Grace Notes: Beginning of Vacation

Hi ya'll!
We've been on vacation, and got back on Tuesday. So that's kinda why I disappeared for a while. :)
We left on thursday (4th) for Peoria, IL. we stayed in Peoria until Sunday, than drove to St. Louis. As aforesaid, we came home on Tuesday the 9th. The 10th was my 16th birthday, the 11th we were gone all day to dr appointments and shopping. Because, the 12th was my birthday party.
For the next few posts I'm going to try and document our vacation day by day.

So, first things first! Thursday (4th) we were finishing packing and loading the van. I put my violin away for five days. (!!!) I think that is the longest I have gone (in like the past year) without playing my violin!

(Snacks for the trip. It's a family tradition to make "snack mix." You basically combine a whole bunch of crackers and cookies and eat them with dixie cups throughout the trip. for your information, we only ate about half of this stuff.)

Pulled out of the driveway around 3 in the afternoon. Headed to G.T. South's restaurant. This place has the best baked beans and pulled pork sandwiches!
We stopped for the night somewhere about two hours south of Indianapolis. Holiday Inn Express... which everyone was excited about...free cinnamon rolls!

Cool lamp in hotel room.

Friday we drove the rest of the way to Peoria. Walked by the river, than my dad had a long phone call for work. So the rest of us went to Jimmy John's for lunch.. Goodwill.. and I don't remember where else! Our hotel had a nice swimming pool so we used that quite a bit!