Going back to Indiana

I flew back to Indiana the last weekend of May to help my mother host a bridal shower for my soon-to-be Cousin Emily. I've added some pictures from my train ride on the South Shore. I have to say, coming back to Indiana that way is incredibly relaxing. I mean, you do have to get off the plane, get to the El and then make your way to the South Shore. It also takes an extra hour or two but it gives you time to de-stress and just hang out a bit. After living in the West for so long, it's easy to forget how very green everything is when you have more humidity and precipitation. Even the tree branch that fell off the neighbor's house was just lush.
Saturday morning, my aunt Christine and my mother got up at 5 (!) to start getting food for the party ready. They made crepes (tied with chives), cake, brownies, and many other dishes that required extensive preparation. Of course, the most popular dish were the stuffed biscuity-things that took all of 15 minutes to make. Isn't that always the way?
Around 1, everyone started to show up. It was mostly Emily's family and mine, with a few friends of my Aunt Sue (the MOG) and my mother's. We sat and chatted for quite a time. It was very fun. Then, we pulled out the games. I was in charge of getting them set up.
First, was the wedding-themed word jumble. My family was very put out by this game while Emily's excelled. I was told (by relatives) that I should never do that again. They weren't very good at it and apparently didn't enjoy the experience. Then, was the toilet paper wedding dress. I hadn't wanted to play this game. I don't think it's very fun. But I got to opt out as the coordinator and the photographer. Everyone who played had a lot of fun though. And the dresses were quite...inventive.
It was getting warm in the afternoon so we moved out to the porch to open gifts. Emily received many wonderful things and was super gracious about it all. As we were siting out there, a student driver came by. This is not unusual. My parents live on a well-traveled road but it is not so busy that students cannot practice their parallel parking skills. There are almost always cars on the street to help with this opportunity. That day, the instructor chose the car in front of my parent's house. After the student was done, the instructor opened the door to check proximity to the curb. We burst into applause. He blushed and commented that that had never happened to him before. We all laughed and they moved on.
That evening, my parents, my aunts Chris and Sue, Sue's husband Walt, and the bride and groom went to Wheeler and had pizza and fun. In so many ways, it is so much easier to enjoy your family when you are all grown. I've included a picture of my mom (on the right) with her two sisters. They are all so much fun. I'm glad that I get to have the same kind of relationship with my brother now.
I also got to check in with my dear friend Leslee who is getting married at the end of this month. She modeled her dress, we went shopping and then I got to see the place where Leslee is getting married. It is a park in Hebron... or Merrillville... or Chesterton. I'm not sure. This gets into geography. And they all overlap with each other in that area. It goes back and forth a couple of times between them all and it's very confusing. Especially for the map-reading impaired such as myself.
Overall a wonderful trip.