A Day at the Zoo, A Baby Blessing, and Other Adventures

Kristin usually does the posts, but today it's my (Bill's) turn. We've had some trouble getting our most recent pictures off of the camera, so some of this information is a bit late, but here it is.

A Trip to the Zoo
A few weeks ago we took a trip to the Scovill Zoo in Decatur. We had been planning a trip to the zoo in St. Louis for a long time, but we just recently had learned about this one that was a lot closer.


We had a great time at the zoo. Will loved the lion drinking fountain. I think if that was all we could get him to see, he would have gone away satisfied. Fortunately, we were able to get him away long enough to see some real animals -- some quite up close.

Others (fortunately) from a greater distance:

It was a great day for going to the zoo. A lot of the animals were really active.


Others less so

Some people got feeling a little less energetic as well.

(This was Kayla's first time in the umbrella stroller, and she did really well!)
We had a great time seeing all the different animals. I think Will was a little less enthusiastic about the reptile house.

He did enjoy the prairie dogs (but he kept trying to figure out why these "dogs" weren't like his dogs back home),

and he absolutely loved seeing the train at the zoo!

We finished off the trip with snowcones at the concessions stand.

(I really liked the snowcones -- Hey! It's hard to find good snowcones around anymore!)
We also had a great time at the zoo's playground.


All together, it was a lot of fun, and we can't wait to go back.

Baby Blessing

Just last week Kayla was given a name and a blessing during fast and testimony meeting at our church. It was a really wonderful experience. We were really glad to have a lot of friends and family there. Kristin's sister Erika and her dad were able to come out for the blessing, as were my parents. My brother and his family were there, of course, since they live here in town. It was also so much fun being able to share the experience with other members of our family via phone or on the computer.

During the week, we had a lot of fun with the people who came out. My parents took everyone out to Busey Woods. (Sadly, I had to work that day.)

Busey Woods is a park here in town that is a lot like a deep hardwood forest, but right in the middle of town. They have a great boardwalk, so it's not hard to get around. Will and his cousin Alice had a great time playing and looking at all the fun things.



They also got a little silly from time to time.

Everyone had a great time.

Later in the week, we spent a lot of time with my family and then with Kristin's dad and sister. (Sorry, we didn't get too many pictures here.) After church on Sunday we all got together at my brother's house for a nice Sunday dinner. It was a lot of fun getting everyone together like that.




Later, back at our house, Will loved learning how to use Kristin's dad's iPhone.

(Seriously, this kid will be re-programming our computer before 2nd grade!) It was a lot of fun, and it was hard to see everyone head out on Monday. We love you all!

Haircut!
[Cue the scary music here!] Well, Kristin's been cutting Will's hair for the past 3 1/2 years (which is why it's always looked so good). His hair had been getting pretty long, so we wanted to give it another quick trim before the baby blessing. Will, however, was feeling a little extra fussy that day and did not want to let Mommy cut his hair. So, I decided that I would give it a shot. He usually sits a little more still for me, but, as we quickly learned, that did not dramatically help my lack of hair-cutting talent. In the end, it looked ok, but I think next time, we'll plan ahead so Kristin has time to cut his hair and make it look good.
Before:

After:

Well, now you can see why I'm not allowed to use scissors for a while. (Actually it didn't look as bad as the picture made it seem. It really did turn out ok, as you can see from the earlier photos.)