From The Leslie and Lew Archives - August-October 2006:

The following is a journal entry from August-October 2006.

August 2006.

Jackson and I flew out to our new home in Peoria, Illinois on my 32nd birthday – August 15th. The weather was very hot and humid. Brian was so excited to see us and greeted me with lots of nice birthday presents. I, however, was ready to pull up my sleeves and get to make the house a home.

We joined the River City Club, where we would go everyday for the first couple of weeks. They have group classes at 9:15 every day so Jackson and I would leave the house by nine. He’d play with his “friends” up in the daycare while I tried to get in shape before having another baby. After playing, we’d head out to the pool. Jackson was SO excited – this club has 4 outdoor pools. One has a high dive, low dive and twisty slide. This summer, Jackson just looked, but did not attempt to brave the diving boards or slides.

September 2006

As the summer came to an end, we traveled to see Kristin, Rich and Richie Feronti in Cleveland, OH. We drove through Indianapolis where we stayed our first night. We stayed at the Crown Plaza, which converted two old trains into rooms. The experience was fun for an adult, but Jackson was in 7th heaven and kept waiting for the train to “take off.” He was so upset when we left to head off to the Children’s Museum, but eventually forgot about the train when he say Bob the Builder and the other amazing exhibits for children (Sesame Street; trains; doll houses; dinosaurs etc.).

After Indianapolis, we drove onto Cleveland. We passed Columbus, OH, but didn’t get to see much of the city. Getting to Kristin’s home took us on a very long 2 lane highway for over an hour. We passed an Amish horse and buggy, and a few penitentiaries. On the way to Kristin Feronti’s home in Cleveland Jackson, asked: “Do you want to dance and shake your hips?” I guess that is an important question for a three year old. After sitting in the car for five hours, Jackson said: “I’m done with this. I want out of this seat!” We were all done with it. We enjoyed an evening of pizza and wine and geared up to travel onto Lake Chautauqua, NY the next day.

We caught the tail end of hurricane Ernesto, so our drive was quite miserable in the down-pouring of rain. When we finally arrived at the Lake, Aunt Betsy greeted us and we went to dinner and then spent an evening by the fire catching up over a bottle of wine!

The next day, we toured around town; went to the Chautauqua Institute, a few antique stores, and did a bit of shopping. That night we made dinner at Aunt Betsy’s home and then played cards until the wee hours of the morning.

On Sunday, they local neighborhood had a corn roast. They boiled freshly-harvested corn in a big cauldron over an outdoor fire. After the corn was ready, they’d throw it on the table and then a free-for-all would ensue where everyone grabbed ears of corn, smothered butter and salt on it and ate it in the glow of the fire. Jackson had about 4 ears of corn, and I’ll admit to having at least two!

On Labor Day Monday, we drove 11 hours back to Peoria. Jackson slept for almost 5 hours, which made the trip seem faster.
After our trip, we began to settle in to everyday life. Jackson started preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as his gymnastic classes and swimming classes. I also signed him up for AWANAS, a boy scout/bible study type group. Along with AWANAS, Jackson and I started attending a community bible study group on Thursdays. Jackson goes to his own class and memorizes bible verses!

We got to know our neighbors, the McGuires and the Russells quite well. The Russell kids baby-sit and their 12 year old son, Cody, has become a favorite of Jackson’s. The McGuires often come over to visit over a glass of wine, and we visited them twice for dinner, which is a treat because Bridget is a culinary chef.

We attended Pekin’s Marigold festival and Morton’s pumpkin festival. Fall is Illinois’ “Falloween” and every weekend there is some sort of festival going on.

Just as we started to settle into a routine, Brian’s folks came out for a visit and Jackson’s school’s fall harvest festival. They had hayrides, homemade ice cream, face painting, pumpkin rolling and variety of other activities for the kids.

We also visited Tanner’s Apple Orchard with corn mazes etc. and hit the Oktoberfest festival on the river where Jackson won an award for blowing into a Swiss mountain horn.

October 2006:

October brought Brian’s 34th birthday and we packed everyone up and headed up to Chicago to celebrate in style. The first night we headed to the Rainforest Café (our first experience!). Jackson had a blast looking at the alligator, the elephants and gorillas while we ate. The place was entirely overpriced and the food was less than mediocre. Nevertheless, Jackson had fun and sat atop Brian’s shoulders and slapped at the snakes head on our way out. The next day, Jackson and I went shopping on Michigan Avenue. While we waited for the stores to open up at 10:00 we hit Starbucks rod escalators up and down (and up and down and up and down…). On our way to get a classic Chicago style hotdog for lunch, Jackson informed me that he wanted to go back to the hotel. So we headed off for the Allerton Crown Plaza (Tip Top Tap) and rested. Once Jackson woke from his nap, Brian returned from his meetings and we all headed off for the Navy Pier where we walked around for a few hours. They had a Halloween festival going on at the time with characters dressed up as “Demons of the Deep”. Pretty scary for adults – I’m not sure what Jackson was thinking. We walked through a stained glass window exhibit and also had a snack at the “cheeseborger, cheeseborger, cheeseborger” place, which was part of an old Saturday Night Live skit. For dinner we were off to Gino’s East for deep dish Chicago-style pizza! On Saturday, we hit the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Navy Pier again. After lunch at Bubba Gumps we rode the Ferris wheel (25 stories high!) and watched Jackson cry for the entire 7 minute ride. As it was getting close to nap time, we headed back to the hotel, got our car and drove back to Peoria. We took route 29 down the west side of the Illinois River, and the views were amazing. Our camera had run out of juice, so unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures.

October brought not only the changing of colors on the leaves but the neighborhood “booing” where someone leaves a “boo” and some candy on your door and you are suppose to pass it on, by “booing” two other families. Brian particularly got into the “booing” and made some nice sparkly ghosts on black and orange paper. Brian also draped orange lights on our hedge in front of our house. Inside, Jackson had particular fun helping me decorate. He loved the spider candelabra. Jackson was so excited when we finished decorating the house. He asked to light all the “spooky lights” and said he wanted to show Brandon “my spooky house.”

One dark rainy night in October, Jackson asked for some hot chocolate. I made him a cup and tried to explain the significance of “hot” (verses ice cold). I made luke warm milk and added chocolate to it. Jackson took a sip and announced it was “scrumptious!”

On October 28, 2006, Jackson and I headed back to Washington for our first trip home after the move. As fate would have it, we got delayed in Chicago for 3 hours and Jackson didn’t sleep much on the plane despite my attempt to drug him with Dramamine.

Once we arrived in Seattle, Jackson seemed enthralled with the horizontal escalator (a.k.a. people mover). His focus was intent until he spied Brandon and Jackson about a yard away from the end of the people mover. At that point, he took off running. He kept on running even after the people mover ended. He attempted to keep the same pace, but eventually fell forward. The spill did not deter him from his ultimate goal: Brandon and Grandma. But then…a dilemma. On the left…Brandon…on the right…Grandma! After a split second, Jackson made his choice – sorry Brandon!

Brandon had a gift for Jackson – a crayon-colored Halloween candy bag wrapped by Aunt Jeanette. Jackson was bursting at the seams when he opened the gift. We drove back to Mercer Island where we relaxed with a little dinner and wine and let the boys wear themselves out.

The next day, despite the 3:00 wake up time (note to self: do not attempt travel during daylight savings time), we headed off to the Pacific Science Center where they had a Halloween event. After several exhausting hours and an overpriced lunch, we all headed home. We got cheers (and a few jeers) over the boys’ costumes. They were decked out in their Husky Tack Suits.

On Monday, we again rose before the sun. After playing with Grandma and Grandpa we headed off to the mall for mommy to do a bit of shopping. After that, it was home for nap and then Brandon and Hailey came back over to carve pumpkins! Grandpa was awesome at making funny and spooky faces, and Brandon and Jackson were kept busy picking out the pumpkin’s brains and seeds.

Halloween brought more events. Jackson donned his homemade Peter Pan costume and headed out to see Brandon at his school. The perpetual joiner didn’t miss a beat and fit right into Brandon’s school and school parade. Lunch at McDonalds followed and then an attempt at an afternoon nap. After napping, Jackson trick-or-treated in mommy’s old neighborhood – S.E. 59th Street before heading over to Newport Hills for a jaunt in our old neighborhood.

The trip over to Newport Hills was accompanied by a lot of questions and statements about our old home and old school. The candy helped re-focus his attention.

Still on a sugar high from Halloween, we packed the kids in the car and headed down to Olympia to go to Chuck-E-Cheese and see great grandma and grandpa. The day was long!!!!!!!!!!!

After Olympia, we played more at home and spent time visiting and playing.

The plane ride home was relatively peaceful. Jackson slept most of the ride to Chicago, and we boarded the plane as soon as we got to the gate headed for Peoria. Although not delayed, our baggage was lost and we waited 45 minutes for a cab ride home.

The recovery of our trip took a few days! And Christmas is just around the corner!