Illinois - Part 1

I'm finally getting around to editing my photos from our recent trip to my hometown in Illinois.  The visit was long overdue (over twenty years) and my aunt, uncle and cousins were such gracious hosts. We had an absolutely fabulous time!

My extended family live in the country a few miles outside of town.  My cousin and his wife recently built a country resort of sorts behind their main house.  It consists of a large party/guest house with a beautiful lakeside porch and this awesome piece of construction......  

I mean seriously...is this not AMAZING?  We had a blast!  

My cousin's daughters, ages six and eight, spend nearly every waking minute in the water and they couldn't wait to have Meg join them.  Meg, however, required a lot of convincing.  

Not even jumping from the upper deck was enough to entice her.

It wasn't until I made the second story plunge into the water that Meg finally decided it was ok.  (For the record, I made three jumps that day....all totally sober. *wink* Apparently I'm getting very adventurous in my old age.)  The three of them spent many hours enjoying the lake during our stay.  

If indoor activities are more your thing, my cousin also has a regulation size shuffleboard table.  This was an entirely new thing to all of us and so much fun to play.

Country life sure has changed since I was a kid.