A Mommie & Gentry Day

TGIF! It seems like this week has flown by. Gentry and I spent our day cruising around several small Illinois towns. Our first stop was right here in New Baden. I took him to our town park and boy did he ever have fun! I had promised him yesterday that we would go to the park and slide, but by the time I had finished running my errands and was headed to the park, my little blondie had given out on me. He was sacked out in his carseat when I was almost to the park. I happened to notice the extreme "quietness" in the backseat and looked back in my mirror and saw him sound asleep. So, when he woke up this morning, the first words out of his mouth was, "Mommy, we go to the park?" How could you say no to those adorable baby blues.

So, away we went this morning to play. It was a gorgeous day here with the bluest of skies and not a cloud in sight.

After wearing ourselves out, I decided to do a little sightseeing and go to some small towns that I'd never been to before. My first stop was Highland. Can you believe as long as I had lived in Illinois before that I'd NEVER been to Highland? It's a shame to even admit, but I can finally mark that one off of my list. It had a very quaint downtown sqaure and I stopped at one of the boutique gift shops and picked up some more fall decor for my house.

Then I decided to go to a town called Greenville...or was it Greenfield??? Well, I can't remember the name of it, but I do know they had a Dollar General!

Now I know you're thinking, "Why in the world would she remember that?" Well, about 5 miles outside of the town Gentry got sick! He had been fussing to get out of his carseat and so I unbuckled him and put him in the front seat with me (buckled in the passenger seat, of course). I had driven through Mc'D's to get us something to eat and he wouldn't eat a bite. Now, those of you who know Gentry's eating habits know that is not totally unusual for him. So, I really didn't think anything about it until he started gagging. I started watching him REALLY closely at that point. I asked him, "Gentry, do you need to throw up?" He rubbed his eyes and emphatically said, "NO!". But no sooner had I put the Mc'D's bag under his chin than he started filling that bag up! YUCK!

Oh, I felt so sorry for him. But he was really good with his "aim" and didn't make a huge mess. Just all over his shirt and hands.

I didn't have a wipe one in the car so I just kept driving until I saw a gas station or ANYTHING that might have some wipes.

Luckily, as soon as I got to the Greenville/field? town I saw that yellow box sign that said "Dollar General"! It was like an oasis in the desert!

So, I ran inside while Gentry sat in the vehicle and found a clearanced short & shirt set and a box of baby wipes.

After he got all cleaned up and changed, Gentry was ready to go again. I don't know what made him sick, but he just threw up that one time and he hasn't been sick the rest of the day. Strange!

So, we found a few shops that we looked around in and then it was on to Lebanon. Now, I HAVE been to this town before, but not to shop. I found three more boutique shops where we picked up a few more things for our fall decorations around the house.

Our final stops were back home at Cold Stone Creamery for a chocolate shake, World Market, Hallmark & Michaels.

Then we decided our day just wouldn't be quite complete without a visit to Mimi's house. Gentry knows as soon as we turn into the subdivision where we are going. He gets a big grin on his face and starts yelling, "Mimi, Papa, Mimi, Papa!".

He is always so glad to see his mimi. Papa was still at work so he didn't get to act silly with papa. Gentry told mimi about going to the park and then getting sick. He went into dramatic details of how it all happened too. What a ham he is.

We finally headed back out to the farm to meet Dale and go to dinner. We went to Tony's in Mascoutah and Gentry stole one of the waitresses heart's. When we were leaving he ran back into the restaurant and said, "I give you a hug" and he wrapped his little arms around her neck and gave her a big bear hug. She was speechless.

Then, we raced home to catch the rest of the presidential debate between McCain & Obama.

All is quiet again on the home front. We're going to take Gentry and Courtney to Forest Park in St. Louis tomorrow so we're looking forward to another fun-filled day. With the weather being so beautiful, we're taking advantage of it while we can.

I hope you have a great weekend and thanks for dropping by here.

Much Love - Melanie