We left Tighthead Brewery after spending the morning with Matt and Rylan as Ari was working and headed over to Camp Reinberg where we have stayed many times in the past. It’s the closest campground to Ari and has five RV spots – three of which can accommodate the Busse Bus. That evening we had a gathering at Barb and Tom Klein’s house for dinner, drinks and a few rounds of LCR. Everyone brought a dish
and it was fantastic catching up with people.
The Klein’s backyard is beautiful and the weather cooperated so we could have drinks outside. After moving inside we played Left, Right, Center (LCR) – a dice game. Our rules include having to “prove” your win with the last person rolling the dice a final time.
Our first game ended with the final roller having to give his final dollar to the kitty. I won the next game which was the double pot. Lucky me! If you have never played LCR, get the game and try it – just like Mikey from the old commercial – you’ll like it!
The next day we were able to spend some time with Rylan as Ari needed to attend Prom with Highland Park High School.
She graduated high school years ago and is now a counselor there so she gets to attend the activities. Talk about reliving high school!
On Sunday we went over to see Ari and Rylan and spent the day. We walked Rylan and Kylo (Aussie dog) throughout the park right behind their house.
When we returned I ordered two Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizzas.
A favorite of ours and we haven’t been able to find another pizza joint that can pull off a Chicago deep dish.
Since Ari had school and Matt was out flying (he’s a pilot), Katrina and I got to baby sit. It was so much fun! Once Ari got home, we all met up with friends of ours, Rob and Kristin Joy at Peggy Kinnane’s Irish Restaurant & Pub. Their daughter, McKenna recently had a daughter, Myla making Rob and Kristin grandparents for the first time.
It was great seeing them all and meeting Myla.
During the day at Camp Reinberg, I pick this up:
The Busse Forest is a wonderful park located near Schaumburg, IL and has a biking path, elks, and a huge lake. It was named after my great uncle who was a Cook County commissioner for fifty-two years. I also got a close up of a cicada laying on the street:
Noisy little. Insects! Bear kept his eye on this deer:
We had a chance to catch up with Katie Juidutta at Uncle Julio’s for dinner and drinks. Unfortunately her husband Vinny couldn’t join us. We had so much fun talking that we forgot to get a picture. Bad on us!
On Wednesday morning Katrina got to play some pickleball while I watched Rylan and then we reversed roles (I didn’t play PB, I had a financial review meeting) until Matt got home as Ari was at school and then she had graduation. Katrina grilled up some of the grouper that I caught in the Gulf of Mexico.
The next day Matt put us to work again this time mulching all the flower beds. It was actually fun tending to a lawn again. Matt did most of the work and I helped while Katrina watched Rylan. She got the best end of the stick! That evening Katrina and I headed up to Elizabeth Lake to enjoy a boat ride with Darrell and Lucinda Primrose. The Primrose’s have been friends of ours since the early 90’s as we met when we both lived in The Fields of Ambria in Mundelein, IL. Darrell recently remodeled their lakehouse and the results were stunning. Who knew that he was so handy? After tooling around the lake we stopped at the Sand Bar and Island Grill for drinks and dinner.
Beautiful sunset:
We had a lovely evening and it was great catching up with them!
The Anderson’s and us met up for dinner the next night at Tsukusa of Tokyo to introduce Rylan to hibachi cooking. When our kids were young we called that style of cooking “cook in front of you”. Boy it really brought back some great memories!
I think that Rylan really enjoyed the experience!
Matt had to fly out the next day so Ari, Rylan, Katrina and I headed up to Paddock Lake, just over the border into Wisconsin, to my sister Janis and her husband Steve’s lake house. My sister Susan was able to join us as well. It was great as my siblings got to meet Rylan for the first time. They made a wonderful lunch (Wisconsin brats) and then we all went out on their pontoon boat.
As all good things end, we needed to head back to let Bear out and to get Rylan back on his schedule. On the drive back we heard from other friends, Bill Garcia and Debbie Pickus, whom we decided to meet up with in Arlington Heights, IL at La Tasca Tapas Restaurant for appetizers and drinks. We actually meet up with them there on our last visit.
Afterwards we went across the street for a nightcap at Hey Nonny Live Music + Local Kitchen:
Great catching up on each other’s lives.
We wanted to spend the day with Ari and Rylan (Matt flying around) on Sunday so we decided to chill at her place and watch the Indy 500 race. Great day relaxing! We grilled up some turkey burgers and they were yummy! Since storms delayed the race so long we only got to see the first half and the race ended minutes before we got back to the Busse Bus. Oh well, the best laid plans….
Tuesday was our last day there and we got to babysit Rylan while his mommy and daddy got to go out for a dinner date.
What a great way to end our visit!
Goodbye sweet Rylan:
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