US Trip 2019 - Day 3

On the morning of our third day in Illinois, my parents went to church, so we took the kids to James' house to play.  They were so excited, and had lots of fun playing video games, examining their cousin's toys, and snacking.

The adults had a good time chatting and watching television (until the kids took over).

Love the eye roll

James takes piano lessons, and of course I wanted to hear him play. Lily and Clara happily joined in, and when James got tired of their "music," Aunt Lesa gave them a short lesson.

Pretty soon, it was time to go to a party. Matt's parents and my parents had planned a little get together so friends and family could all gather in one place to see us. And it was a busy few hours, but a great way to see as many people as possible during a short trip. Not to mention that we had already traveled so far, that we didn't want to spend our time driving all over the St. Louis area.

It was so nice to see everyone who could make it. Matt and I tried (and failed) to get around and talk to everyone, and I hope no one left disappointed. The kids had a blast playing with a few cousins and friends, and there was so much good food. It was sad when it ended, because we don't know when we'll get to go back. Unfortunately I only took one picture, but it was nice to give my attention to the people who took time to see us. Thank you to my mom, though, for sending me the following shots.

As the party was dying down, a woman and her son came into the room to play pool. They had heard someone mention that we live in the UK, so they asked a few questions about it. The son asked about British currency, and I showed him a £5 note that I had in my wallet. The mom then offered to buy it from me for $20. I did tell her it wasn't worth that much, but she said her son would love to have it, so I made the exchange. (On that day, I think that 1 pound was nearly equal to about $1.30.) I felt a little bad, but the boy was so happy, so maybe we both won.









We headed back to my parents' house, and the kids set off to play while the adults had a much needed drink. Besides the two bottles of gin we had brought, my dad had picked up some American gin for us (the company is owned by Ryan Reynolds). It was a nice gin, and we didn't quite finish the bottle during our stay, but we tried.

Cheers

It wasn't long before we all headed off to bed. It had been a long but happy day.