back in june, jamie and i flew to chicago and met mom, dad, mike, priscilla, and mimi at the farm!  it’s the farm where mimi grew up and where mike and i grew up going in the summer with our cousins… it’s not a working farm anymore, but still in the tiniest little town near rockford, illinois.  and ohhhh, this place is filled with such wonderful memories for mike and me [a couple of city kids], so we were super excited to get to share it with our “significant others.”  [especially all our favorite spots to go eat… haha] ;)

{this was a picture i made for mimi and papa growing up with all the things that we used to do at the farm!  i used it to teach jamie allllll about the farm before we got there.} ;)

{we got in late at night on friday, so it was fun waking up to this.}

{from my bedroom window… i love these old barns.}

{it’s a tradition while at the farm to go have swedish pancakes at the stockholm inn.  jamie and priscilla got to try them for the first time, and they sure were delish.}

{apparently rockford is home of the sock monkey??  haha}

{in front of my favorite little farmhouse, the house that holds lots of memories.}

{met on farmersonly.com. ;)  jk, but doesn’t this picture look like a magazine photo or advertisement?  so freaking cute!}

{on the way to the woods}

{we drove down to the woods with the kids in the back of the truck like we always did growing up [don’t freak out, it’s a super slow drive and not on a real road or anything], found our old fire pit, went down to the river, opted out of having a fire at the woods because there was a chance of rain, got lost on the way back, and later ended up having a fire at the burn pile near the house.}

{couples pictures by the rock river}

{and one of the four of us together!}

{this little dog.}

{this spray paint advertisement on the silo was there when my uncle john [mimi’s cousin] bought this farm many years ago and he has had it repainted a few times.  it will always be an icon of their beautiful farm.}

{uncle john and aunt sandy have the coolest old general store set up in their basement!}

{it’s so fun to explore and makes me feel like i’ve gone back in time!}

{all those old tins! so cute!}

 

{the round barn!  this barn was built in 1917 by my great-great grandpa.}

  {on the inside… 100 years old and beautiful as ever.}

{that’s a lot of farm equipment!}

{trying out all the machines.} ;)

{i love these people!  uncle john, aunt sandy, and mimi.  uncle john and aunt sandy are so kind to let us explore their amazing home and barns!}

{sam’s drive-in… best root beer float in all of byron, illinois!  might be the only root beer float in byron, but that’s beside the point.} ;)

{the family, fireside}

{this.}

{campfire + s’mores!  a farm tradition!}

{it kiiiiiiiinda looks like shiner is getting burned in the flames and poked with sticks, but i can promise you, it’s just the angle and he is not in the fire nor getting poked!!}

{[NOT ANOTHER] DISCLAIMER:  shiner found this EMPTY beer bottle and started licking it and so i took a picture.  i can assure you that once again, there is no animal abuse going on in this picture and the dog is not drinking beer.  kind of a funny picture though!}

{in between storms}

{dusk.}

{the farmhouse.}

{sunset over the fields.}

{another good restaurant that we like to go to is the swedish pancake house in byron, only we go there for potato pancakes.  they’re so good!  i took a picture of this menu because it has my two grandpas listed – big bill and papa joe!  that’s what we used to call them.} :)

{pretty sure i could have eaten like 5 of these.}

{oh, just sitting on the old feed trough!}

{yes it’s fast food and yes it’s terribly unhealthy, but i’m not too proud to post a culver’s butterburger and some fried cheese curds that i shared with jamie, plus my own little raspberry sundae and his flavor-of-the-day sundae, because 1.) it reminds me of being a kid and coming to the farm, 2.) my company makes culver’s burgers, and 3.) it was downright delicious!}

{we’re butterburger babies!!!!}

{we miss him.}

{this barn was built in 1891… it was part of another farm that mimi lived at growing up.}

{mimi had it re-sided so it was a beautiful shiny red.}

{…you can still tell it’s old on the inside though.  and this sign is funny to me for some reason!}

{we found a “woof” on the wall.} :D

{family.}

{thank you so much to mimi for hosting us this summer!}

{mom, dad, and their kids} :)

{we love the farm}

{these people.  they’re pretty cool.}

{KID PIC!}

{these photos in the cornfields were obviously more for me than for him. ;)  this boy grew up in them!}

i’m only sad that i didn’t get a picture of us all at what is quite possibly our very favorite out of all the eating experiences at the farm… lino’s pizza!  we met uncle john and aunt sandy and their family there the last evening and had a great time.  what a perfect way to end the trip.

{i sure do love my farm boy!  i’m so glad this handsome man of mine could join me and see a little piece of my childhood.  and thank you for all your help jamie!}

one more BIG GIANT THANK YOU to my parents and mimi for making this trip possible!  we had a wonderful time.  i love all of you!  xo