The last week of October, our clan headed out to Urbana-Champaign for some tailgating, family, Papa Del's, Halloween fun. We stayed with my parents at their retirement house in Urbana just off campus. It was a week of Awesome!
Friday we hit the ground running by showing Ellie the campus and seeing the Homecoming parade. We even watched the Marching Illini practice which Ellie really enjoyed. However, much to her saxophone and trumpet playing parent's dismay...she seemed to enjoy the drumline the best.
Illinois versus Indiana, the 100th anniversary of Homecoming, Ellie's first Illini game, Ellie's first tailgate...how much pressure could we put on one day and one game? It was awesome. Illinois won. Ellie is an expert tailgater. Ellie, wth a short nap during the 3rd quarter, lasted the whole game (not always in the stands). We got to hang out with old friends. Ellie made new friends. It was a lot of fun.
We stayed in Illinois for the rest of the week. My good college friend, and co-worker, was getting married in Springfield on the 30th so vacationing in central Illinois seemed like a good plan! My parents were there. Nick's parents even drove down to hang out. Nick, due to work, had to leave in the middle of the week.
We experienced all that Urbana-Champaign has to offer. We went apple picking. We checked out Urbana's finest playgrounds. Ellie had
Papa Del's not once, but twice. She now asks for pizza at every meal. Ellie got to see the neighbors chickens in their yard (its Urbana).
One day, we drove down to
Olney in southern Illinois to catch up with some of my dad's family that we hadn't seen in years. We saw a sword used by my relative during the Civil War. Ellie got to run around a family farm. We kept our eyes open, but didn't see any
white squirrels.
The weekend of my friend's wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid, Ellie spent with my parents while I hd a blast with friends in Springfield. My parents drove me to Springfield on Friday and we took some time to see the sights. Ellie met a Lincoln impersonator...but she was much more excited to run around the streets of Old Springfield. My parents said Ellie was awesome for the two nights that she stayed with them. My mom said she even helped clean out a pumpkin which my dad later helped carve. I'm sure, bribing her with more Papa Del's pizza didn't hurt! Note, my 20 month daughter ate a full slice (including some of the crust) of a
Papa Del's pizza. This is deep dish Chicago-style pizza! She ate the same amount that most adults eat...that's how "pizza awesome" this pizza is (quote by Ellie).
The last full day we were there was
Halloween. Ellie dressed up as a duck and I took her trick-or-treating to the neighbor's houses and to some friends who live in Champaign and Urbana. When I took her to a sorority house and 15 girls ran to the door and ohhhed and ahhed about how cute Ellie was. Ellie was a little freaked out...but once they offered her candy she warmed up to them. Ellie was very considerate and picked out mommy's favorite candy at each house.
The flight home was an adventure. Well not the actual flight, she was good on the flight, but going through security, boarding the plan, setting up the carseat, packing up the carseat, leaving the plane, and getting to baggage claim by myself with Ellie, Ellie's stroller, Ellie's toddler carseat, and two carry-on bags...that was interesting! Fortunately through the kindness of strangers (including the pilot) we survived and weren't the most obnoxious people in line at security!
It was such a great trip. It was so much fun seeing old friends, making new friends, seeing family (some I hadn't seen since I was probably Ellie's age),and remembering the good times of college. Its pretty ironic that Ellie now will say "Go Illini" and "marching band"...next Homecoming, she'll be ready!
We hope that everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Aunt Susie came over and cooked a turkey and some side dishes that we all enjoyed. Cooking a Thanksgiving dinner with a toddler running around was quite an adventure this year. As usual, Nick had to work on Thanksgiving so he wasn't around to add an extra pair of hands. However, Ellie did pretty well, she was just fascinated with the turkey and made sure to show all of her "friends" the "hot chicken" in the oven. 
I think Ellie was really excited that she got to sit at the table. We set with her own place settings, and were careful to keep the rest of the food away from her reach. She enjoyed the rolls, turkey, and mashed potatoes (with her hands...what a mess), but her favorite thing to eat were green stuffed olives (which are my favorite too)! 
