Mom's Weekend @ Illinois

Austen's Fraternity House - Phi Psi

A few weekends ago, it was finally my time to hang out with Austen at Illinois! It was Mom's Weekend, and with a week to go Austen still wasn't sure of what we were going to do when I arrived. The fraternity had very loose plans that kept changing but we decided that I would head down on Friday, check into the hotel and then come over to the dorm about 4pm and then we'd do dinner. I was traveling with Austen's roommate's mom too so it was nice that we had some plans together. 

That drive is so easy (as long as it's not in a torrential downpour like it was freshman registration weekend). Before we knew it, we arrived at the hotel to a very warm welcome for Mom's weekend. There was food and balloon displays and non-alcoholic beverages. We checked in and then headed to the boys' dorm where we hung out for a bit and then decided we'd go back to the hotel for dinner (it was a highly rated dinner/lounge venue). We took some pictures at the balloon displays before dinner and then enjoyed some cocktails and a lot of appetizers (the boys thought it wouldn't be enough food but they ended up taking food home). The boys actually got served at this restaurant without an ID so I won't name it but they were happy and we were a bit shocked! Ha! 

Anyway, after dinner we hung out in our hotel rooms for a bit before heading back to the dorm to pre-party before heading to a bar called Red Lion. Now, I had heard a lot about these bars and how disgusting the floors were so I made sure not to wear a good pair of shoes and to make sure they were black! But the Red Lion wasn't that bad. We met up with some of his pledge brothers and met some other girls and their moms from his dorm floor. Also, ran into an old neighbor who has a daughter who is a freshman at Illinois so that was fun to catch up. She was telling me all the fun things the sorority had planned the next day for Mom's Weekend - permanent jewelry, brunch, flower arranging...boy how different it is having a girl! I can hardly wait for Peyton (and Hailey) to go. 

Berry Matcha

Red Lion was fun and I actually thought it was a pretty cool bar as we were able to be inside and outside -  and it was a really nice night, weather wise. We left the bar sometime after 12am and then headed to the infamous taco trucks then back to the boys' dorm for a bit before retiring to the hotel. 

The next morning, we let the boys sleep in for a bit before retrieving them for brunch (I found a great breakfast place during Family Weekend that has wait times of two plus hours but I got on the waitlist early). They have fabulous coffees, lattes, matches, mimosas, etc. plus really good food. 

After our bellies were full, Austen and I went to the fraternity for mimosas (orange juice, champagne and a plastic cup - make your own). This was their big plan for Mom's Weekend. Austen and one of his fraternity brother's kept apologizing and saying when they are in the house they will make a better plan. It was fine though - the most important thing was that we got to spend time with the boys. I did get a tour of the fraternity though. Quite different than the Indiana fraternities (and sororities) - everything is bigger at Indiana. 

From there we met up with his roommate and mom again as well as his future roommate in the fraternity (next year) and his mom to head to the craft fair in the Union where we bought a few things. The boys weren't thrilled to go but I said, hey, this is called "Mom's Weekend" so we get to do mom-type stuff!  We milled around for a bit before walking through the engineering campus and buildings.

The boys were slowly losing steam and were in desperate need of a nap so we decided to leave them late afternoon and start our trek home. 

It was just enough time at Illinois. Good to see Austen and meet his friends as well as see how Illinois rolls out the red carpet for us moms! 

Roommates - Present & Future

Rolling out the Red Carpet for Moms

At the Red Lion 

Easter 2026

After our crazy flight home from Palm Springs where we were diverted and abandoned at Rockford Airport, we had a few days to recover before Easter. We did laundry, grocery shopped and recovered some of our sleep from pulling an all-nighter at the airport. 

Hailey's Easter Basket from Gma Lou

We thought Austen was going to be home for Easter weekend but Illinois made it to the Final Four in basketball and he wanted to watch the game with his friends at Illinois on Saturday night so he decided to stay in Champaign. He did make a quick trip home to return the car and have an Easter bunch with family before heading back that evening. 

On Easter Sunday, we awoke early, went to church and then back home to bake the French toast casserole for brunch. Then we traveled to my brother's house to catch up on spring breaks with the family. We enjoyed a lot of food, some games and chit chat. Austen arrived a little later straight from Champaign but was happy to eat a lot of food. We stayed for a few hours and then home to do our kids' own Easter baskets which I had prepared before we left for spring break. They all got some chocolate. Austen got a Door Dash gift card (because the dorm food is really bad) and the girls got t-shirts from a favorite store called Garage. Tom had to do a last minute easter egg hunt for them which I'm not sure they enjoyed as he had them running from top to bottom level of the house to find their Easter baskets. 

We relaxed late afternoon before eating ham sandwiches for dinner and Austen left to go back to school. Very low key and not a lot of time for a lot of Easter festivities with kids leaving to head back to college so brunch is the perfect solution for this holiday! 

Easter Games!

Spring Break 2026 - PS I Love You

Palm Springs 2026 - Sunset

PS I love you and I loved that sign in downtown Palm Springs and at the airport. It's also Peyton's initial so she had fun posing by it for pictures. 

We started off our trip on a Thursday night after all the kids got home from school on a Thursday (including Austen who drove the two hours home so he could catch our flight and do a part of spring break with us). We drove to the airport and left our car in daily parking (so Austen had a way home when he got back on Sunday) and it was a quick and painless journey through TSA. Our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes due to storms in the area but our pilot made it up in the air and we still landed on time. 

Peyton and Palm Springs I Love You!

Palm Springs airport is so easy. Beautiful and mostly outside. Rental cars on property so we picked up our Ford Bronco (kids were very excited about renting a Bronco) and were on our way to our Air BnB - well that was before all the kids begged to go to In and Out. I don't understand the fascination with that place (they got shakes and burgers, I did not) it's not that good. 

Anyway, arrived to our house before 12am and checked it out including the amazing backyard with a pickleball court, putting green, pool, fire pits and life-size chess board. Games on the inside included a pool table, air hockey, skee ball, foosball and mini bowling so we had a lot of things to keep us busy!

The first morning, Tom and Austen got up early and walked to the golf course that we backed up to and played 18 holes while the girls and I got groceries and enjoyed some pool time. We had a great dinner at TacQuila in downtown Palm Springs that night after all enjoying games of basketball (in the pool) and pickleball. 

On Saturday, we woke up and drove to the aerial tramway. The ride up was amazing. All of a sudden the tram car started rotating so you could see every part of the valley. The ride up was steep and Peyton (who is afraid of heights) was more than a little scared when the tram would sway and rock. We got up to the top and did a brief hike (it was cold up there - big difference from down below but we were prepared with sweatshirts.) After the tour it was back to the house for more pickle and pool time. Dinner was in LaQuinta that night at Rd Rnnr and ice cream at some nitro infusion place. 

Hailey was happy we were in the Blackhawks terminal 

Woke up Sunday and took Austen to the airport so he could head back to class. On the way back, we stopped in Palm Springs for a little shopping and then back home for some more pickleball and pool time. Dinner that night was also in LaQuinta at Lavender Bistro. 

On Monday, we headed to Joshua Tree where we did an easy 3 mile hike of Skull Rock. It was a bit cloudy that day which was good as the temperatures were still in the 90s. Once we got back we cooled off in the pool and played more pickleball and then got ready for dinner at Enzo's Italian Bistro (this was probably one of my favorite dinners). 

On Tuesday, we took the girls and did a self-guided bike ride of downtown Palm Springs. We biked for almost 3 hours past the mid century homes and around the downtown. I was definitely tired and we were all very hungry afterward. We went home and made smoothies though (which we found a great mix at the store that we could add bananas and strawberries to that made really good smoothies). The houses were pretty cool though! We ended the day with dinner in Palm Desert at Pacifica Seafood restaurant and discovered a boulevard of shopping at every store you could imagine. 

Backyard View

Wednesday was a total day of pool and relaxation but first the girls wanted to do a little more shopping. We went back to Palm Desert and Palm Springs for both. The girls bought jewelry and t-shirts/sweatshirts (and we got one for Austen) before we went home for more smoothies, pool time and pickleball. We planned dinner that night in La Quinta at the famous PGA West Golf Course (Ernie's Bar and Grill). The grounds were amazing so we watched the last of the golfers come in after sunset. 

Thursday we woke up planning to board our 11am flight but when we got to the airport our flight was delayed due to storms in Chicago. We waited 6 hours and were finally able to board. That was good news since they didn't cancel our flight (although in retrospect they probably should have). We flew for the 3.5 hours and circled DesMoines, Iowa, for an hour to get clearance to land in the storms. We could not and needed to be diverted. They diverted us to Rockford (which isn't much of an airport and United does not fly out of there). We sat on the runway for another four hours until they could get us unloaded and get our bags and then United just left us there with no way home. It was 3am. Rental car center didn't open til 8am. You could not even get a ride to a hotel because at that hour in that location on a Friday morning there were not enough Lyft or Ubers for the hundreds of people stranded at Rockford Airport. I just kept refreshing my Uber and Lyft apps until at 5:30am, we lucked out and got a Lyft ride home for $250. I was never so happy to fall into bed at 7am!

Hailey Loves to Order Mocktails

Anyway, we loved Palm Springs. Played a lot of pickleball every day as well as many other games throughout the house. Had some nice dinners. The weather was fantastic and there was so much to do that we definitely weren't bored. I'm glad the flight issues were at the end of our trip and not the beginning (United did end up paying for our ride home and offered us all $75 e-certificates - thanks United!) but overall it was a great spring break and we were all glad that Austen got to join us for part of it!

Amazing Sunsets from Our Backyard

PGA West

Riding in the Bronco

Bike Ride (so much easier now that Hailey relearned how to ride a bike)

Skull Rock at Joshua Tree

Mocktail at Lavender Bistro

Pretty Girls

Basketball in the Pool

Us!

Peyton Begins Her College Tours

It's starting again. We had a good year or so off before we once again embark on the college tour schedule. Somehow I think Peyton will be easier than Austen. She doesn't have as many "dream" schools on her list (so far) and is narrowing down what she thinks she wants to do and where she wants to go. Of course, her and Hailey have both benefitted by seeing this process with Austen (as well as visited some colleges already). 

Peyton has moved from wanting colleges by the beach to focusing more on the midwest (I really can't imagine her going far) although she still has Univ of Colorado - Boulder on her list (we visited when we went skiing in Breckenridge a few years ago). She likes the Big 10 - really wants Indiana but needed to be open to other schools too. Missouri, Iowa, Miami of Ohio are all schools she should consider depending on her major. No interest in Illinois. 

Anyway, we took the first of these tours a few weeks ago to Iowa. My niece is a Senior there this year so really wanted Ryan to give us the tour before she graduated. Iowa was one of my top choices when I was picking a college and since my BFF went there, it's also probably one of the schools I've been to the most that wasn't mine. So I'm partial to Iowa. I think it's a solid choice. Ryan gave a great tour including best spots for lunch. Peyton liked the sorority houses and the downtown. She really liked that it had a downtown that she could go shopping at or head to the bars with her roommates. What I liked was a lot of the newer things like the hotels and shopping (for the parents) that they brought to Iowa City. I can see myself enjoying some time here during a parents weekend visit. (I'm still struggling to find a good hotel in Champaign - I think there's one and it sells out super fast plus not a lot of great restaurants nearby.) 

So, Iowa made her list. It's definitely getting one of her applications. Special thanks to her tour guides!

Spanish Student of the Week & Student of the Quarter

Congrats to Peyton & Hailey who both earned honors at school over the last month or so.

Peyton earned Spanish Student of the Week and has been working hard in Spanish class. It's not easy to earn an A in Spanish class especially with the HCHS teachers. I've often heard from native Spanish speakers how difficult these classes are and if you are in Honors Spanish, then it's even more challenging for these non-native speaking students. Anyway, super proud of Peyton showcasing her willingness to speak Spanish in front of her peers in class. Beyond that her teacher thinks she's the greatest and is just very "joyful" when she comes to class everyday. (Her words not mine. I wish she could be joyful when she comes home from school everyday!) 

Hailey on the other hand earned Student of the Quarter nominated by the 6th Grade teachers. I'm not even sure we were notified. We used to read about all the Students of the Quarter in the newsletter when Austen and Peyton were in middle school. I found out by going through Hailey's cubby at home where she keeps her coats and backpack. There, crumpled beneath a book and a bag, was a printed certificate naming her as Student of the Quarter. No idea what she did or how she earned it aside from what it said on the certificate but super proud of her too. 

Honestly, yes, my kids can be pains in the butt at home but it's really nice to hear from both Peyton and Hailey's teachers (at their conferences) how much they really enjoy having them both in class and how hard they both work as well as how respectful they are in class to the teachers and their peers. Good grades are of course important but I'd take good human beings any day over good grades. 

Sports Seasons = Done

We finished up all our sports a few weeks ago. Peyton had her cheer banquet and Hailey's basketball team made it to playoffs where they had a weekend of games earning their spot in the finals. 

Hailey definitely grew as a basketball player this year. She became a more aggressive player - chasing down those loose balls and grabbing the ball when she could to force a jump ball play. She had a number of steals and in the end a few rebounds too. 

I saw her dribble the ball between her legs in a game and make a 3-point shot this year. She definitely improved from last year and has a desire to get better as she went to the park close to our house at least three times in a week to shoot some baskets. She'll continue to improve her skills by doing some ball handling training in the spring since she did not want to play softball again, and will have time to pick up something additional.

She'll also be continuing to skate and hopefully moving into the Intro to Hockey level (not sure where this will lead but she's enjoying learning so we'll keep at it). She just finished a cooking class that was every Monday after school that she enjoyed as well. And, she's finishing up her final religious education classes too after confirmation. 

Peyton continues to take some tumbling classes to prepare for her spring cheerleading tryouts for next year and has an interview to be part of a "link crew" for the school helping freshmen and new students acclimate to the high school. She will continue to lifeguard this summer too at the club she worked at last year. 

Austen, on the other hand, had to get a new job this summer since they are redoing the golf course where he caddied the previous summers. But, he found one at one of the clubs in the area doing golf services (cleaning carts, clubs, etc.). He's excited about being outside and around a golf course and having more hours this summer (with no competitive soccer) to make some money (which he realizes he needs to support his college lifestyle).

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone and that spring is almost here (despite the snow on the ground right now). Soon the kids will be moving on to sophomore year in college, junior year in high school and 7th grade! Trying to enjoy all the moments - even the ones where I get yelled at for not allowing a 16 year old to go to the city of Lollapallooza! 

2nd Place Champs (Hailey back row middle)

Peyton is Such a Princess!

Today, Peyton comes home from school and told me a bird pooped all over her car! I told her that happens to cars. Well, she said, that's soooo embarrassing. 

I told her to go clean it off if it was so bad. "Ew!" she said, "I'm not cleaning that! I already texted Dad to clean it off!" She then said that she's not driving that car (until said poop is cleaned off). 

OMG, what a princess! That's part of owning/driving a car (which she doesn't pay for!). I then told her she could take the bus tomorrow if she didn't want to drive the car/clean the car. 

We'll see what she does. She'll probably convince Tom to clean it. But, she said there's no way she'd be caught dead driving that car with the poop on it! People would post her picture on the "Barstool" - which is a social media site that her school uses to post funny things. 

I guess she'll be taking the bus tomorrow then because I certainly won't be cleaning it (unless she leaves it outside in the rain tonight which would be another good option!).