Ben’s developing new skills everyday…
Month: August 2018
A rare picture of me with my entire crew.
Wade’s face summarizes how we both feel many days.
The only surefire way I have found to keep Ben out of the pool is to let him eat the pool noodles.
The outdoor area at the Ecotarium is one of our favorite places during the warm months.
The outdoor area at the Ecotarium is one of our favorite places during the warm months.
The outdoor area at the Ecotarium is one of our favorite places during the warm months.
If only learning to feed yourself didn’t come with such a steep learning curve.
Some days breakfast looks a little like this at our house.
Just hanging out at the local lake.
Just hanging out at the local lake.
These are the days of summer. We spend our mornings at the lake. Some of us take a quick nap. Then we have an afternoon or evening swim in our backyard. This is the perfect summer.
Kaitlyn has been wanting to start Taekwondo for months. We told her she had to be 4 and then that it would be best to wait till after summer based on our crazy travel schedule. Today was the day we decided to officially begin. She was so excited! Teague couldn’t wait to show her the “ropes.” (Now that we have officially agreed, it’s beginning to sink in that I’ll have 2 hours of waiting in the lobby every day….)
Someone is starting Little Tigers in Taekwondo today!
Brothers…
Alex is the child I call when I want someone to attempt to take a picture for me. He does a pretty good job overall. We’ve worked out a system where he hands me the camera and goes to the spot from where he will take the picture. I use him as the focus point and set all my settings correctly and he comes to get the camera and then returns to his same previous spot to take the picture. Today’s lesson was on picking a focus point. Sometimes everything in the picture is perfect (lighting, subject matter, etc) except that no one is in focus. We used this old McDonald’s toy and some my laundry piles to show how just a tiny bit of shifting the camera can make a huge difference in how the picture turns out.
Afternoon movie in Mom and Dad’s room.
She’s ready for a trip to the grocery….
He knows how to tie his shoes. He just always chooses not to.
Morning Legos.
Tea anyone?
Yummy.
In other news – how is Ben 8.5 months old? It just doesn’t seem possible.
Drawing Pokemon.
Baking cookies – just to get the dough.
(They are my kids after all.)
Well that looks comfortable.
My rearview mirror.
We are closing in on home and these kiddos are so ready for their Daddy, their house, their dog, and their beds. We’ve had a great trip, but we are ready for home.
Our last picture. What a great trip we have had. Until next year Milwaukee.
Ben was holding court and didn’t even realize it. Everyone wanted to play peek-a-boo and he was just trying to figure out how to find a snack.
The drive home from Milwaukee is not quite two days so we wanted to make today our “short” day and spent some extra time with our friends. We decided to visit Hoyt one more time and leave straight from the pool. Saying goodbye is never fun but we’ll hopefully see these guys before too long!
Hotel sleeping.
Hotel sleeping.
Amber, Nicki, and I had worked hard to plan another “Girls’ Day” while I was on this trip. Tony and Nick and agreed to watch all the bigger boys and we were taking Ben with us. We managed to fit everyone in my van and headed off for Chicago. We put a movie on for the little girls and stopped in Gurnee at the Rainforest Cafe. We had a yummy lunch and then continued driving till we arrived at our main destination – The American Girl Store. Glenna, Iris, and Kaitlyn were so excited to run and look all over the store. They shopped and looked and played until it was time for tea. Then we had some yummy treats and drinks. We had also planned to stop at Dylan’s candy bar, but we walked down the street only to find it was closed and moving locations. Maybe next time. Ben was fairly well behaved through all of our adventures. We arrived back in Milwaukee quite worn out but having had a great day. (We hear the boys had a great day too.)
This one missed the group photo. Evidently our crazy few weeks have worn her out.
Only half of this group got the memo about the “silly” picture. It was still so fun to see old friends and we wish we could stay longer. Till next time!
The boys spent the night with Leah and AJ so I only had the youngest in the hotel with me. They were up at a decent hour so we decided to head to the beach and play. I set Ben’s pack and play up and he took a morning nap in the shade. All of our friends from yesterday were able to come today and before too long we had a party at the beach. We played and swam and talked and ate. The clouds eventually rolled in but they timed it perfectly with when we needed to head back to Milwaukee. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day!
We sure did miss “our beach” and “our dock” and especially our friends!
We are spending a few days in Barrington with our old neighbors and friends. It’s crazy to think this is the first time Ben has met these guys.
The kids and I drove back to Timberlake Estates today. We were hoping for sunny weather but had a dreary arrival. We cancelled our plans for the beach and hung out with our old neighbors and their new bunny. Then the sun seemed to want to come out and we quickly threw on our swim suits and headed for the lake.
We wore these kiddos out today at the State Fair.
As we were picking dates for this trip, last January, we realized it would also be the week of the Wisconsin State Fair. At the time, that seemed like a great idea. The state fair is always a fun activity. I did not factor in that it would make getting a hotel or house rental tricky. Wade and I have been to the state fair numerous times over the years but we have never tried to meet up with two other families or stay together with this many people. I was a little doubtful that it would be possible, but we did manage to meet up (after a few misses) and then we easily walked the fair with 15 people and 2 strollers. I consider that quite the achievement. It was hot, but we found all the food, activities, games, and rides. It was a fun day. The state fair never disappoints.
I don’t have a good picture of this, but the best part of this day might be that our kids were all watched by friends (even Ben) while Wade and I went on a date! Our anniversary (14th) is this week and we celebrated with a dinner out tonight!
Wade flew in to spend the weekend with us. (Notice the mustache he has grown – hopefully just for humors sake.) Amber, Nicki, and I had spent part of last night trying to figure out which days worked best for which activities based on the weather. We all decided today would be a great day to visit Hoyt Pool and then return tonight to the Landing for dinner. I haven’t found anything quite like Hoyt in Boston, unfortunately, and I truly miss this kind of place – especially for Kaitlyn and Ben. The kids had a great time. I rarely saw the two big boys. Kaitlyn spent the majority of the time going down the water slide and was annoyed she wasn’t tall enough to go down the big slide. She also “sunbathed” and spent as much time as possible with Glenna and Iris. At dinner she was glued to Abram’s side and he was so sweet and tolerant. It was adorable to watch. Ben was his normal chill self. He played and then napped and then played some more.
Now for one of my favorite parts of summer – and maybe one of my reasons for this trip. (The big boys 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)
These kiddos – seeing them together makes my heart smile.
Milwaukee friends – oldest friends.
My kids could barely contain themselves on the drive from Paducah to Milwaukee. They were so excited to see their old friends. The unexpected traffic that kept changing our estimated arrival time was driving them bonkers. We did finally make it and they were ecstatic that everyone was gathered together to greet them. We hung out for a wile and then the boys were super excited to begin their “sleepover” away from the girls. I love that Kaitlyn has never lived in the same city as these friends and only sees them once or twice a year but is completely comfortable spending the night away from me after just a few hours of being together. That’s pretty awesome. Ben and I hung out a while longer with Nicki and then we headed to our hotel for a quiet evening.
Amber sent me this picture of Kaitlyn and it’s definitely one of my favorite.
Today was our last full day in Paducah. We spent the day doing the last things the kids wanted to do and top of their list was the water slide in Aunt Lissy’s backyard. Then we visited one of our good friends and the kids got to check out their newly renovated tree house (that I played in as a kid). I even got to visit the house I grew up in (which is right next door) and haven’t been in for almost 20 years.
The kids couldn’t wait to go back to Aunt Lissy’s and play on the water slide again.