Festival Weekend

What a fun weekend we had! The end of summer is always so much fun because of the number of festivals that take place this time of year. We attended two festivals this weekend: the Day of the Dozer and the Lincoln Hot Air Balloon Festival. The Day of the Dozer is a yearly festival where construction companies around town bring their machines to the fairgrounds so that kids can watch them work and even ride on them with the construction workers. Michael's checking it all out here in his hard hat.

 He loved getting to sit in his own Mighty Machine!

 Saturday night, we went with the Morrisons to Lincoln. While the sun was still up, we enjoyed all the professional kiters and their amazing kites.

 Isaac was so excited that he broke out into a spontaneous disco dance move.

 Michael was so kind to help Isaac up after HE pushed him over!

 When the wind died down, we got to see the balloons filled, which amazed me!

 Then Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. They wanted to spend a bit of time with Michael to get to know him better, so they watched him twice for us that day. Michael loved looking at train books with Grandpa. I never knew my grandpa used to be a head brakeman for the railroad in Ohio when he was seventeen!

What a great weekend. We have lots more fun plans on their way, so we're using the week days as a bit of a break this month.

Destin Vacation

We were in Destin, Florida with the Ponds for the last week, and we had such a great time. I don't even know where to start to describe the vacation. It was relaxing; Michael slept; we enjoyed our family's company; the weather was perfect; I could keep going. I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. I tried to pick a few good ones, but I took 150 pictures, so it wasn't easy!

This was Michael's first beach vacation since he was 4 months old, and he loved it. He was a bit apprehensive about the waves, but the sand was soooooo fun.

 His favorite toys for the week were a big yellow dump truck and a yellow bulldozer. Those things even went in the bath with him!

 Both Cousin Shiloh and Michael loved spending time with Papa and Mimi. Michael's still talking about Papa's truck.

 The whole gang. It was an exciting house.

 Papa was willing to play with Michael on the beach for hours, jumping waves, digging in the sand, and flying kites. I actually got a little beach reading in!

  We also found some fun shopping areas that the kids enjoyed. This fountain was a big draw two different nights. But it didn't compare to the trampoline!

 We also found the cutest train that Michael rode four times over the week. He LOVED it!

 It was a beautiful, fun week at the beach.

 Michael really enjoyed pushing Shiloh around in her stroller. Once, when Phillip was carrying her, he demanded that she get in her stroller so that he could push her around. Shiloh wasn't sure what she thought about it all.

Thanks to the Ponds for such a great trip!

Goings On

I got my hands on some of JD's pictures from his Colorado trip. They definitely had a great time.

 See the goat out on the ledge? My husband, the photographer.

 Now that he's back, we've gotten to have some family fun. We stopped by the McLean County fair, and Michael was JUST tall enough to ride his first carnival ride! Let's just say, it took a while to get him off the rides afterwards.

 There's our boy in the green truck!

 He also got to see some monkeys racing on dogs: a sight he'll never forget.