Pics: The kids on the shore of Lake Erie with Cedar Point in the background, our reflection in "The Bean,"
Thomas, Uncle Jim, and Tom at Soldier Field, us at Cedar Point, us with Aunt Diane, Aunt Barbara, and Uncle Jim.

Wow! The time is flying. It's hard to believe we've been gone 5 days, yet we've done so much in those 5 days! Since the last post, we have been to Cedar Point -- where Alli rode her first BIG rollercoaster and Tom and the big girls rode the Dragster that gets up to 120 mph in 4 seconds and then shoots straight up for 240 feet and then straight down again. They looked like a fighter jet taking off and returning quickly to earth! For some reason, I can't get the pictures to upload to the blog, so hopefully we'll have some pictures tomorrow night.

We spent Sunday night in Indiana and then drove into Illinois the next day. We stayed with Tom's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim and hung out with Aunt Diane, too. They treated us so well! Thomas got to go to a Lego Discovery Land near their house and then we cooked out with them. On Tuesday we drove into Chigaco, about an hour from their house, with Uncle Jim as our guide. He was a wonderful tour guide! On the way into town, we saw the original McDonald's, complete with 1950s cars parked out front. Once in the city, we toured Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, and rode an elevator up 94 stories in 40 seconds to the John Hancock Building Observatory. The views were amazing! We really like Chicago. It's clean, well-organized, and beautiful....especially along the shore of Lake Michigan. The weather was absolutely perfect, too.....about 82 degrees and sunny with a refreshing breeze coming off the lake. There are beautiful and interesting parks throughout the city, too....complete with fountains, unique sculptures, tall walls that spit water at the children playing below, rehearsing orchestras, "The Bean," and a 30-ft eyeball!

Wednesday morning we leave for Minneapolis and the Mall of America. We may go through Milwaukee on the way there....not sure.

We are having a great time seeing God's creativity -- both directly and displayed through the talents of his greatest creation, people.