Cassie and Trevor in Illinois!!

Yayyy!! Our second set of visitors!!  We are so thankful that Cassie and Trevor opted to drive through the night after working long shifts just to come visit us for a few days!!  We were so excited for them to visit!!!!!!  FAMILY!!!

After finally getting to bed at 4AM after a long day of work and a long night of driving, Andee and Trevor decided to wake up before 6AM to go fishing before Andee's shift at the hospital!  What crazies!!  Much to my enjoyment and surprise, I was awoken with a text from Andee with a great picture of Trevor holding another Monster Bass!!  Worth it!!   

After the fishing expedition, a good sleep-in for the guests, and Andee arriving back from work, we made another trip to Bass City in the afternoon!  The unusually high temperature for an early November afternoon should have made for some good fishing, but the wind was so intense that both Andee's favorite lure and his fishing rod were destroyed in the process.  There was some climbing of trees and intense efforts to retrieve the lure, but alas, to no avail.  So what were we to do?  Take a trip to Bass Pro Shop of course!! 

Upon arriving at Bass Pro Shop, the boys made a beeline to the fishing section, but Cassie and I noticed some Christmas shenanigans going on in the store.  Turns out, they had a full North Pole set-up complete with a carousel, games, crafts, and even Santa!!  We were so excited and had been left alone, and so we obviously participated in making the cutest little owl craft, playing some games, and even sitting on Santa's knee!!  SO FUN!!  CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

After our North Pole Adventure, we had an amazing dinner at the Bass Pro Shop Restaurant, complete with a massive salt water aquarium filled with so many beautiful kinds of tropical fish!  It made me miss snorkeling in St. Kitts!!  We were feeling adventurous and started off the meal with an appetizer of alligator bites, which were actually amazing and really tasty!  Cassie ordered a yummy burger, Trevor had a Cajun chicken burger, I had halibut and shrimp with a lobster sauce, and Andee ordered the special, fried Walleye!  He was so excited to try something that is very rarely on any menu we have ever seen!  All of our meals were so delicious and amazing, and we even had leftovers to spare!  A wonderful first day with our guests!!

The next day the temperature completely dropped off with temperatures below freezing, but we still managed to get a little fishing in!   Although it was much colder, it was a lot less windy as well, making it a lot easier to fish!

We then made a trip to one of the malls in the area to check out some American stores, find some deals, and enjoy all of the Christmas decorations and displays.  And guess what??  Santa was there too!  I think he was following us around!!

After our mall adventure, we made our way to Lou Malnati's, the infamous deep dish pizza restaurant we discovered when my Parents came to visit!  It was amazing as always, and even Cassie enjoyed it!  She even ate a whole fried zucchini piece!   It's a holiday miracle! 

Another excellent day was completed by a late night fishing trip by Andee and Trevor, in which they wore pretty much all the clothes they owned!  Andee literally had on 3 sweaters, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of sweatpants, jeans, 2 hats, a scarf, and 2 pairs of socks!  Hardcore!!

The next day we had a leisurely afternoon with a little fishing, and feeding the hundreds of ducks and geese that roam our property!  Some of them were even brave enough to eat out of our hands!  Very cute!

We also made another trip to Bass Pro Shop where I finally convinced Andee to pose for a photo with Santa!  It ended up being one of the best photos of us ever, complete with a big smile from both Andee and the reindeer in the background!  I love Christmas!  We also ordered some more alligator bites and fries as a appetizer!  Delish!

We ended the day with some tacos at our place, and Cassie and Trevor prepared to drive through the night to arrive home for work the next day!  What troopers!

We had such a wonderful time with our wonderful guests, and we were so glad to have Cassie and Trevor see what Illinois is like, our apartment, and our American Adventure!  We will be arriving home in about a month for the Holidays, and we are super excited to see everyone!!  YYYAAAAAYYYY!!!  See you soon!!!!