Our trip to Illinois

Our trip to Illinois - as told by Annah Christine 

 Last week I got to go on a big trip with Daddy and Mommy. We went to Illinois to look for a house because we are going to move there soon. We left Columbus on Saturday morning and got to Bloomington, Illinois about 7 hours later. I slept in the car most of the way there. 

 We got to stay in a really neat hotel called Jumers Chateau. It looks like a castle you would see in

Germany or somewhere else in Europe. Our room had lots of neat things for me to look at, like a shiny gold mirror, red carpet, and a big bed with a bright, flowered bedspread. I just learned how to bounce, and I had fun bouncing on the bed! 

 Jumers is close to SF's Corporate South offices in Bloomington, where Daddy will soon work in this building. Bloomington-Normal is a small city compared to Columbus, Ohio where we live now. But, in the twin cities of Bloomington and Normal there are over 100,000 people. There are lots of neat things there, like Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University. Beer Nuts are also only made there. State Farm Insurance is by far the biggest employer, and even has its own park, just for employees and their families! I can't wait to go there and play! It even has a kiddie pool!! 

On Sunday, we met our realtor, Pam. She showed us lots of houses in Bloomington, a few in Normal, and some in Heyworth (That's a little country town just outside Bloomington.) too. It was a very tiring day for me. Mommy and Daddy kept taking my carseat in and out of the car. I think we saw about 20 houses that day! I was really tired after that. But, we went to a great pizza place called Tobin's with Carol (Daddy's supervisor from Ohio) and her family. I'm not big enough to eat pizza yet, but Mommy and Daddy said it was great! So, if you ever come visit us, we'll take you to Tobin's!  

On Monday, Pam started showing us houses in the country. There were a few we liked in town, but since Mommy and Daddy grew up in the country, they really thought it would be nice for me to do that too. The first country town we went to was LeRoy. (Some people say it, "Lee-Roy," and some say it, "Luh-Roy." I guess either way is okay.) Anyway, it is hardly big enough to call it a town! But, it does have its own restaurant, grocery store and school. There weren't any houses we really liked there though. So, we went to Arrowsmith... 

 Arrowsmith is even smaller than LeRoy, and is about 19 miles straight east of Bloomington. On the way to Arrowsmith, you can see for miles and miles around you because the land is very flat! All around you are fields and big farms. Mommy and Daddy thought they grew up in farming country until they saw the farms in McLean county, (which is pronounced, "McLain," by the way.) It is the #1 corn producing county in the nation, and the largest county (land-wise) in Illinois. Moraine View State Park is only a few miles away in LeRoy. Anyway, back to Arrowsmith... 

 There are somewhere between 315 and 350 people living in the town of Arrowsmith, Illinois. It has no restaurant, no grocery store, and not much else there as far as places to shop or do business. There is a U.S. Post Office, so it is officially a town with its own zip code. I guess there's also a mayor and a town council and such. But basically the only thing that makes it seem like a town is that the houses are closer together than they are between Bloomington and there. Even though it's only about 20 minutes from Bloomington, it feels like the middle of "nowhere." It's a nice little place though, and the first house we went into there we fell in love with immediately. And, Daddy and Mommy decided right then and there that they wanted to make an offer on it. We left the house and Pam took us to lunch at Biaggi's (another great place we'll take you if you visit us!) and Daddy and Mommy signed papers for a bid on the house. Then we went back to Jumers to wait for Pam to call us. There was a counter, and then Daddy and Mommy countered, and we got the house! 

 Now I'll tell you all about our "new" house in Arrowsmith, Illinois. 

 The house is a 98 year old Victorian Shaker style home. Here's a picture of the front of it: 

 The family that lives there now, the Sullivans, have been there for 12 years. They have spent the entire time completely restoring the house, and it looks fantastic! It has hardwood floors all throughout it, which Mrs. S sanded herself--by hand! All of the woodwork, trim, and doors are original, and so is the built-in china cabinet in the kitchen: 

 and the living room fireplace and mirror above it. 

 It has 4 bedrooms, 7 walk-in closets, an enclosed porch/entry-way on the front 

 and back porch 

 2 window seats

 2 bathrooms--one with a clawfoot tub and marble sink! 

 a dining room 

 a den 

 There's also a full unfinished basement, and an attic. 

 The backyard has a deck with an arbor over it, 

 a 2-car garage, basketball hoop (so Uncle Travis can teach me how to play when I get bigger!), 

 and a swimming pool! 

 Mommy and Daddy were worried about having a pool with me being so little, but the only way for people to get in is by lifting and putting down a ladder that only a big person can. So, I won't be able to sneak in by myself until I'm quite big enough to swim on my own anyway. 

 We got to go through the house again on Thursday before we left while the home inspector checked it out to make sure everything is okay with it. (He said it's in great shape, and there's not really anything to fix!) While Mommy and Daddy were going through the house, I got to hang out with the Sullivans' 15-year-old daughter. She let me play with some new toys and we had fun. 

 The Sullivans let Mommy use their digital camera to take some of the pictures you see, and they showed Daddy and Mommy how to clean and care for the pool, and showed them some special things about the house and yard, like a permanent marble shelf in the downstairs bedroom, and the original key to the 2 pocket doors. 

 Mrs. S gave Mommy a diagram of all of the flowers, bushes and trees planted in the yard, and an envelope with all of the tags from them! The Sullivans have done so much to the house; we're sure it must be hard for them to leave it after raising their 3 kids there (They are moving to Wisconsin to be near their families, and just bought a house there that they're going to restore!), but we will sure love living there and taking care of it ourselves. 

 Here are some more pictures of it: 

 left front side of house 

 downstairs bathroom 

 doorways from living room into downstairs bedroom and dining room 

 upstairs bedroom 

 second upstairs bedroom 

 third upstairs bedroom 

 Mommy and Daddy keep saying that God definitely guided us on our house-hunting trip. They didn't know how we were going to find and buy a house in just one week, but God's angels must have been guiding us around 'cause we did it in 2 days! We are so blessed, and we are really excited about moving to Illinois. 

On Tuesday night while we were there, we visited Dmitri, Michaela and Mason. Dmitri and Michaela work for SF too. We know them because they used to work here in Ohio with Daddy. They moved to Illinois about 2 years ago, and their son Mason is almost 1 1/2. I think he and I will have lots of fun playing together! 

 Wednesday night we had dinner with Pete. He graduated from Capital's Conservatory with Mommy, and just finished his Master's degree in horn performance at Illinois State. He took us to the Ozark House, which was also a super great place to eat! But, Pete won't be living in Normal very much longer. He just got a job with the Air Force Band near St. Louis. He does have a girlfriend at ISU though, so Daddy and Mommy told him he better come stay with us when he's back in town--or at least stop by to say hello! 

 And, that goes for all of you! We'll probably be moving into our "new" house in Arrowsmith during the first week of July (we think). So, anytime you're anywhere near the middle of Illinois, we hope you'll make a stop in Arrowsmith to see us! Or, plan a vacation to Illinois and come stay with us for a while! We should have plenty of room, and we would love to have you!