4 Reasons I Love Central Illinois

So it's Fall, my very very favorite season. I find myself in a much better mood as the leaves change, the temperature drops (but not too much), and the yummy fall foods emerge - apples, squash, sweet potatoes, soup.... So I'm dedicating this post to the fun things that we've been able to do in good old CU in the last two weeks.

Little Gym
OK, so the Little Gym isn't a local thing - it's a chain. But it's one of the most fun things we've done on weekends this Fall! Ethan is a wild man for about 45 minutes every Saturday. He is also madly in love with the teacher, Miss Angie. As we all introduce ourselves each week, he runs up to her over and over again for high fives. And he's getting pretty good at the balance beam, the parallel bars, and the little climbing wall they have there. I think my favorite, though, is the fact that he is now saying, "Go!" I'll get ready to help him do a back somersault, "Ready, Set...." Ethan: "Doe!"
Youth Literature Festival
There are so many benefits to being in a university town, and this is one of them. The U of I, along with libraries and local performers, put together this amazing day of creative fun for kids of all ages. I wasn't going to take Ethan, thinking that he'd be way too young to get anything out of it, but some of the moms in the playgroup Ethan and I enjoy were going, so we decided to give it a try. Wow. Puppets, crafts, books, resources for parents, and best of all - music. You'll notice a little towheaded boy standing in front of the stage in a tie dye t-shirt. That's Mr. Ethan. It's a picture taken about 5 seconds before he tried to get on stage to "help" the singer with his performance, and was almost pulled off by the nice man acting as toddler security. Ethan's first bouncer! (I was being a very irresponsible mother - I was cracking up so hard at the cute picture and emailing it to Brian that I couldn't get up to the stage fast enough. :)
Monticello Railway Museum
Ethan is in love with trains these days. So Brian thought that we should take him to see some really big authentic ones. It was so cool! The museum does short train rides from the station into the city of Monticello, about 10 minutes each way, and a conductor comes through the train cars and explains a few things for people who want to listen. Ethan really enjoyed it.
Meadowbrook Park
Also known as "Castle Park", Meadowbrook is a fantastic area about a mile from our house. I finally got our jogging stroller fixed, and now Ethan and I jog there together on the weekends, play, and then jog back. (One mile doesn't sound like a whole lot, and it's really not, but believe me, pushing a 35 pound kid in the stroller while trying to jog is really tough!)