Summer Funner

Hi all, Ben here.  We've been having a great time so far this summer, with the road trip to Dallas, a sidestep to Birmingham, and good times home in Bloomington.  We really love this town, by the way.  It grows on us more and more every day.  So to all our friends out west... come check it out!  We'll make room if you want to come and stay for a while!

Anyway, we uploaded photos from our own camera today so I thought it would be fun to share some of them.

First a quick glimpse of our quick trip to Nauvoo last month.

Here's a sleepy Grant on our wagon ride around town.  It was the only time we actually remembered to get the camera out.

And the temple in passing...

And that does it for Nauvoo!  It was short, but really fun.

Now on to Dallas - You've already seen Riley and Alison's wedding from Rick's camera, so here are a few from ours:

For some weird reason Grant enjoyed wedging himself between the bed and the night stand in our hotel room...  The first time he did it he scared himself silly, but then he kept getting back in there.  He's a curious little kid I guess...

We enjoyed seeing so many of Rocko's siblings.  Here's Reid.  I don't know what was going on, but it was funny.

Grant loved playing with his aunts and uncles!

Now on to Birmingham...  Here's the Vulcan statue, which we couldn't get up close to, but it was still cool.

At least it was a nice walk and a cool view!  Birmingham is absolutely beautiful.

In Birmingham we stayed at the Bitner house.  They are such a great family and so incredibly gracious to invite us into their home for a few days!  Dr. Bitner even diagnosed Grant's ear infection, which probably explains why he looks so tired in all these photos!  Poor guy.  Thanks, John & Lily for everything!  

Grant and Rochelle went to the zoo with Lily and the kids while I got some work done. They got to feed exotic birds.  Grant didn't care for them much, but I was pretty jealous!

They saw gators too!  I got to see one, but it was roadkill.  In Mississippi somewhere I think.

Grant loves push toys, and found a buddy in William.

Back in Bloomington we checked out one of our local pools, which has some really cool waterslides and a splash park!  Grant loves it.

We went on another bike ride today, then once Grant was asleep we made smores on the back porch with the cool mini fire pit that Rick gaves us a while back. Hooray for propane and ceramic logs!