We chose this weekend to celebrate Grandma's 100th birthday. We planned on renting a house in CR and having an open house for Grandma. Unfortunately, she didn't make it to her party.
However, the girls and I still had our plane tickets and had scheduled two college visits around that trip. We flew into Chicago on Thursday, rented a car and drove to Bourbonnais, IL where we spent the night. On Friday, we toured Olivet Nazarene University, which I was excited to show them. I loved being back on campus. It had been 14 years since I had been there for my 10 year reunion and so much had changed.
There is an awesome new recreation center with an indoor track, olympic sized pool and a huge climbing wall. It was very impressive. Kianna was able to meet with a Criminal Justice professor which she loved. She learned about the different paths to get to her dream job of being a crime scene investigator. It was really good for both of us to hear.
Kianna decided immediately that Olivet was not for her as it was too cold. Kaylee decided it wasn't for her due to sticker shock. Unfortunately, Olivet is 3x the cost it was when I went there. She decided that Southeastern University is similar enough to Olivet and much cheaper since she can still get her Bright Futures Scholarship. They both enjoyed seeing it and told me several times how old I am since I graduated from there 24 years ago. Yikes!
After touring Olivet, we drove to Cedar Rapids where we spent the rest of our time. Debi had flown in from Colorado, so we were able to spend several days with her. We were roommates and I especially enjoyed our late night talks. During the day we played lots of cards. My mom came over a couple times to play too. We spent Friday and Saturday night with my dad and Sue before transitioning over to Becki's house, Sunday and Monday nights. We enjoyed some good visits and meals with Sam, Bruxen and Becki. Unfortunately, Mike and Bryker were out of town for a soccer tournament, so we didn't get to see them.
On Monday, the girls and I toured The University of Iowa. I had never toured the east side of campus, so found that very interesting. I think Kaylee really liked Iowa's campus but again was discouraged by the out of state tuition. I think these tours made us all appreciate the value of staying in state, as out of state schools are crazy expensive. Oh and I was able to thoroughly embarrass the girls, which is always fun. I managed to sprain my ankle while on the campus walking tour. The girls said I screamed and was so embarrassing as I fell and landed on my back. Thankfully I was fine, but did come away with a sore neck and ankle. Regardless it was fun touring campus and spending time with our family. Now back to some warm weather!
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