Time to roll up my sleeves again

It has been a wonderful 3 weeks visiting with my parents.  The time flew by!  It started out with them helping me out at the North Shore art fair in Chicago. 

When we arrived back home in Springfield we made a short trip over to New Salem to take a look at where Abraham Lincoln grew up.

Then we explored local shops and treated ourselves to many McDonald's Frappe Mocha's (and I don't even like coffee)!  Later on in our trip we went to Hannibal, MO to see where Sam Clemens (aka Mark Twain) grew up.  Here is my Husband and my Dad on the paddlewheeler that takes folks out for a 1 hour tour of the Mississippi:

Here is my Mom:

The captain told us some fantastic stories and had a great sense of humor.  We also had fun exploring the Cameron caves which are a short drive from downtown Hannibal.

We enjoyed snapping pictures at the local botanical gardens (see picture at the top of the post) and I captured many great floral reference shots.

However, all good things must come to an end and my parents had to head back to Canada. So now it's time to get back to work and get ready for my next show which will be in Downer's Grove, IL on Sept. 11 & 12th.