We Heart Carbondale

The boys and I took a little trip down to Carbondale in Jan/Feb to visit Grandma and Grandpa Payne. Ed dropped us off at the local Metra station and we took the commuter train down to Chicago Union Station. From there we boarded the Amtrak train for a 5.5 hour ride down to Carbondale. The boys loved every minute of it! Here they are enjoying the ride down:

We had a nice, laid back time visiting with Dave and Corliss. We visited the local Science Museum:

Grandma also bought the boys some nice new kicks:

And Samuel insisted on eating lunch at the food court at Sam's Cafe:

We also hung around their neighborhood and played in the partially frozen pond:

And feeding the birds in the backyard:

The boys liked invading Grandpa's space and begging him to change it from news/sports to cartoons:

We visited the infamous Cooksey's Bait Shop:

Saw a bald eagle at the state park:

And chased the cats around all week long:

The snuggled in bed, made cookies, and visited school with Grandma:

We had a great visit and headed home to Chicago before the blizzard hit. Enjoying the Amtrak ride back in the middle of the night: