More From Six Flags Great America

Photos Courtesy of Kyle with Six Flags Great America - Thank you!

With Rosie's Family - mom loved the crown as much as Rosie did!


With little Kaili who wants to be a princess when she grows up. She was there with her family - she is one of 4year old triplets, and one of her brothers has leukemia.

Crowning a future Mrs. Illinois...she could try for "Miss" right now (Probably one of the best things is getting to see others try on the crown and how they light up ;) !).

3rd Annual "A Walk in the Park"

Saturday morning was spent with Six Flags Great America for the 3rd Annual "A Walk in the Park" to Cure Kids Cancer event. This event raises funds for pediatric cancers, benefiting Children's Memorial Hospital right here in Illinois. Walkers were treated to VIP time with characters from the park, music, goodie-bags and breakfast along with free day passes for reaching support goals!

This was my second walk with Great America, and it was great to get some returnees as well as meet some new ones! One I would like to highlight is Miss Rosie, a 5year old I got to meet today (as well as her very sweet family), and actually helped them pass out fliers for Rosie's cause, raising money in the fight against brain tumors. Rosie has neurofibromitosis, an inoperable brain tumor, and a lot of other things that have caused her to be on chemotherapy since age 3! But she is a spitfire, and determined not only to not let cancer beat her but help others in the process. She worked the walking crowd passing out her fliers as well to raise even more money at this event. Such a trooper!

You can help Rosie by going to:

www.firstgiving.com/2010RidingForRosie and can read more about Rosie at:

http://www.researchforrosie.com/

To learn more and support Children's Memorial, go to:

http://www.childrensmemorial.org/

And to further the cause through Six Flags Great America, visit:

www.sixflags.com/greatAmerica/index.aspx

Special thanks to Meredith Kelleher and Jennifer Dugan for contacting and arranging this event for me, to Kyle for taking photos throughout the event, to Jim and Terri - great to see you again, along with many others of the Great America Family. Thank you to Mr. Salemi of Six Flags for hosting "A Walk in the Park" again, and, of course, thank you to the many walkers and supporters of this event. Over 34,000 was raised just at this morning's event!

Workin' It!

This is from Stephanie from our Kilwin's "Work Efforts"...go biceps, go biceps!!!

And a photo of Sweet Donnie, Steph's heart and reason for all she does! What a darling!

Kilwin's Gives to NORD

Sunday was special for many reasons...Father's day, of course! Celebrating my hubby and dads! Kilwin's in Orland Park was celebrating "Dad" as well with complimentary ice cream cones for fathers when another was purchased for NORD, the National Organization for Rare Diseases. And topping it all off, sprinkles and all, was a delightful afternoon spent with newly crowned Mrs. Michigan America, Stephanie Hunt!

We visited with patrons and scooped ice cream - and boy there are some strict rules on how to scoop and serve!!! Our husband's and kids enjoyed an afternoon of sweet treats and we got to enjoy each other's company. I also got to meet several of Stephanie's sorority sisters who are faithful fans of her and her accomplishments. :)

Kilwin's owner, Jackie Jackson is a friend and former college roommate of Stephanie's, and graciously gave toward a good cause that is near and dear to Steph's heart...her son, Donnie, suffers from Rubenstein-Taybi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Seeing Stephanie with her son and hearing about some of their life experiences is witnessing the embodiment of love, courage and endurance! You can never compare one woman to another because we are all unique with great things to offer, and I wouldn't take away from any mother's work in this world. Because what she deals with is very tangible and very visible to so many, she has an amazing strength that let's others know "This is motherhood. It's not easy, but it can and will be done...WELL." I am truly grateful for the time I had with her this afternoon, and am honored that they would ask me to be a part of this terrific event.

For more information about NORD and how you can help, visit:

http://www.rarediseases.org/

To get some of the best ice cream, fudge, candy and service, visit:

Kilwin's Chocolate Ice Cream

15222 South La Grange Road

Orland Park, IL 60462-3960

708-460-3960

http://www.orlandparksweettreats.com/

My thanks to Jackie for holding this event, to Jackie and Stephanie for inviting me to be a part of it, to the many supporters who gave to raise money and awareness, and most important, to my sweet husband for giving part of his special day up for me. I love you, Sweetheart!

Golf For the Cure

Friday evening was spent participating in the Susan G Komen Golf for a Cure and Promise Awards Dinner in Highland Park. Golfers played charity games during the day, then they along with volunteers and patrons were treated to refreshments, hors D'oeuvres, and dinner, along with entertainment and silent and live auctions all benefiting breast cancer.

My travel companion for the evening was my friend (and cancer survivor herself) Renee', and we also had the privilege of getting to sit with Pat Rowland, board president of the Susan G Komen Chicagoland affiliate. It was also a great time spent visiting Kathi again, and getting to see Cara one more time - beautifully pregnant, no less! - before she relocates to the Boston Area. These ladies work so diligently for SGK!

My thanks to Renee' for being with me that night (the joke of the evening was that we were dressed in the event's official colors - pink and green!), as well as to the many supporters of this event. Every little bit helps in finding cures and funding screenings for early detection, ultimately saving more lives!

IA, MN, WI Photos

Groups Shots

IA, MN, WI Photos

Crownings

IA, MN, WI Photos

Farewells

More from IA, MN, WI

Jessi singing

With Holly and with Heather at intermission

Gowns!

IA, MN, and WI Photos

Loni getting Tim ready...she got a lot of people ready that night!

Check out part of the Theater!

Loni and I before the show

Production Number

Costumes

Mrs. IA, MN, and WI America Pageant

This weekend brought a close to the reign of three amazing ladies and ushered in a new group of bright, beautiful prospectives for Mrs. America in downtown St. Paul, MN at the elegant Fitzgerald Theater. I enjoyed a weekend of catching up and competition watching with dear sister queens, Loni, Heather, Coral, and a surprise of Julie, Mrs. NC, who was one of the judges for the pageant, as well as meeting and re-acquainting with many, many other pageant veterans.

There was a wonderful reunion with another Danville-ite, Jessica Normile, who was also an IL MAO local vet "back in the day" with me, and part of the pageant entertainment for the evening, so Loni, she and I were kind of in our own little world at times, reminiscing about home...I wish we all didn't live so far away from each other. I laughed so hard all weekend long!

I was picked up from the airport by Loni's husband, Tim, and we arrived at the hotel to meet up with Loni, Coral, Holly Ernst (a former Mrs. MN and one of my pageant coaches), and many other formers, staff, and of course Pageant Directors, Mr. and Mrs. Schway. Loni and Tim then set us up for an evening at WA Frost's, which on the inside looks like Cynthia's down in Paducah - so I had a moment thinking about trips down there with Julie! - and the outside looks like you're in another country - SO beautiful! Heather (MN) and her husband joined us along with Jessi and her husband Doug, as well as Laura Diers (IA '08), who had me in stitches - loved meeting her!

Saturday was laid back with a visit to the Mall of America - more memories preparing for this journey of Mrs. IL - and then off to get ready for the pageant itself. What a production!!! The MN Viking Cheerleaders, live band, music stylings by Jessi, an unbelievable dance performance by the "Larkin Dad's" of the Larkin Dance Studio (they performed their own rendition of "Thriller", so immediately I was tickled pink, but these guys could move! One kept doing center split-leaps!!!), and a very entertaining shtick between Carl and Faith Schway every so often were just some of the highlights. By the end, new ladies were crowned and we were off to celebrate at a lovely buffet.

Sunday was a good morning of last minute good-byes at breakfast, and Tim and Loni taking me back to the airport. This has been one of the best weekends of my reign as Mrs. Illinois and I will never forget it.

Special thanks to Loni - there are not enough words to express my gratitude for the friendship regained through this experience with you - thank you for taking such good care of me this weekend. To you and Tim both, for driving, dinner, the beautiful gifts, everything, thank you! To Jessi and Doug - so good to get reacquainted again - thank you for driving, lending your beautiful voice, and your generosity to Loni and me. To all of my sister queens; it was so good to see you and I am so very, very proud of you. Thank you for sharing your weekend with me (Heather, thank you for the bag - you are SO thoughtful!). Holly, it was so good to see you again. Thank you for all your kindness and generosity to me (yes, I'm using that word a lot in this installment because that was HUGE from so many people this weekend!) To the Schways and staff of IA, MN, WI and GA; thank you for your generosity as well. Carl and Faith, thank you for including me in so much, providing my ticket, and offering to take me to the airport, and thank you, Robin, for the sweet bag of gifts. Thank you all for taking me in as one of your own this weekend - it means so very much and it was terrifc getting to see your pageant!

I'll have a few posts for pictures - Enjoy!

First night in and straight from the airport to meet up with Loni and everyone,some shots of the hotel, and part of our group at WA Frost - we're missing Jessi, and Heather and their hubbies!