Hey, did anyone see July?

It was here a minute ago...

Well, I made a promise to myself to try and do 2 blog posts a month...and with a little luck, I just might get this one done :)

The month of July was bound to be our busiest month yet. We had both "long-weekend" vacations back to back. First up was Matt's mother's side of the family. The Lunn-Wiley Reunion. It was held out in Kansas City, MO the third weekend in July. It is something we all look forward to every other year. We were unable to attend the previous one, so the last one we attended was right after we got married...fast-forward four years and we now have two kids in tow. This year Levi was able to run a free a little more. He was obsessed with Ryan and Dylan and they did a great job watching after him and playing with him. They even brought him a kleenex box full of toys. It was gift wrapped and everything! I feel blessed to have such a wonderful (large) family. It is always a joy to spend time with them :)

The following weekend we traveled to Independence, OH (a suburb of Cleveland) to meet up with my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Den (my dad's sister and her husband). We spent four days hanging around the pool, eating and site seeing. The highlight of the trip was the three-hour train ride we took from Independence to Akron. It wound through the local national park. We saw bald eagles and beaver dams, and we each had a head set that gave us historical facts about the area. We decided to go on the train ride because Levi likes trains, but we all enjoyed it. Levi, of course had a blast. He got to do some running around, made a little friend, and went to the gift-shop car and got some souvenirs. And got to use the potty on the train...that was an experience!

That pretty much wraps up our July adventures. Here are some pictures from our trips.

Lunn-Wiley Reunion

It was really hot that day!

Levi and his buddies. He will probably always look up to these guys.

Rachel and one of our cousins Evelyn

The weekend in OHIO

Here they are with the conductor before departure.

He is ready to roll.

She may be special cargo, but I think she belongs in a seat.

Levi is showing his new friend the picture of a train.

Rachel seemed to enjoy the trip.

Mr. Joe Cool

He is so into music that he has started listening to an mp3 player...He is growing up too fast.

Overall, the kids were rockstars when it came to travel. They do best during the day and don't even watch the DVD player as much as we thought they would. We only put it in the van when we go on trips so we thought the novelty of it would keep Levi glued to it most of the time, but he lost interest pretty quickly and just listened to music, slept, or played with toys a lot of the trip. We feel very fortunate that our children do well on vacation. Both in the car and at hotels.