We had a beautiful, fall-like day in early December. We headed to Peoria to see the Festival of Lights! We left early enough in the day to letterbox.
We headed to Peoria via I-80, which is a bit longer than our normal I-74. While letterboxing a few months ago, Matt found this tower and thought it would be a great place to bring the kids and launch their parachute men!
As we walked up to the tower, we quickly realized that the tall (very tall!) grass could pose a problem! We decided to give it a try though, in hopes that the parachutes would float straight down. Here are Katie, Alex & Matt - ready to launch the first round!
There was a slight breeze, so after that stopped, they set the parachutes to sail!
Unfortunately, they didn't go very far!
Oh my goodness! We were laughing so hard at this! What are the odds that one would get snagged on the crossbeam? Let alone both of them! This next picture should give you a bit of perspective - it was pretty high up still! We tried a couple of things with no luck. Then Matt walked to the van and brought back one of our IKEA umbrellas. After a far stretched reach with his body and the umbrella, he was able to snag both parachutes.
The kids enjoyed the view and the "Free binoculars!!".
Maddie (and Becki) are both afraid of heights. While Becki opted to not go up, Maddie really wanted to, just was scared. After much coaching, Maddie made it to the top with Matt.
We left the tower and headed south towards Peoria.
Once there, we walked along the river in East Peoria on this boardwalk.
We found the letterbox, had a quick hike and enjoyed the beautiful area along the river. Afterwards, we headed to a see the lights at Festival of Lights and then ate at Tyroni's - our traditional stop for dinner. The kids enjoyed watching Christmas cartoons on the way home. It was a wonderful start to our Christmas Season!
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