our trip to illinois

snow angels in grafton, illinois.

tracking deer prints in the snow in grafton

pooper eating cheesecake for the first time at mississippi half-step in grafton.


a long, long time ago, mike weiss gave the wife and i a gift certificate to mississippi half-step as a wedding present. it's a really neat restaurant in grafton along the river road. we were looking through a pile of papers this week and found it. we figured we would take the kids there and have a meal and maybe catch a bald eagle or two.


it takes a while for us south county types to get there. we used mapquest and, true to form, it took us the longest route possible. but it was worth the drive. poops slept the whole way, so there were no meltdowns in the car. hanna and tyson were able to see the locks along the mississippi, as well as the cool bridge on hwy 367. hanna kept saying it looked like a christmas tree...you know, it does.


we had some truly good grub there. deanna got the chicken salad, i got the greek bow tie pasta, the kids got chicken strips and spaghetti, pooper ate mush...and we fed him a little bit of our black bean pattie appetizer. and cheese cake. we're sort of experimenting with his diet....


afterward, we drove up into the bluffs to see what sort of sites we could see. no bald eagles, but the kids insisted we stop and let them out to play in the snow. so there we were, in a foreign land, driving slowly along the road while our wild children ran in the snow beside us. hanna found some deer tracks, and a few minutes later we saw several deer in the trees next to the tracks. good time. i finally convinced them to hop back in the car for the long ride home.


thanks for the wedding gift, mike. we all fully appreciated it!