Trip to Papa Joe's

This weekend we went to Pleasant Plains, Illinois to visit the Sylvesters. Luke had called Jeremy's dad Grandpa Joe, but this weekend he decided to change it to Papa Joe. We thought it was a cute change. We started our trip off with a trip to a small zoo. As soon as we got there, he ran into the gift shop and quickly found a rubber toy snake that he could not live without. Thinking he would forget, I told him that after we looked at the animals we would buy him the snake. That promise got him out of the gift shop. But as soon as we got out of the gift shop area, he saw a playground and immediately became fixated. I told him we had to visit the animals first, then he could play. With Jeremy chasing behind him, he hurried through looking at the exhibits, chanting "It's time to go 'pay.'" He did, however, stop to pet and feed the peacock, geese and goats. After playing on the playground, he said he was ready to get his snake. Surprisingly, he remembered my promise and Grandma Mary ended up buying a brand new rubber snake.

Once the goats determined that Luke had food, they quickly surrounded him. Luke retained his composure as he was swarmed by the herd and wasn't afraid to push them away. He would open his hand that was full of goat food, pick out one one morsel, and then feed it to one lucky goat. He would then walk away until he decided the next worthy goat. He would tell the goats, "That's enough!" and "No more!" He made sure that he fed each and every goat (and one random sheep that happened to be cowering in the corner of the goat corral).

The next day we drove to Lincoln, IL to attend a hot air balloon festival. Luke immediately saw the carnival rides. Jeremy was such a good sport and rode the rides with Luke. After the tilt-a-whirl Luke said that the "spinning ride" with Daddy was not fun. He started the ride out with a smile and then turned into a wide-eyed scared little boy. We all found Luke's terrified look to be amusing (is there something wrong with us?).

After this, Luke said he could ride by himself.

This one just went around in a circle. Luke would give us looks when he circled around like "This is it!"

All Aboard! Choo Choo! Watching the balloons fill up with hot air and take off.
My favorite was the blue dragon, but it scared Luke so much that he said he was ready to go. He was very concerned that the "alligator" was going to eat the balloons. He would tell him to "go home!"

The balloons did a balloon glow at dusk . This was very cool.


We had a wonderful and fun packed weekend with Jeremy's Dad and family. We are home for a week and then headed to Louisville for Jeremy to start work. Our August vacation is coming to an end. We have had a great time visiting and spending time with our families.