Illinois summer

Raegan and I went for a two week visit to Illinois to see our family and friends. It was fun to see everyone and get to spend some time catching up. Grandma T had her 95th birthday party while we were there, and it was great to be a part of that! Also, the Von Behren family reunion occurred during our trip, so we were able to see a lot of family that we had not seen in quite a long time. Raegan enjoyed seeing the kids and playing in Aunt Theresa's sand box! All in all, we did a lot of swimming, eating, and playing outside. One of Raegan's favorite things to do was go out to my Mom's garden and pick blackberries (and eat them of course!). She also enjoyed helping pick strawberries and beans, although the bean she picked turned out to be a rather large onion. Ha! She also learned about the game of ping pong (known to her as chasing a small ball all over the place, I'm sure). Ben and Andi came for both weekends that we were there, and Raegan became their little shadow. She really loved playing with their dog Yadi, per usual. I still think we need to get her a little dog of her own, one that she can chase and play with. Our dog, Roxy, is getting older and only has a little bit of chasing left in her!

While we were there, Raegan talked Uncle Steve into taking us out on his boat, as she saw the boats at the Press Club and wanted to go out on the lake soooo badly! Every time we drove past the lake (which is quite often since my parents live quite close to it) she would say she wanted to ride on the boat. :)

Papa wanted to buy her some cowgirl boots while we were home, and we had a fun shopping trip with that. Once she had the boots on, she proclaimed, "I wanna ride a horse!" I wish we could have made that happen, but maybe next trip.....

This was the first year that Jasen and Matt didn't go back with us for our trip, so it felt like it wasn't quite the same. Hopefully Jasen will be able to go back with us around Christmas time! 

Here are a few pics from our trip!