The Eternal Optimist

I visited Herrin over Memorial Day weekend for Herrinfesta Italiana and my 10-year high school reunion. I had a very busy weekend. I spent lots of time at the bocce courts, but that is also a good way to catch up with everyone in Herrin. I saw many, many old friends and Herrinites. Of course, it’s also a little weird because there are people I semi-recognize but no longer really remember since I’ve been gone for 10 years.

“So soft!” Nolen said, even though Snoopy is made of laminated wood.

I saw even more friends at my reunion, after which we went to Chevie’s bar for the last night before it closed. It was a good weekend!

I also saw Nolen, of course. He’ll be 3 in July. He was happy to let me take his photo. (He played marbles while I shot photos. And if I waited too long between photos, he would tell me to take one, while he said “Cheese! Smile!” (However, he usually didn’t smile as he recited that.)

He also played with an old, wooden dog toy that I had when I was little. I believe it was originally Kevin’s when he was little. I’m surprised it still exists (and moves!), but Nolen enjoyed taking “Snoopy dog” for a walk.

“C’mon, Snoopy dog.”

Since I was in Herrin for my dad’s party, I obviously took more photos of Nolen. In fact, I was in Herrin an entire day “hiding” at Kevin and Jennifer’s place before I surprised my dad, so I had ample time for some Nolen shots.

Jennifer left to run a couple errands and grab lunch for us, and Nolen was distraught for a while. Poor guy.

But eventually he calmed down and we played with pumpkins and balls.

Nolen also read his opposites book to me. He has a lot of it memorized and knows which page is which, so he reads the last half all on his own. “Up, down. Awake, asleep.”

For Halloween, Nolen dressed as a knight. We convinced him to wear at least part of his costume for the Trail of Treats downtown. The treats he liked the best? A strand of beads and a juice box.

Kevin learned a lot of parenting skills (such as tickling) from our Uncle Stephen. He also practiced quite a bit with me when he tortured me as a child.

Nolen was thrilled when my dad pulled up a chair at the table for Elmo and showed Nolen how to “feed” Elmo. My mom was less thrilled about the feeding part.

Some of my best shots of my nephew during my recent trip to Illinois were taken at the park. We started at the Totland area, but after going down the slide there, Nolen spied the bigger slides across the road. So we had to try those. Then he saw another playground set across the next road, so we had to go there. And yet another in the distance. So we tried those slides, too.

Nolen is quite the personal cheerleader. After going down the slides (or doing various other things) he claps and cheers “yay!”

He also loved running back and forth across the bridge, which we did about 20 times. Then Mom returned from moving the car, and she had to go back and forth another 10 times with him.