A Nice Day for a Wills Wedding

At the end of June, one of Paul's best friends from high school, Kyle, wed his long-time love, Sara. The crazy heat finally broke for this beautiful day in the fine town of Coal City, IL.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate with family and friends, and drink beer, of course. 

Doesn't it look like these guitars could turn into machine guns a la Desperado? 

No, this is only Tim and Terry, two of the members of the defunct Teenage Prayers. They serenaded the wedding party as they entered the ceremony.

The backdrop of the charming nuptials was the picturesque Coal City Area Club.

And Paul's voice echoed in the trees with a custom reading from Bartlett Giamatti's "The Green Fields of the Mind."

It's official!

Ben told the guys they could take the picture with his copy of Alice in Wonderland if they let him in the picture too.

Sara looks thrilled to be the meat in this handsome sandwich.

The second-best looking couple at the wedding. We couldn't upstage the newlyweds!

Two thumbs up for summer suits.

You can't teach moves like this.

You know you make me wanna shout...GATOR!

Congratulations, Kyle and Sara! We wish you many years of happiness with many babies.

El Caballo

¡Hola! Bienvenido fieles lectores. Estoy tan feliz de estar de vuelta en mi silla para mi fiesta de 11 meses! ¿Habla usted español? Vamos a ver lo bien que se traducen ...

Creo que mi abuelo "Poppy" y mi tío Nick tiene la mejor oportunidad de entender esto. Hee hee!

Entonces, ¿dónde debo empezar? Sigo siendo el hombre más feliz en la ciudad y se ríen de cualquier cosa.

Me estoy comiendo un montón de comida para adultos, e incluso he empezado a beber la leche regular.

Pero a veces toda esa comida adulto provoca una "obstrucción en el sistema", si usted entiende lo que estoy diciendo... ¡Ay, caramba!

Y me encanta bailar y hablar. Mis palabras favoritas comienzan con la letra "D", como el padre y el perro, aunque esas dos palabras comienzan con "P" en español. Estoy trabajando en decir "mamá", pero ella sabe que la amo con todo mi corazón!

Sí, mis pies siguen siendo el gigante, al igual que el resto de mí.

¿Cómo va hasta ahora? ¿Entiende algo? Porque estoy seguro que no!

De todos modos, no puedo creer que esto es casi mi última vez sentado con mi caballito. ¡Ha sido un gran compañero!

Hablando de un gran compañero, yo no podría pedir una hermana más grande. ¡Tanto amor!

Bueno, mamá dice que es hora de vestirse. No estoy de acuerdo. Adiós, amigos.

 Hey Horsie, what was all that about?? 

"Cincinnati" is Greek for Murphy

In mid-June, we continued our "Summer of Road Trips"* and headed southeast to Cincinnati, home of the ever-expanding Murphy family! 

(*so far we've only been on two trips and I'm not sure how many more, if any, there will be before summer's end. But it sounds fun, doesn't it?)

Another beautiful day escorted us out of our fair city, 

through the Crossroads of America,

 and right to the place where there is so much to discover...OHIO!

The last time Gannon was here, he was still in my belly, so he was ready to check out what he'd been missing... 

We all know that Adeline is a super big sister to Estelle, but how would she handle a baby brother if that's what's delivered by Alicia come August (or sooner!)? 

Judging by Gannon's great affection for sweet Adeline and her natural child-rearing ability, I think she's a pro no matter what the new addition is!

Here is the ice-cream caravan with bellies full of delicious cream from the local Walker Bros. Ice Cream shop. So refreshing on this hot summer day!

Why not keep the cool feeling with a dip or scuba dive in the pool?

This was Mr. Man's first official swim of the season (and his life).
"Hmm...I'm still working on my breast stroke, so I'll just have to scoot on over to the other side and join those bathing beauties."

Team USA 2024?

A splish-splashing, water-blasting pool party!

Speaking of parties, time for a spot of afternoon tea.

Adeline was the hostess with the mostess, serving only the finest to her honored guest.

My favorite moment of the trip. We'd love to see a recreation of this someday. 

Almost time to head home, but first let's start our last day off with some PANCAKES!

These girlies were nearly inseparable. You'd never know there are just over 300 miles between them.

Don't you just want to squeeze her? Paul's birthday buddy is somethin' else!

One last activity was painting rocks for the rock garden. Very serious little Picassos...

Just kidding! So silly!

And here she is, my brave, dear friend Alicia, about to be outnumbered by children. We know she and Justin are more than ready and able to handle this new adventure into babyland. Judging by their past unbelievable birth stories, I don't know if we're more excited for #3's actual arrival or his/her arrival story! 

Thank you all for hosting the Kapelli's for this super fun and relaxing weekend. We heart you!

Happy Rib Day, Daddy!

(We now return you to our regularly scheduled updates.)

It's that time of year again...I think it's Paul's favorite day of the year. Or is that his birthday? My birthday? Ha. Opening day of baseball? Anyway, where were we? 

On the Saturday night before Father's Day, it is our little family tradition to take Daddy out for a good rib eatin' treat at Fat Willy's.

"So, can I finally have those ribs you keep pretending I eat because I'm such a big man, have so many teeth, blah, blah, blah?!"

These rib-eaters are ready to get sauced. With barbeque sauce, people, come on! 

Nice rack.

Hey, pk, you got a little something right here. And on your sleeve. And down the front of you. Should've borrowed Gannon's bib I suppose.

Fat (Willy's) and Happy!!

Oh, how I love this man! He's an amazing husband and father, and my very best friend. 

He even baked delicious cinnamon bread for us to start off a sweet Father's Day morning – with the help of his lovely little assistant, of course.

Dad of the Year, every year! 

Later, we visited another great Dad and enjoyed what is quickly becoming Gannon's favorite pastime...gnawing beer bottles and cans.

Happy Father's Day to the great man responsible for creating these two awesome kiddos!