Annie's Wedding

This weekend we made our way south to the greater St. Louis area to celebrate the marriage of Aunt Annie and (now) Uncle Tyler.  Friday night, Mike took the older two kids to the rehearsal dinner.  Becca was happy to sit in the bride's lap.

 Saturday morning we were able to meet with the Sullivan cousins and go to a bird sanctuary.  First, Pat and Becca being silly.

Becca and George.

Lia and George.

George thought Lucas was funny as an eagle.

Pat and Gabe checking their wing span.

Mike too.

Here is one of the bald eagles that have been rescued.

Uncle Dan getting some girl time with Becca as Pat attacks Gabe.

Aunt Teresa won't miss out on her girl time either.  And yes, she is wearing one of our kids jackets.

After the birds, we took a ride through the other part of Lone Elk Park to see some elk.  There is one on top of the hill.

This fawn was not afraid of the cars at all.

We drove through the bison area without any luck but we did see this pretty view.

All dressed up and ready to go to the wedding.  Both girls were flower girls and the boy were ring bearers.

Looking good Patrick!

The blushing bride.  This picture does not do justice to how beautiful Annie looked.

Another handsome lad!

We were in the front row which made for terrible pictures, but we could everything in person.

Aunt Debbie wanted to be a flower girl too.

The wedding took place late in the afternoon so Lia was a bit grumpy at dinner.

George decided to hold his water glass like a brandy glass.  This may be my favorite picture from the weekend.

Lia stopped being grumpy just long enough to run around with Benjamin.

George loves his dad!

The ties are off, the vest is turned inside out, it's time to party!

Here are the kids dancing.  

You may have missed George on the dance floor.  He was really excited about dancing until he had to wait.  After three songs, he informed me he was too tired to dance and sat in my lap.  15 minutes later, Mike told me he was asleep and we took the younger two to bed.  It was a late night for everyone but they slept in on Sunday morning.  7AM for these nut-jobs is sleeping in. Thank you Annie and Tyler for including us in your wonderful day.  May the Lord continue to bless you and your new life together.

Building Things and Getting Hurt.

It wouldn't be normal if we went a whole month without someone hurting themselves.  George ran into another kid at school a couple of weeks ago and smashed his glasses into his cheek.

Then a couple of days later, Lia fell on the sidewalk and cut her lip.  The cut didn't show up until the next day.

The boys had some fun and build some cool stuff.

This day was just too much for her.

Generally silliness.

This week, I got a call from school telling me George fell and split his lip.  It wasn't that bad, but he freaked out.  As you can see, he got over it.  You can't even really see it now.

Springfield Trip

I was lucky enough to chaperon Patrick's 4th grade class trip to historic Springfield, IL.  We had a day with Lincoln.  Here we are on the bus.

First stop, Lincoln's Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

We both rubbed Lincoln's nose for good luck.

Here is a model of what would become the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. 

 Lincoln's Tomb, or at least the part we can see above ground.

Mary and three of the boys are also entombed with the President.  

There were eight other statues of Lincoln in the tomb, this one was my favorite.  He looks like he's praying.

Next stop, the Lincoln home.  They have preserved a couple of blocks around their home so you can get the feel of what life was like for the family.  Patrick had me take pictures of everything, but I'll just share a few.

The parlor.  That is George and Martha Washington hanging over the mantel.

 Dining room.

Sitting room. 

Abe's bedroom.  

Patrick loved the fireplaces and stoves.  

Mary Todd's bedroom.

This was the boys bedroom.

And the hired girl's room.  I think my first bedroom to myself was about the same size.

And the kitchen.  Again, Patrick loved the stove.

 The 4th grade class, behaving.

And being silly.

Our final stop was the Lincoln Museum.  

I don't know what Patrick is doing.

Patrick hanging with the Lincoln family outside the White House.

And me.

It was a long day but well worth it.  Not only did I get to be a history geek, I got to spend the day with just Patrick, something we just don't get to do enough.