Illinois July, 2010

Over the 4th of July Weekend we visited my Dad’s homeland – Illinois. The entire Mercer clan met up in Moline, IL after travel adventures galore. Our adventure included 2 hours in the plane on the ground in Houston waiting for an intercom repair. Then we missed our connection to Moline in Chicago and were re-routed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Just to add to the fun my flip-flop broke in O’hare airport and I was forced to walk barefoot – yuck! Chip was able to make a repair with a used set of head phone wires and the flops survived to get me to the hotel. We finally made it after 12 total hours of travel, but overall the kids did great and it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

The next day Chip, Joe and Dad fished the Rock River near Moline and Kim, mom and I took the Chace and Paige to an area Children’s museum.

That afternoon all the girls joined mom at a salon for massages while Dad and Chip took the kids to the John Deere Museum.

That evening we hired a babysitter to be with the kids while the grown-ups enjoyed a dinner out and fireworks in a town with a population of 200! When we got home we found out that the girls had a hard time falling asleep, they were having so much fun. Chace fell asleep first and they all crawled around them until each one had no energy left.

Our official gathering with dad’s sisters and their families was on Sunday. It was at the Senior Center in Kewanee. We made our way there and stopped at the building where Grandpa Mercer ran a car dealership, the Mercer Family Farm property, and the cemetery where Grandma and Grandpa Mercer and Aunt Ruth are buried. All are special places for us and I am so glad we were able to take the kids and husband there.

All Dogs go to Heaven

Dear Lord, please open your gates and call St. Francis to come escort this beloved companion across the bridge to Heaven.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of her companionship and for the time we've had together.

Surely she is running with Bristow in the fields of Heaven.

Bristow and Sydney, our dogs 2003-2010

Bristow passed away in 2008,

Sydney June 16, 2010 

More summer fun

The Houston heat is here! This summer we've been in the pool a lot! Paige has already mastered relaxing.

And snacking

Chace never turns down a snack

Paige loves to "read" books

And the Wii is fun too!

Visiting Galveston

I can't even remember the last time I visited Galveston! We decided it was time to introduce the kids to the Gulf of Mexico and went down after work on Friday of Memorial Day weekend. We made it to our hotel for dinner and then headed to the pool. Chace and Paige were so excited to wear all their swim gear, hats included, even though it was already evening and there wasn't any sun shining.

The next morning they were up by 6am and ready to hit the beach. Needless to say, it wasn't crowded at 730am when we made it over. It was very nice and we all really enjoyed our beach time!

Team work

Chip looks very official here monitoring the beach with the beautiful sand castle in front.

Hi!

The sleeping car picture is a must!