Trip pictures part 1

We left for our vacation on June 7th and had an uneventful drive down to Illinois. On the way there, we stopped at Vandalia which was the second capital city of Illinois. The statehouse is still preserved and is a fine old building. And as you can see from the sign, Abraham Lincoln was there.


We visited my aunt on Friday during the day and then went to a rodeo with my dh's family that night. David and Dan and their families were able to join us. The children had never seen a rodeo and enjoyed it very much, especially the bareback riding, the barrel riding, and the broncing bulls.



Then the next day we went to David and Mel's house and rode their Tennessee Walker horse. The children really enjoyed getting a ride on a real horse. Nathan rode by himself.

Stephen rode by himself at first but then Aunt Mel got on and made the horse canter which Stephen loved.

Aaron liked it also but I didn't get a good shot of his smile.

And of course, Deb was not be left out either. She showed no fear in getting up on a horse 3 times her size.

Then that afternoon we went with Grandpa to see Fort Chartres on the Mississippi River. The boys just loved the reconstructed wall and gate. They posed as attackers and as defenders on the wall.