Summertime in Illinois

{be warned: this post is heavy on the photos}

Going back to Illinois is always so bittersweet. It's never a long enough amount of time. My sweet nieces & nephews just won't quit growing. There's so much change every time I come back; it seems as though time should stop here when I'm gone. But it doesn't. Sigh. And it would be selfish of me to expect it.

This trip was extra sweet for a plethora of reasons: my family got to love on Fee (some of whom were meeting her in person for the first time!), I got to be here for a dear friend's wedding (more on that later), & I lived summer, a throwback summer, for a week.

My family is so near to my heart. To be with them, only miles apart, is pure bliss. To be able to just drop by my sister's home for a few hours, & you know, do what it is sisters do when they are together, is one of my favorite things about being "home". It's just so comfortable. I am grateful for the many friendships I've forged in Oregon, but there will never be a relationship quite like the ones I have with my sisters, & that's ok. It brought such warm fuzzies to my heart to see them all with my little Fiona. They adore her. My brothers do too. None of these photos were staged; they are the real moments of my family loving Fee. My camera was permanently around my neck!

And the glorious thunderstorms, balmy evenings, & stickiness! Oh, it was summer. The summer of my childhood. It's strange how fast one forgets what humidity is, & how air conditioning is a necessity. 

 It was romper, popsicle, pool days. Sitting on the front porch, babies shirtless days.

 It was mint tea, strawberries, ice cream, & fresh salads days.

They were the days of summer that I remember. Oregon summers are beautiful: not humid, berries galore, a certain mountain gracing the valley, loads of activity on the farm...but there's still a special place in my heart for a good ol' sticky Midwest summer. 

I already miss my little niblings. Fee misses her aunties. It's good to be back in Oregon, to see Dar again, (and as much as I just claimed to love the humidity, what I really meant was it's nostalgic) the breathibility of the outdoors, & the blueberries, but like always, part of my heart is in Illinois. Til next time!