum in Wheaton, IL. \u00a0They really enjoyed climbing all over the old tanks but I thought the museum was wonderful. \u00a0The museum follows the first division through WWI, WWII, the cold war, Vietnam and Desert Storm and gives you a taste of each one. \u00a0Loved the price too\u2026$5 per car for entrance to the gardens and museum. \u00a0Great price! We also learned that because of the high demand for rubber in WWII people were trying to find a formula for synthetic rubber and \u00a0thus silly putty was born. \u00a0No replacement for rubber but the formula was purchased and put into plastic eggs and sold as a toy. \u00a0The kids got to make their own silly putty. Our last night in Cedar Lake we had more cousins over for S’mores and the kids played Hide-n-Seek in the dark.\u00a0 At one point Luke was lying in a dry ditch and was laughing because the other kids were jumping over him and didn’t even see him.\u00a0 Great fun!<\/p>\n On a smoggy Saturday we biked around the beautiful Chicago lakeshore with my sister, Kelly and my cousin, Mary, who Chloe thought was the best tour guide ever! I had to share with the kids Rosetta’s sculpture that I sold to the Lincoln Park Zoo decades ago; larger than life-size mountain lions called Siblings. We moved on to Union, IL, closer to Ken’s family and relished our time\u00a0with Deb and Vance and Mark and Donna, two of the kids Aunts and Uncles. \u00a0Union also has the largest train museum in the world. \u00a0Our ride on the Nebraska Zephyr was a cool – air conditioned and quiet. \u00a0 In addition to trains of all kinds it was also antique car day when we were visiting so the boys were in “Boy Heaven”. \u00a0Trains AND\u00a0Cars? \u00a0What could be better? \u00a0And a car that rides on rails? \u00a0Awesome! Here is the truck Luke wanted to take home. As we head out I now am\u00a0experiencing what others have talked about – the sadness of loving a place but deciding to move on – saying goodbye to friends anad family and knowing you won’t see them for a long while.\u00a0 We are moving\u00a0west to visit the Winnebago factory, the Badlands and the Black Hills. \u00a0It will be a continuation of our grand adventure but still hard to say goodbye. \u00a0We will miss all of you!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have really enjoyed our last several weeks in the Midwest visiting with family and friends.\u00a0 In Michigan we had dinner with my brother, Greg, and finally saw his house, of which we had heard so much.\u00a0 He has been working on restoring his historic home. We also saw my third-cousin, Bryan Van Baren, and … Continue reading Visiting Friends and Family in the Midwest<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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