Canoeing and Fishing Trip

My Dad has a friend who lives on a pond/lake. So we took the canoes and a couple of little kiddie fishing poles and headed out.
Sadie kept calling her life vest a backback, which I thought was kinda cute.
Talmage was so patient in waiting to catch a fish. He tried and tried and tried again.
And it finally paid off, like 3 minutes before we left. :)
Avri, on the other hand, threw her line out and almost immediately caught a fish. She was happy until it started wiggling around and then she screamed and tried to run away from it.
I was positive that Avri would drop the paddle into the water, but she never did! She was quite the little canoe-er.
They even had paddle boats, so Kendall and I took Sadie out in one. She seemed so nervous the whole time but insisted that she loved it and it was "really fun."
Kendall and I took advantage of the fact that the adults outnumbered the kids and we went on our own little romantic trip around the pond.
Allison always has a little friend right at her side. The kids take turns, but I don't think she was ever alone.
Miss Sadie just loves her sunglasses. Funny person.

Ammon and Allison (and Hanging with Family)

My little bro just got engaged to the cutest girl ever. Before he made things official, he brought Allison out to Illinois for a week to visit and make sure that she wasn't too scared of the family. :) They put her through baptism by fire since she stayed at our house. :) Here is the cute couple.We went to the Museum here in Peoria and got to see the Lego exhibit. It was very cool. Kendall wasn't able to come with us, so we are going to have to take him back to see it!
She fits right in with the family. haha.
Seriously, though everyone just loves her. Talmage has the BIGGEST crush on her and both of the girls just adore her. She is an elementary teacher just like I was, so we have lots in common.
We got together for a barbecue and outdoor games. I don't think we converted her to the humidity of Illinois, but hey, I'm not converted either!
We also went to the Botanical Garden all together. It's so nice to have people in the family who love taking pictures. Then I get to sit and enjoy while someone else takes great pictures! haha. Seriously though, I'm really jealous of my brother's really nice camera, and now my dad has one too. We might just have to break down one of these days before our kids are all grown up.
Sadie's true colors shining through.
Great little swing, but totally mosquito infested! :P
My parents took Ammon and Allison to Nauvoo one day. We didn't go with them, but they got some great pictures and really enjoyed themselves.
Isn't she adorable?!?
Welcome to the family Allison! And nice work picking a darling girl Ammon! Congrats to you both!

Museum of Science and Industry

Kendall and I decided to celebrate our anniversary a week early so that we would be around when my brother flew in for a visit the following weekend. So my parents took the kiddos overnight and we went to dinner and a movie. First thing in the morning we drove up to Chicago and went to the Museum of Science and Industry. I had never been, and Kendall went once when he was like 12.

I knew Kendall would love it, but I wasn't sure I'd find a whole lot that interested me. But it was a blast! So interesting, and not having the kids made it even more fun because we could spend time where we wanted to. These pictures are more for my memories, since you really have to experience a museum. You really can't see how cool things are through a couple of pictures. But here were some of my favorites.

They had a chick hatchery. We sat there for a long time waiting for one of the many chicks to hatch. They were too cute.
Here are a few of the slightly older and much cuter ones!
They had this thing called a "Reactable" which is like a musical instrument type thing. It was really interesting. You put these different blocks and tiles on this big base thing and it would play different rhythms and sounds. You could speed them up and slow them down and change them just by twisting the blocks. Really new age stuff for music. I loved this quote.
One of the most fascinating (and slightly disturbing) exhibits that they have is about new life. They had these babies at all different ages of development. I was completely amazed by how each and every baby, even very very early on has distinctive facial features. This was a baby that was the exact age as my little nudger. You can't really tell from the picture, but Kendall's hand is right on the glass to try to show size. This was, however, like 6 or 7 weeks ago, so our little boy is much bigger now.
In the futuristic area they had this electric car that got something like 300 miles to the gallon. I don't think our family would fit in it, but I'd sure love those gas prices!
Thanks to my parents for giving us such a nice break so that we could spend a nice weekend together.

Wildlife

Besides the bunnies that we have been finding in our garden there are a few other animals as well. Kendall likes to make sure that the kids get to have experiences with these animals.

Here's a snake we found in one of the gardens.
Talmage (our little chicken boy) was the only one who would touch it long enough to get a picture. Sadie wanted to see it, but definitely NOT touch it.
But Talmage didn't really like when it wrapped it's body around his finger.
Then one night Kendall found a toad out in the yard. The kids were in bed, but he brought it in and put it on Talmage's head. This was his first reaction...
And then, he was fine with it!
We didn't get pictures of Avri's reaction (or Mom's for that matter) but they didn't end with quite this big of a smile. haha.

Randomness

Here's to cleaning up the random pictures that don't really constitute their own post. :) Enjoy.

Catching fireflies.
Grandpas are good at reading. Even on the bottom bunk.
Road rash on your face doesn't feel very good, especially when it gets infected.
Mercedes thought she would help me clean out the diaper bag. Guess it was time...
Eating at a table just the right size.
Swingin' times!
Sadie's first french braids.
Best friends, at least during the hour that this picture was taken. ;)
Playing at the park with friends.
Mercedes the chipmunk. She loves to keep her dinner in her cheek for later. She is going to have the most rotten teeth if I can't figure out how to stop her.
My content child.
Mr. Cheeser
Grandma and Grandpa love to spoil the kids at the movie theater.
If you can't fall asleep in bed, there is always the floor right outside your bedroom.
Who doesn't love an Oreo?

Avri's Own Vacation

Avri went on her very first vacation without her mom and dad! For Mother's Day this year my parents decided to drive up to Michigan to visit my Grandma. They took Avri with them. She was so excited to be able to do something so new and different! She got undivided attention from four grandparents! Who wouldn't love that?
On their way home they stopped in Holland Michigan and got to see the end of the tulip festival!
Say Cheese!
I missed having Avri around on Mother's Day. But Talmage and Sadie played really well together, which they hadn't really done before. They became little inseparable buddies. In fact, at church when the primary children went up on the stand to sing, Sadie followed Talmage right up there. You couldn't see anything but her little glasses peering over the side. It was pretty cute.

And Kendall and I took the opportunity to paint the girls' room, since we would only be displacing one child. But that is a post of its own, still to come.