The busy month of July

Busy, busy, busy July...I don't think we stopped much to relax and breathe!!

Here are some highlights of our month ~ enjoy...

Joel at the Francis Park in Kewanee on the 4th of July


With that, here is Marilyn and her traditional 4th of July activity: pedal tractor pulling


And, of course, she won again. This year did not have the competition that she is used to. Maybe they heard she was coming :-)


Here softball team won 3rd place in the final tournament of the year. Her team wasn't the best, but she did a great job again as pitcher. MVP of the team.


Joel was on a traveling basketball team again this summer. The final tournament (Nationals) were in Bloomington. They won 1st place in their single elimination tournament bracket this year, by a very, very close game. My heart is just now starting to get back into the right rhythm!!


On our way to St. Louis, we stopped at Jeff and Kelli's and had time for a quick swim. This is Marilyn with her cousin, Daniel.



City Museum, St. Louis MO. It is an old abandoned 10-story (plus roof) factory converted into a kids, hands-on museum. Nothing quite like it in the world. Yes, that is a school bus and ferris wheel on the roof!


We arrived right when it opened and headed to the roof (followed the advice given to us). There were no people up there yet. It was great! And, not too hot yet.


roof slide


Me and the twins on the ferris wheel. We were the 1st to board that day :)


climbing/crawling through just one of the many, many tunnels throughout the museum.


hamster wheel ~ don't get dizzy!


Next day was the St. Louis Zoo ~ still the best bargain on the planet! Free to get it and if you can park on the street, it is also free! Took snacks in with us so we didn't have to pay for the overpriced food items. It rain on us at the start for about 1 hour, then it cleared off and got really muggy.


Marilyn thought this was hiliarious ~ I like her facial expression!


Joel's favorite of favorites ~ PENGUINS!


I'll spare you all of our animal pictures and move onto Six Flags, the next day.


Noah (on right), Joel (on left), and Marilyn (facing the boys), riding Tony Hawk the spin ride. Not me ~ anything "spin" would make me revisit my lunch. NO THANKS! I loved the Mr Freeze ride though ~ it is awesome. It is also Marilyn's favorite.


Still have the classic log ride. Joel and I didn't want to get wet and we were trying to get rid of headaches and took a break.


Victory! The Batman cape was all it took to make Joel happy and forget about his headache :)


After our family trip to St. Louis, I went on a girl's only trip to Galena, IL with some dear friends: Marilyn's BFF, Bekah, and her mom (and my good friend) Mary had some much needed away-time. Mary invited us on this trip. It was the "bomb". Highly recommend spending some time away with girlfriends!!

mini-golf at the ski resort in Galena



Spent most of the day riding the alpine slide. What a blast!

Marilyn


Bekah


Marilyn and Bekah getting ready to race each other down the mountain, about 2500 feet down the side.


Mary


Me


Here I go!!!


Alpine slide lift back up the mountain.


My best friend from high school was in town the last part of July and I was able to visit with her at my parents farm. You know who your best friends are when you can pick up right where you left off, and don't miss a beat ~ this is Cindy, like my 2nd sister. Love her!!


Marilyn taking her for a spin around on the go-cart.



Yep, Noah turned 14 while I was blinking... We had a small, lunch get-together to celebrate. Where has the time gone?!


Whew, I'm glad July is OVER...

But, with that, so is most of the summer and school will be starting up soon. Our family will have a big adjustment with that this year. That is another story for another blog! I'll try to update that sooner.

Stay cool,
Kendra