The Kassel Family Project Life 365

We left Columbia right about 9 am this morning for the Rockford area and the beginning of our Thanksgiving trip.  The weather was beautiful until we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois.  We hit some pretty thick fog.  Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad and dissipated pretty quickly.  The BlumeNation had the unfortunate experience of being caught completely in it and drove something like three hours in near-zero visibility.

We all made it safely though to Dave and Kristena’s house and we spent the evening relaxing and catching up.  The kids spent most of the evening downstairs; the adult boys were in the living room; and the adult girls were in the dining room.  We ate, we talked, and we laughed the night away.  It was so fun to be back with Andy’s family for Thanksgiving and it was a great start to the trip!

The majority of tonight was spent packing.  We leave tomorrow morning for the Chicago area for what will be a crazy busy, fun Thanksgiving weekend!  This photo shows just the kids’ portion of our packing and it doesn’t include their pillows or blankets for the backseat of the truck.  Oh, did I mention that I HATE packing????

I called on October 25 to see exactly how much it would cost to pay off our truck on November 1.  I was told $270.00.  I set up the online payment and then called on November 2 to hear that the truck was officially ours (very nice 16th Wedding Anniversary present, btw!).  Imagine my surprise when I get home from work today to find a check for $1.20 from Harris Bank.  Apparently, our payoff amount was actually $268.80.  Harris Bank actually spent 45 cents on postage to mail a check for $1.20.  Yes, I’m aware that they are legally obligated to return our $1.20, but really…

Laura marched in the Columbia Holiday Parade with her Daisy Scout Troop today.  She was very excited about it because she was finally going to get to wear the angel wings that she decorated at last week’s meeting.  The Girl Scouts were the Grand Marshals and there were roughly 600 girls signed up to march.  We arrived about 2 pm and met up with the rest of her troop.  The girls hung out and talked for about 30 minutes and then the line up began.  The girls put their angel wings and halos on and we lined up at the front with the rest of the Daisy Scout troops.

Right at 3 pm, the parade began.  The girls were all very excited and really did a great job.  At one point, Laura said, “Mommy, all these people are here to watch the parade!  I’m in a parade!”

The parade was fairly short and I think the girls were surprised that it went so fast.  They were all really happy though and really enjoyed the parade.  All the girls got a big kick out of seeing their families and friends waving and cheering for them.  It was a fun afternoon and I’m glad that I got to walk with the girls.  After taking a picture of the whole group, Laura and I headed back to watch the rest of the parade with Andy, John, Andrea, and Kathryn.  The kids enjoyed scrambling for candy and watching the rest of the parade.  It was a fun time on a beautiful day!

…than a night with great friends!  We had some people over for pizza and drinks tonight and it was just a great evening.  The kids had a blast playing with each other and the night even turned into a sleepover for our kids and the kids’ friends from up the street, Chloe and Claire.

What did us adults do, you ask?  We ate pizza and snacks, had some fun drinks, and chatted the evening away.  It was a great, relaxing way to spend a Saturday night.  I think it was just what Andy and I needed!

Today, Laura attended Reagan Creech’s 7th Birthday Party at Michael’s Craft Store.  It was a fun-filled two hours of crafting and birthday fun!  Laura LOVED making her picture frame.  I think her favorite part was adding all the jewels.

After crafting, the girls got to eat snacks and cupcakes.  It was definitely a unique birthday party and the girls all had a great time!  Laura was happy to help Reagan celebrate her birthday and she enjoyed spending time with all her friends.  It was another great party for a great group of girls!

Andy and I had a night out (Thanks Jenna for watching the kids!) at the Western Illinois University vs. University of Missouri Women’s Basketball game.  We attended the WIU social and had a great time.  The Lady Leathernecks played fairly well considering and, while they lost, they didn’t lose by much.  We ended up staying for the whole game even though we hadn’t really planned on that.  It turned out to be a really fun evening hanging out with some fellow WIU Alumni.  For you WIU Alums out there, I’m ashamed to say that we did *not* drink all the beer in the suite, but then again none of us were recent graduates!  Fear not, because as true WIU Alums, the beer shall *not* go to waste.  Some of us brought it home, and, in the case of Andy and I, we carried it home in the only available bag in the suite – a trash bag…  🙂