Each spring, at the end of the school year, my in-law's take one grandchild with them as they journey from their home in southern Illinois down to their home in Florida. Now if the in-law's traveled down here directly this wouldn't be much fun for the kids, but they don't ... one year they went to Kansas, another year they explored Springfield, IL and Asheville, NC, and one year they made it out to New Mexico (where C. saw snow for the first time!) and Texas.

This year it's M.'s turn. She is excited, to say the least!

She and Jason flew out this afternoon to drop her off at their house.

She'll hang with them at their home in the woods, which is exciting in itself, and then, from the sound of it, they'll head up to Chicago for a few days before migrating south. There was some mention about the American Girl store ... pretty much M. heaven.

Packing ... M. and her sister did all the packing. When I checked her bag today I found 6 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 3 cardigans/jackets, and an unimaginable amount of tops ... but it was ALL mix and match, according the two of them. Oh, and 5 pairs of shoes ... not including the ones on her feet. Is she a girl or what?

This is the first time she's been away from us. I have no worries that she'll be just fine. She's a quiet girl, but very determined and confident. She was so grown up walking to the terminal. It's the rest of the kids I need to be more concerned about. C. has already said she misses M., actually she said it before M.'s plane even took off!

Have fun M.!