Illinois High Point

We decided to try and get the Illinois high point early this summer. It is privately owned, and to avoid having people coming to their farm all the time, the owners open it for only four weekends in the summer. Because we have a lot of stuff going on this summer, we decided to go to the first one, just in case something came up and we wouldn't be able to make it to a later day. And we got our 8th high point! The hike was a little over a mile there and back. And it was fun because pretty much everyone who hikes there are high pointers! For one of the guys we talked to, this was his 38th high point! I felt a little silly calling myself a high pointer after that, but I guess everyone starts with just one!

After we did the high point we drove out to my bother's house. He moved out to the Chicago area last summer, and my sister-in-law just had their seventh kid! My mom had come out to help out with the new baby too, so it was nice to see her for a while. We didn't stay with them very long, but even the short visit was really nice.

Joslyn and some of her cousins after church on Sunday!

 We drove back home from Illinois on Monday, and when passed through Milwaukee we decided to stop at the Horticulture Domes. They were conservatories of plants from three different climates. It was pretty cool, but we didn't think it was worth the amount we had to pay. We have been pretty spoiled by the awesome free conservatory that is by us.

This was a life size sun dial

One of the domes was a rain forest climate, one was a desert, and the third was called the show room. I think the show room was one that they change a few times a year. 

The coolest part of the Domes was the dinosaur thing they had going on. They had dinosaur statues and signs that told all about them. The kids really enjoyed it.