Family Vacation- Day 1

A week ago we headed out on our first BIG family vacation! We decided to make our trip to Chicago as spread out as much as we could. On Wednesday night we decided to make a stop in Cedar Falls to see some friends we hadn't seen in quite some time.

Carver and Maddox "hugging" it out.

Before we met everyone at Toad's we did a little "sight seeing" around the town to check out all of the changes. One of the big highlights was the new Target in Cedar Falls.

Can I just say that I REALLY would have loved to have that in town when we lived there?!

We only spent about 20 minutes there but it already out does the Mankato store 100 time over! We also stocked up on some Hawkeye gear (football is just around the corner-yippee!) and walked through the mall. Some things haven't changed a bit and somethings are unrecognizable.

When we met for dinner we were lucky enough to see a few of our closest friends. Unfortunately we couldn't get together will of them but it was good to be "home". No one had met Maddox yet so it was fun to hear the reactions. I really wish we lived closer!

Josie, Stacy, Mandy, and Alicia

Visiting and catching up was wonderful. Though we have been gone for 2+ years it was easy to get back to where we once were. I sometimes forget how nice it was to have a group of girlfriends I could just sit and chat with. I think my favorite part of those conversations are the different views that get brought to the table during each get-together.

It was a great way to break up the trip and I can't wait to see everyone again. I hope we can all get together again soon!

Thanks again to Emilie and Van for keeping Maddox for the evening so Mommy and Daddy could stay out a little later

Calvin still lives in the area so we got to catch up with him as well. It was nice visiting as I am not sure if we will get together again before he leaves for Basic Training in October.