Mommy's roots

Mason,

Daddy and I took you to Illinois to visit Grandma and Grandpa, meet extended family, and show you where I grew up.

You were a trooper on all four flights. Awake for every minute, you entertained the other passengers with your jumping and babbling. At least you made, for the most part, happy baby noises. Here you are, hogging the middle seat (until it was taken), armed with your rattle and boarding pass.

And here we are, outside the back door of my one and only childhood home.

When I was a little girl, I stood at the end of this lane, waiting for the school bus to pick me up on my first day of kindergarten.

Grandma and Grandpa have lots of fun things to do at their house, like pulling leaves on the weeping willow tree near the pond.

One day you'll love to visit the pond and will beg to go for a ride in the row boat. Maybe we'll even enjoy a wiener roast on one of these visits. Grandma and Grandpa gave Daddy his inaugural wiener roast a few years back. It will be your turn next.

You loved sitting in the swing on Grandma and Grandpa's front porch.

You even surprised Grammy with one of your trademark wet, open-mouth kisses (with a hint of teeth, I think). What's even more surprising is that we captured the moment with the camera!

Grandpa showed you his combine. You're standing in what's called the buddy seat.

This next photo shows Grandpa's bean field where he used to pay me to pull weeds. I think I made about $2-$3 an hour (a competitive wage for an eight-year-old in the early 1980s), but I never lasted more than a morning or two.

We made a stop at my hometown staple--The Tastee Treat--for their famous soft serve lemon ice cream cones. Sorry we couldn't share our cones with you! Maybe next time.

It was both strange and heartwarming to take you, my precious little guy, back to where I was raised. I can't think of a place more different from where you're growing up! I suspect, as you get older, you'll look forward to occasionally escaping the DC hustle and bustle and retreating to a quieter place, one with wide open, green spaces, where your creativity and imagination can run wild. A place where you can daydream under a willow tree, jump hay bales, paddle a row boat around a pond, and run forever through rows of corn. Luckily for you, I know the perfect place to take you.

Love you bunches!

Mommy