Day One - On our first day in Springfield we decided to rent a pontoon boat and spend some time on Lake Springfield just relaxing and doing a little fishing and swimming. Our day was just perfect and the weather cooperated with us. As we were leaving Madeleine was standing by the side of the water with her new Barbie fishing pole. As luck would have it, she reeled in her first fish...a blue gill. Justin was so proud of her, and she talked about that fish the rest of the day. It was so cute.
Day Two 
- Springfield is a town that is full of history since that is where Abraham Lincoln lived prior to becoming a US President. On the outskirts of town is the village of New Salem which was where Lincoln lived upon first moving to Illinois. It is a really neat place to visit with historic cabins and volunteers recreating scenes from what life would have been like back then. Madeleine was even able to climb a fence to help dig for potatoes and sheer a sheep while she was there. Unfortunately, my disc was full, so I did not get pictures of those things. However, there are some cute shots of her in one of the cabins (actually I think it was an outhouse).Day Three- St. Louis, MO is about an hour drive from Springfield. We have visited St. Louis
several times on past visits to see the Cardinals play at Busch Stadium; however, they were not in town this week. We decided to visit Grant's Farm with the kids. This is an amazing wildlife preserve and historical plantation owned by the Busch family. We were able to see some of the famous Clydesdale horses. They are HUGE. Also, we went on a tram ride to see all sort of other animals that they keep on the property. The fence surrounding the front of the farm is made from the gun barrels of Civil War guns. I thought that was pretty cool. At the farm Madeleine and I had the opportunity to feed the baby goats. It was so much fun. We each had two baby bottles. It is funny that even in the goat world there are bullies who want to take more than their share. Madeleine was very concerned that all the goats get fed, so she asked another little girl to be sure to feed the small goat who didn't get any once her bottles were gone. It was so cute. 
Day Four- We had a special treat on this day. Springfield has a very unique open-air theater facility called the Muni where they put on shows during the summer time. I
was not sure what to expect from a community theater performance, but I was SO impressed. Madeleine, Justin and I took a picnic and went out on a perfect summer evening to watch Fiddler on the Roof. The show was great, and I could not believe all the local talent and the quality of the production. I was a little worried that Madeleine would be able to sit through the whole musical, but she loved it. In fact she leaned over midway through the production and said, "Mommy, I want to be in this show." This is a picture of Madeleine and Justin during the intermission.Day Five- On this day we spent some time shopping and relaxing before our long trip home. Madeleine and Micah are modeling the Cardinals gear that we purchased while we were there. Also, we had some time to enjoy Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda's gorgeous patio. There are so many beautiful flowers everywhere. It is really quite a showcase.
Day Six- On our last day we were able to visit family at a big cookout...whew....what a week! I will have to add the pictures of that later because I was on Madeleine duty, and I did not take any on this night. But, I know my sister-in-law, Debbie, got some great ones that I want to add in to this memory post. Click on the slide show to the right to see all the photos we took during our time in the Land of Lincoln.
