The Pictures That Would Have Been

We went to Frank's parents' over Labor Day weekend.  We had a great time, and I took lots of great pictures which I planned on posting here until I discovered they had been deleted by a naughty little 21 month old. 

So, this post will tell you about the pictures that would have been....

*  The first picture would have been one of Jacob and his cousin Brett playing in the grass at the high school football game on Friday night.  Brett had given Jaocb a little Bearcats t-shirt, so they were both in school shirts.  It didn't matter that Jacob doesn't talk much; they communicated in the language of boys:  wrestling, running, and rolling the grass.  As I watched those two under the lights of the football field, I couldn't help but think that soon, they would probably be on the other side of the fence as high school football players.

*  The next pictures would be some great family pictures from Bennie's, the Italian restaurant we went to on Saturday night to celebrate Anna's birthday.  It's difficult to catch that many people in a good pose, so I'm especially sad about losing these.  The restaurant was very family-friendly, and we had a great time. 

*  The next picture would have been of Anna's red, white, and blue birthday cake.  It was pretty. And tasty.

*  The next picture would have been on Frank and me, sitting on the back deck at my sister-in-law Rachael's sister Bobbi's house.  (Did you follow that?)  After we put Jacob to bed, we headed over there to meet Rachael and Garett, Rachael's two sisters and cousin and their husbands, along with two other couples. There was a bonfire, kids making s'mores, and tons of food.  I so enjoyed hanging out with everyone and found myself wishing that we lived closer so we could do it more often.  (Disclaimer:  I didn't actually bring my camera here, but while I'm recreating pictures, let's just pretend I did.)

*  The next picture would have been of Jacob riding rides at the DuQuoin State Fair.  This is the first time he's ever ridden a real ride, other than a carousel or a ride at the mall!  I was a little nervous strapping him in, but he LOVED it!  Jenna and Brett took turns riding with him, too, so that made me feel better.  There were only three rides that Jacob could ride since he is under 36 inches tall, but he rode them to death!  Here's a little video link of the kids at the fair...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtuXaELffD0&feature=youtube_gdata