Gloria's Blessing

Last weekend, our niece Gloria was blessed in church. Grandma and Grandpa flew out for the occasion, so we got to see them too! I wish I had taken more pictures with my camera, as there are gaping holes from the weekend. Grandma flew out a little earlier and stayed a little longer. We had a fun time together playing games, going to the zoo, and running errands. 

 During Grandpa's stay, we packed a lot in. None of us had ever been to the Cohokia Mounds before, and we were pretty impressed with what we saw. I had no idea that something so distinctly South American was right here in our own back yard! Apparently, it's the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas north of Mexico. There are dozens of these old, giant flat pyramids and cones, some more in tact than others. I think most of what they "know" about the people who built them is purely conjecture, but it was fun to come up with our own versions of who they were and what they were doing.

 There were a lot of stairs to get to the top of this one!

I bet you've never heard of "Woodhenge!" It's been replaced of course, but it was built and rebuilt seven times during the 300 year span of the Cahokia civilization.

After a fun morning at the Mounds, we went bowling. Benjamin had been looking forward to this for weeks! The bowling establishment we went to wasn't exactly designed with kids in mind, but we had a good time anyways.

The girls sat it out...

 ...while the boys all learned how to bowl like Grandpa. He was the clear winner!

 I thought this was a really sweet picture of Grandpa and Nora.

 And I'm kicking myself that I didn't get any pictures of the actual blessing day. I'll have to add those when I get them.