Our Midwest Summer

The highlight of our summer was of course going to Utah and spending time with family and friends, but we also had some fun here in the good old midwest. Here's a sampling of some of the things that we have done in the past few weeks.

Here are some pictures of the girls out at Pittsfield lake that is about 3 miles from our house.

We went to Nauvoo to see the pageant just before it closed for the year. They had a lot of pioneer crafts and games to do before the pageant which the kids loved. Since we are in such a small branch, it was great to be with a large number of Saints. We had the chance to talk to members that were volunteering at the pageant from all over the country. The pageant was great as well. If anyone wants to see it next year, you can come stay at our house, we have plenty of room! Here's a picture of the girls in front of a statue of Joseph.

At the pageant, like at General Conference, there are people there trying to take save us from our "mistakes". Have you ever pondered this question? (Joke, don't go to this ridiculous website).

Next, it was off to Mark Twain Lake in Missouri. It is only about 40 minutes from our house. I grew up going to the lake or at the beach, so all of my family vacations involved water. Becky does not share my love for water but she came anyway. (What a wonderful wife I have). She does admit now that she had fun though. We stayed at a campground that had a waterpark, miniature golf, go carts, etc. After doing all of that, we went down to the lake and rented a Sea-Doo. It was a blast. The lake is right next to Hannibal so we went to the Mark Twain Cave. Mark Twain based some of his books on the cave.

Yesterday we went to the Illinois state fair. It was our first experience at a state fair. It was huge. It's basically like one large amusement park with animals. The kids enjoyed feeding the camels, sheep and goats.

This is the famous butter cow. The whole display was made out of butter. The longest line at the fair was to see the butter cow. Only in the midwest baby!

Kaitlin is getting big enough to enjoy some of the rides that you have to pay an arm and a leg for.

And finally, what would a midwest state fair be without milking a cow. The girls actually thought it was cool and were not grossed out by it.

It has been a good summer, too bad it has to end.