Vacation, Day one, Friday, July 13

 On Friday, July 13, we left for five days at the Grand Bear Lodge in Utica, Illinois.  We chose this spot because of its close proximity to Alissa and Nathan.  Bloomington is just an hour south of Utica.  This made it possible for them to join us for the weekend.  I found a condo in this resort while searching for rentals by owner on the internet.  I did not know what to expect.  We had cased it out in early May on a visit to Alissa's and we thought it would serve our needs nicely.  There are also three state parks within a few miles of the resort which made it inviting for Courtney and Paul's outdoorsy, less commercial side.

 We started our vacation with a lunch at Mullen's before hitting the road.  One of the best parts of this vacation was the opportunity to spend time getting to know our new granddaughter, Soliana.  She is the sweetest, happiest baby ever.  She became very familiar with all of us over the course of the week, but she still liked her mama best, which is as it should be, of course.

 On Friday, we checked into our condo at 4:00 in the midst of a huge thunderstorm.  The condo is very nice, big enough to sleep 18, so we can all have our space.  We celebrated Soli's first birthday after we arrived.  She enjoyed her new presents and we all enjoyed watching her play with them.

 Of course, it was wonderful to be able to spend all this time with Tizita, too.  She and I had many special memory making moments together as usual.

 It was fun to watch Tizita teaching her sister how to use the new toys.  They play together nicely.

 Soli became fast friends with Great Grandma, Gigi.  They had lots of fun moments together.

 Soli loves to eat and she often reminded us of a little birdie just waiting with her mouth open for someone to give her some goodies.  I figure she thinks this place called America is pretty nice with all the different foods it has to offer.

 John and I took Tizita over to the indoor waterpark in the evening.  There is a free train that runs all the time and takes you from one place to another.  Here Grandpa and Tiz are onboard riding to the waterpark.

 Tizita really enjoyed the waterpark.  It is a rather small park compared to the ones at the Dells, but just the right size for children her age.  She loved the whirlpool area that just swept you around and around in the current, the lazy river, and the wave pool.

Here she is trying the little slide for the first time.  After doing it once, she enjoyed it over and over again.  We took the train back after our first swimming adventure.

Tizita spent lots of time with Aunt Alissa and Uncle Chedda.  She always has so much fun hanging out with them.  There is always some kind of foolishness going on when they are around.

So, ended day one.  We knew it was going to be a very fun week indeed.

Tomorrow, Day two.