June 2008: Joe and Alison's Wedding

June 28th, our friend Alison from college married one of Ben's good friends from high school Joe. We drove down to Jacksonville, IL. Jacksonville is about a half hour south of Springfield, IL and about 4 1/2 hours from home. It was the first big trip for our new minivan. After a beautiful church ceremony we walked across the street to a banquet hall called Hamilton's for the reception. Ryan slept through dinner and then was the life of the party. He lived out on the dance floor. He danced until the reception ended at 11 pm! Boy did he sleep well that night.

June 2008: The Children's Garden at Morton Arboretum

What a neat place! On June 23rd Ryan and Mommy went to the Morton Aboretum in Lisle, IL. They have a special section for children that includes "little rivers" that children can watch tadpoles swim in (depending on the season), mirrored spheres and a giant tree house. Ryan had such a good time playing with his friends Berkeley and Jessica from the Mom's group.

June 2008: Ryan's First Water Park

Ryan and Mommy went with our Mom's Group friends to a toddler spray park. It was a lot of fun to watch the sprinklers go off, but Ryan didn't really want to run through the water. He did love the water table!

June 2008: Fun at the Dixon's House

Ryan loves to be outside in the warm weather. Every morning he stands up in his crib, says "GO" and points to the door. Once we are downstairs he runs straight for the back door. There are some days he is so persistant that we eat our breakfast outside. Ryan loves playing in his play tent. He climbs all over his slide. Ryan loves it when his friend Nikolas comes over from next door. Nikolas is one month younger than Ryan.

June 2008: Swim Lessons Begin

Ben and I decided to formally introduce Ryan to the water this summer in swim lessons. We start each lesson with a song in a circle and then we practice being on our stomachs, on our backs, jumping in and out of the pool and finally going under water! Ryan was a little timid at first, but he soon relaxed and began to have fun. We will continue every Saturday this summer.

June 2008: England

June was a crazy month in the Dixon household. Ryan and Shanna finished school/daycare on June 5th. It was a wonderful first year of daycare for Ryan. He really loves being with Ms. Heather and the other kids. Somedays it's even a fight to get him to leave. I guess mom and dad just aren't as much fun as three and four year olds!


On June 10th we braved an 8 hour flight with a one year old over to England. It went surprisingly well. We loved seeing everyone and catching up.





4 generations of Dixon men:

Grandad Dixon, Derek, Ben and Ryan.














Ryan's Great Grandparents:
Grandma and Grandad Dixon


















Ryan played catch with
Great Grandma Pearson.










Ryan met some of his second cousins






Ryan loved playing with Chris and Liz's 3 kids.
Is Jack in that pile somewhere?









Look at the twins go! Ryan loved playing with them. We were very lucky and found this exact see-saw at home at a garage sale!









Scott's daughter Saraphina (I'm sorry if I spelled it wrong) kept Ryan running. They played chase around the yard. What a ball of energy.

What a wonderful visit. We wish we could see everyone more often.