Springfield, Illinois

 Since Trenton missed our trip to Illinois/Iowa in June because of Scout camp, he went on a historical tour of Springfield, Illinois with his grandmother last weekend.  While Trenton was with Grandma we met up with our cousins, Dale and Savannah, who happened to be in Springfield for the State Fair.  What a coincidence this was!

 At the top of the Crowne Plaza hotel overlooking the city of Springfield.

 We checked out the State Fair for a few hours while Trenton was busy with Grandma.  We didn't last there long though because it is a huge money pit and was very hot!  This slide cost us $10 and lasted about 20 seconds.

 Dallin loved this World War II jeep.  He stood in the back at the gun making shooting noises.

 Dallin also loved the carnival rides, but he only got to ride three since they cost about $3 a ride!  He was so brave riding by himself.

 This was a mini roller coaster which he enjoyed at first, but he thought it went a little too long.  He started yelling "stop" after the 6th loop.  I didn't blame him since the ride was one circle that had a few hills, which they circled over and over.  I got dizzy just watching him.

 A trip to the fair is not complete without garbage of some sort!  Instead of wasting our money trying to win a prize at a super hard game, I found a game that offered a guaranteed prize for a flat rate.  This was perfect for us since we had three children to satisfy.  Ashleigh chose the dolphin, Owen chose a stuffed scorpion which he says has a cute face, and Dallin chose a giant hammer.  The hammer might not have been a wise choice since Dallin is now hammering everything.

We ended the day with some swimming at our hotel pool.  It was fun to have Dale and Savannah join us since we don't get to see them very often.  Dallin and Owen loved the pool after their long summer of swimming lessons.  We swam for two hours, which is a record for us at a hotel pool, but it was partly because of how nice the pool turned out to be.  It was very large for a hotel and was heated!  There was hardly a temperature difference between the hot tub and the pool.