The Hernández Family: Cahokia Mounds State Park

My parents arrived this past Sunday (July 3rd). It has been so fun (and helpful!) having them here but I think it's jinxed me having this baby because my mom is here. For various reasons, she hasn't been able to be here when the first 3 were born, and now that she's here, he is taking his sweet time to show up. We really are glad they're here and we've kept busy working in the house, the boys have gone to hobby shops and to watch trains with Grandpa and one day we went to Cahokia Mounds State Park (July 6th). It's just on the other side of the river in Illinois and was really cool to visit. Cahokia was one of the greatest cities in its day and according to their brochures, was even bigger than London in 1250. All that's left of the city now are lots of artifacts on display at their museum and the earthen mounds. The mounds look similar to the Aztec temples in Mexico, but these mounds are made out of earth. Because they are sacred to the Native Americans, you can't climb on most of the mounds. The only one you can go up is the largest one (Monks Mound) because it has stairs you can climb. Monks Mound was the largest because that's where the chief ruled and lived. Okay, enough history - here are the pictures!