Family Vacation

A Van Dine family camping trip was planned for a week in June. But since this has been one of the worst years for rain and flooding in Iowa, the camping trip was cancelled and a trip to Chicago was planned instead.

Monday, 7 adults and three kids under 2 set out in a 15 passenger van for the city. Needless to say, we had a great time. The kids loved swimming, playing together, riding the elevator with Grandma and Aunt Kara, watching movies in the van, eating the yummy treats Grandma bought...oh yeah and seeing some sights of Chicago.

Looking at the sea lions at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Enjoying the zoo

An Iowa boy on a John Deere at the Museum of Science and Industry

Probably Elias' favorite Chicago spot...a water fountain by Navy Pier!

He loves water and getting wet!

For a few more pictures, you can check out Elias' cousin Addy's blog.

June...the first few weeks

A quick recap of June...

• A week at Horton Haven Christian Camp where Ben spoke
• Enjoying the beautiful weather, after all the rain we had
• Elias enduring one of his first big injuries...a fat lip from colliding with our table
• A Van Dine family vacation to Chicago. Originally a week of camping was planned, but due to the rain and flooding we thought Chicago would be a better option. (pictures to follow)

One of the few pictures I got at camp. It is hard to stop to take pictures with two boys!

I thought that washing the car together would be a fun afternoon activity, but Elias just liked to play in the soapy water. His favorite part was dipping his pacifier in and then putting it in his mouth.

The fat lip. His smile for a few days was a little lopsided. No permanent damage was done (we think!)

Matching D'Backs outfits from Great Grandma and Grandpa Barth in Arizona. ( I am not a huge fan of matching them, but every once in a while it happens)

Our laid back son chillin with his laid back grandpa:)

What happened to May?

I know, I know...you might be wondering what happened to us. May consisted of...

• EBC Year End Retreat which Ben spoke at so the boys and I tagged along. Elias had a blast!
• EBC graduation. Celebrating and saying goodbye to our students
• New deck swing from Grandma and Grandpa
• Weekend trip to Chicago, got to visit college friends
• A wedding of two of our Emmaus kids

Road trip to Lake Geneva for EBC Year End Retreat

Hoping his graduation day comes soon!

Helping Grandpa put together the deck swing.

First bath together (there haven't been many since...it was a little crazy!)

Zach being cute

The Ride!

First convertible ride with Grandma...what fun!

(Just a note...Grandma has already decided that when Elias is in high school, she will give him a ride to school...so he can be cool!)

Enjoying Life

After getting over colds and enduring days of rain (it seemed like weeks), we are finally getting sunny weather. Deciding that it would be a good day to be outside, I mentioned to Elias that "later" we were going out. He didn't pick up on the "later" and decided we were going out NOW! So out we went. Exploring the concrete pile on the driveway...it tastes pretty good!

Too excited! (The sweatshirt is from Grandma)

Practicing his skills

Zach getting a little sun

Confession

Ben and I don't always agree on things, and I like to think that I am usually right. But more often than not, he is. For instance, we both like the name Zachary, but agreed that we would shorten it. I liked the spelling 'Zac', different but not weird. Well, he liked the spelling 'Zach', more traditional etc. Since Zachary couldn't help us decide, we asked friends and family their thoughts on the spelling (now this is a good 6 weeks after he was born and we both have been spelling it differently) Well, he convinced me...since Mathew is a little unusual and people constantly have to be reminded "One 't' and no 's' ", it would be better for Zachary to have an easier time spelling his name. So, all this to say, I am switching my spelling to 'Zach'...and my husband is right again!

Boys will be boys!

Sunday the boys and I got to spend to the afternoon over at Grandma's since Dad and Grandpa were both speaking in Chicago. While Grandma and Zach cuddled, Elias and I went out to play.

Elias learned that each rock does taste different...he tried every one of them!

Loving life! (Notice the shiner under the left eye. He had a fight with the crib...and the crib won)

I love this face!