24 July - Departure!
Our flight from Heathrow left at 7:45 a.m. The early wake up call was brutal, but the kids were so excited about going home to America. We had them all go to bed as "Captain Underpants" so we could get them dressed quickly and be on our way. Owen was really hoping to travel as "Captain Underpants" but after some convincing he reluctantly put on his jeans and a white t-shirt ala Fonzie from Happy Days, which is his uniform these days.
I successfully packed us into 4 bags - and one of the biggest bags was full of gifts for our families and friends. We were only charged for one heavy bag even though we had two. Thankfully John has premier status on United and they allowed us one heavy bag!
After checking in, we had breakfast while waiting for our gate assignment. The timing actually worked out really well. By the time we found a place to sit down and have breakfast, eat breakfast and clean up the shrapnel from the kids, our gate was announced and it was time to board. The kids were rock stars on the flight. They were content to watch movies, eat snacks and play with their Leapsters for the whole flight. Jack has requested that from now on we fly American versus United. United does not offer games on the personal audio/video units on the back of the seats. "United only has movies, and I don't want to watch 'Horton Hears a Who' again." I'm afraid we are creating some travel snobs!
We arrived into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and I will admit, I teared up quite a bit at the sight of Chicago's skyline. It felt good to be home. Seven months was the longest I have been away from home and my family; John too. So we were both very excited to be on US soil and be with our families and friends for a few weeks. We made it to our connecting gate with enough time to eat a quick lunch...and naturally run into someone I knew. A friend of mine, Tim Hanley, was flying to St. Louis to entertain clients at the Cardinals game. He felt our pain when he heard Kate screaming, "get me out of here" from the back of the plane. She really dislikes the seat belts on planes, but she eventually settled down and we arrived safely in St. Louis where we rented a car and drove to Millstadt, Illinois.
24-31 July 2008 - Millstadt, Illinois
We arrived to Grandma and Grandpa's house (a.k.a. Camp Vogel Place) at 3:00 p.m. after a very long day of travel for all of us. It was great to see Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, Ruth, Elaine, Judd, Peyton, Lauren, Carol and Jarrod. The kids went right into action, driving their John Deere tractors and playing with Cody outside. Cody was very happy to see us and slept in the kids' room every night, often on the air mattress with Kate.
On Saturday 26 July, the Muellers had the whole family and good friends over for a BBQ. It was such fun it was to see all of the cousins together.
Betty and Roger bought a very large water slide which entertained everyone for hours...until we nearly ran the well dry! And it was a perfect way for the kids to cool off as it was very hot!
The extreme weather is definitely one thing I do not miss. The humidity was stifling and while it did a number on my hair, it did not bother the kids one bit.
We had a very full week in Millstadt with time at the pool, a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, a trip to the St. Louis Zoo, pizza with Great Grandpa and Ruth at Breadeaux, and dinner at the "fish stand" for fish sandwiches and fries. Naturally, Jack reminded us that in London they are called "chips."
The highlight of the week had to be when the kids all took turns driving the big tractors with "Ed," who was kind and patient enough to let the kids take turns driving. The lake is being excavated so the big pieces of equipment and pile of mud at Camp Vogel Place was just too hard to resist! We sure don't get to do this in London!
The highlights of the week for Mommy (in addition to seeing all of the Mueller family) was seeing my cousin Ann, my college roommate Laurie and my trips to Target. Ann and her family moved to St. Louis the weekend we arrived. So we had a quick visit with Ann, her husband Calvin and their beautiful girls Mary and Julianne at their new home. We also spent a morning swimming and having lunch with Laurie Gatch and her boys and then had dinner with Laurie and her husband Evan.
But my trips to Target hold a special place in my heart! OH MY the American public has no idea what a luxury they have in that store. If only they could bring one to Central London! I was trembling with happiness while walking the isles putting random items in the cart. It was heaven on earth for me! John, naturally, has made great fun of my fondness for Target and my near implosion at the sight of $14 shoes, which I bought by the way!
We had a great visit with the Muellers....the week went by very quickly and we were off to Oak Park/Barrington/Chicago on 31 July.
31 July - 9 August 2008 - Oak Park/Barrington/Chicago
The five hour drive to Oak Park was easy-peesey-lemon-squeezey compared to the eight hour flight! The kids took power naps and watched movies. Mommy watched a movie too. I am not a very good "wing-man" to John. Usually during the drive I sleep or read magazines. This trip, however, I remembered I had my laptop, so I watched "The Other Boleyn Girl." Unfortunately for me, my battery died about 20 minutes before the movie ended. John laughed at me, refused to be my "Plan B" and would not talk to me when I tried. Again, more Colleen fodder for John.
We arrived to my parents' house (a.k.a. 819) and again the kids just went right into action playing with legos, playing in the backyard and making themselves at home. A busy week was ahead of us so we had a quiet, albeit delicious dinner of Buona Beef and then it was off to bed for the kiddies. John and I stayed up visiting with my Mom and Dad...a lot of white wine for me and Mom and some scotch for John and Papa.
Friday morning we drove out to Barrington. We had a quick visit with the Kennedy family; the kids were so happy to play with their buddies Devin, Nolan and Griffin. Then it was off to Aunt Meghan's for the much anticipated reunion of Maggie and "Jackie" and "Owie." Oh the hugs, the tears, the laughter - and that was just me and Meg! It was a beautiful day so a quick change into bathing suits and it was off to Deveaux Court for "Caddy Day" at the Nye's pool.
Our friends, Natasha and Ron Nye, were in Greece with their family and foolishly offered us the use of their pool. Thank you Ron and Natasha..hope the filter wasn't too bad!
That evening Meg and Todd along with the Altons hosted a fabulous party for many of our Barrington friends. It was such fun to catch up with so many people and Meg, Todd and the Altons really put together an amazing array of food and wine. It really was a wonderful party and we were able to visit with so many people and have a lot of laughs. We finally crawled into bed at 3 a.m.!
Saturday morning was spent at the South Barrington Club pool, which we miss a great deal, and then it was back to Oak Park for a very special dinner. Last year at the Women's Auxiliary of West Suburban Hospital Celebration (Mama/Sheila/Mrs. Rock is president) John "won" in the silent auction a dinner for twelve at a "historically significant" home in Oak Park, which belongs to John's boss and his wife.
Dinner was prepared and served by none other than Sheila and Phil Rock and their friends. We had live flamenco music and dancers too! It was a beautiful night, the food was amazing and our "wait staff" were terrific! Another late night as bedtime didn't come until around 1:30 a.m.
We were up and at it again on Sunday. First up was a delicious lunch at 819 with the Fuscos, who we miss terribly. We look forward to seeing all of them again in November! Sunday evening we had a BBQ at the home of Lissa and Jim Christman with many of my friends from the high school years. It was so much fun to see everyone and catch up...and exhaustion was definitely settling in.
Monday we went back out to Barrington. The boys had eye doctor appointments followed by another sleep over at Aunt Meghan's. At 5:30 p.m. the "grown-ups" (me, John, Meg, Todd, Jay, and Lynn (Fusco) and Leo Deely) convened at Bernie's for some pre-Cubs game fun. We went to the Cubs v. Houston Astros game and it was a game that made history as Wrigley Field was evacuated due to tornado warnings. We have never seen a rain storm like that before - and certainly not during a Cubs game. Sadly the game had to be called in the 8th and the Cubs lost to the Astros, 2-0.
On Tuesday Meg and I took the crew to Egg Harbor for lunch. I met with our friend and realtor Cathy Schmidt, who always has a sunny and positive outlook despite the grim state of the real estate market. Then it was back to Meg's for a quick dinner and sadly to say goodbye to our friends the Altons.
On Wednesday John took Jack and Owen to a Cubs game with Larry Schmit. I was supposed to spend the day with my best friend Kelly (Larry's wife). We had it all planned - while the boys were at the Cubs game we would get a sitter for the girls and go for manis/pedis, shopping, wine, more shopping and then a BBQ back at the Schmit's house. It was going to be perfect! But unfortunately Kelly and Larry's darling girls were sick. I could not risk getting our kids sick and bringing whatever stomach bug was going around to the beach or worse, on the flight home to London. So we had to pull the plug on the playdate at Kelly's for the kids, which made me very sad. We did have a quick visit that morning at 819 with the Simpson clan.
The kids had a ball playing in the backyard and it was amazing to see them pick up and play as if 7 months had not passed by at all. After the boys left for the game and the Simpsons went home, Kate and I had much needed down-time. She took a great nap, I did some laundry and started to pack and we walked to the park. The peacefulness was not to last long however.
On Thursday, Mama and Papa arranged a very special day for the kids. They bought tickets for the kids to see "Willy Wonka" at Navy Pier's Shakespeare Theater. It was a great production! Then we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Riva after the show. We got back to 819 just in time to welcome our friends Anne Eckhart and Chuck Ticknor from Columbus, Ohio. They flew in to attend a party at Kelly and Larry Schmit's house that evening.
Another great party where we were able to say hello and catch up with many friends. Kel and Larry went above and beyond having all of our Chicago favorites on the menu - salad from O'Fame, pasta from Piazza Bella and Italian Beef and Sausage from Portillos. The meal was topped off with red, white and blue frosted cupcakes.
Friday was a day of rest, packing, laundry and goodbyes. The kids and I drove up to Kenilworth to find my sister Meg at one of the pit stops along the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Meg was on the medical crew and Todd was Medical Director. It was a treat for us to see Meg "in action" helping all of the walkers with blisters, bee stings, exhaustion and dehydration. I am very proud of her and Todd for donating their time and effort again this year.
But saying good bye was really rough, especially on our Owen...he loves his best friend Aunt Meghan.
We had a great dinner of left-overs from Kel's and Buona Beef at 819 with my parents and my brother Jay, sister-in-law Lauren and my nieces Julia and Sarah. Goodbyes are no fun for me - the tears come easy and I was having a hard time stopping them. We were all packed up and ready to move on to the next destination - Nags Head, NC.
9-16 August - Nags Head, NC
Before our move to London was confirmed we had planned a vacation with two of John's fraternity brothers from MIT and their families; Team Mehendale (Neelesh, Kim, Leena and Raja) and Team Robinson (Matt, Kara, Alex, Christian and Scotty). We rented "Sweet Peace" in Nags Head, NC, which belongs to John's boss and his family. It is the most beautiful and comfortable beach home I have ever seen. From the moment we arrived I could feel myself relaxing...yeah, okay the wine helps a lot too. John and I invited our babysitters from Barrington to join us.
Thankfully their parents agreed so we flew with Kelly and Sarah Fox. By having Kelly and Sarah here it really feels more like a vacation than just a change of scenery. Our very lazy days are spent deciding what to fix the kids for breakfast, lunch and dinner; whether to go to the pool or beach. The kids wake up, change from pajamas to swim suits; rest after lunch and then we are back at the pool or beach all afternoon. Needless to say we are having a great time and really appreciate having the Fox sisters here to help with the kids so the grown-ups can actually visit, catch up and actually complete sentences. As I write this it is very quiet in the house - John and Matt are golfing; Neelesh and Kim are sleeping; Raja is sleeping; Jack, Owen and Kate are sleeping; and we sent Kelly and Sarah to the beach to have some free time, which they have earned and need to keep sane for the rest of the week. The kids got along just great and we rarely had to intervene as Kelly and Sarah had everything under control all the time.
As you can see...we are having a great time....and Owen had a wonderful Birthday at the beach. The kids are never bored!!
We will return to London on 17 August. I am looking forward to getting back into our "routine" and seeing our friends in London.
This has been a wonderful summer holiday - our thanks to everyone who made such amazing efforts for us...the parties, lunches, brunches, dinners, visits and playdates made our weeks in the States very special.
All our love,
Team Mueller
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