The night before Kevin's parents left, my oldest sister Elise decided to come visit us with her daughter Alexandra. They ended up driving from Chicago because they couldn't catch the flight. Elise was a pilot for American, so she and her kids can fly most places on stand-by tickets. Usually it works out, but sometimes it doesn't. Fortunately, we lived just 2.5 hours from the Chicago airport, so they made it here late that Sunday night. My in-laws left Monday morning and Elise and Alexandra came with us to our Classical Conversations class in Milan. Emma loved having her cousin with her and it was fun to hear about my sister's CC group in Dallas.

We visited Deere headquarters, the John Deere store, the Mississippi River, and some antique stores in LeClaire. We had a busy two days, but I'm so glad they were able to come visit us!! Emma had just asked me a few weeks before why nobody in my family ever comes to visit us. I explained that it's just a long drive and it's not easy to make that kind of a trip. She was so excited to tell her friends that her cousin on her mom's side had come to see her! (She did forget that her older cousin, Courtney, came to see us last winter. I think she felt more like an aunt than a cousin to Emma.)

The girls played by the river as the sun set. It was a fun evening.

I love this river!!

Night on the Mississippi

Go figure. . . someone in my family comes to see me and I totally forgot to take a picture!