Hanks vs. Smith

Since the dawn of time (1980-1981) the debate has raged over which family displays the foremost physical prowess; Smith's or Hanks'.



The battles have been fierce and many, from trampoline flips, to arm wrestling contests both sides have scored victories. The Smith family suffered a near fatal blow with the Hanks' decidedly large margin of victory during the Salem Spring Triathlon a few years back.



It was nice to see that the younger generation has picked things up as well. As shown by these pictures, the Hanks' still seem to be dominating...

Gettin' it All In...

This weekend we went to visit Brian's cousins Nick and Lachelle in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was a super quick trip. We left here Friday afternoon and left there Sunday afternoon and it's about a 6 and a half drive each way. We had a good time, great weather, and Wes was awesome on the drive. We just have to get it all in before we leave Schaumburg in a week and a half!

We made a stop by Brian's office before we headed out.

On Saturday morning we went to Al's Breakfast. As you can see, this place is quite small, but quite the hot spot! There are only 14 stools at the counter so you have to watch everyone eat and patiently wait your turn in your very little area. (We're crammed all the way at the opposite end of the door...it is literally only 10 feet wide and not too much longer.) You definitely have to be patient because not only do you have to wait your turn, but you may be asked to shifts seats in the middle of your meal so groups can be seated together. It was quite a fun experience! And yes, the food and service were really good. And no, the line never died down.

This is in front of a very small piece of the wreckage from the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. It was amazing how mangled all the pieces were. I guess they put them all along the shore of the Mississippi to do their investigation. They're currently working on rebuilding it. Nick actually goes to law school at UofM, right across from where we're taking this picture.

Saturday afternoon we went out to a plant/flower conservatory. This room smelled amazing.

This was the reason we went to the conservatory. This is called a corpse flower and Brian had to see it. They're very rare and only bloom for about 2 days, but when they do they smell like rotting flesh. Awesome. Luckily for me (not so much for Brian), this one wasn't due to bloom until Tuesday so we missed the putrid smell.

They have a free zoo by the conservatory so Wes had his first mini zoo experience. He's fascinated by animals.

Here are Wes and Keyton. This is a perfect example of Wes' new cheesy grin that he does. When he sees the camera he gets a super smile and squints his eyes. It's pretty hilarious. We're not really sure why he started doing that, but it's funny!

Keyton, who's barely 2 hugging his 2nd cousin, Wes, who's almost 1. They loved playing together. Keyton kept saying hi and playing with "baby Wes" and Wes sure loved it!