What a Weekend

It was quite a weekend, packed with lots of activity; so hard to believe we only have one weekend left until school starts again:(  Why does time have to go so fast?  We spent the weekend with Dave's family, at his parent's house in Lakewood, WI.  We had breakfast Saturday morning at "the blue place," a restaurant Dave has been going to since he was probably close to Madi's age.  After breakfast we all trekked out into the woods to set up Dave's deer cam; the kids and I in our sandals, Dave in his very fashionable boots/shorts combo.  We spent the rest of the morning with his mom and then visited the oldest known logging camp still in it's original location, then off to church.  This morning we headed to the beach despite the dreary weather and we ended up having a great time and had the beach all to ourselves!  This afternoon we tried our hand at taking our own family pictures.  I think we definitely got a few good ones but the kids lost interest pretty quick.  We are crossing more and more items off of our "Summer Bucket List" all the time! 

 He is such a fashion statement!

 This picture perfectly sums up Wyatt...FAST.  MOVING.  BOY.

 Walking through the woods

 Daddy in his element with the kiddos

 Dave and I love history so this was right up our alley

 Cute Gracie

 The kids at the dining table where the loggers would eat.  We were told there was NO talking during the logger's meals because talking=not eating=missed work.  Our children would've never survived because there is always noise with our group:)

 Beach bum, literally!

 Brothers drinking beer well before noon

 Grace the fish

 Can you guess what Wyatt was doing at the beach???  Not only sand, but got a snail in his mouth at one point too.  Boys are gross!

Our attempt at a picture of Grandpa and Grandma with all the grandkids;

not too bad for 6 kid,s ages 7 and under!

How have we not visited here before???

I took the girls to get haircuts this morning and after a little shopping and meeting Daddy for lunch, we spent the afternoon at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.  I have lived here for almost 10 years and have never been there.  After visiting today, we will definitely make it a more regular activity and want to take Daddy back very soon since he was Madi's age last time he visited!  It was gorgeous, the kids loved it, and it's totally free to enjoy (aside from the $1 bag of feed to feed the animals).  Here are a few pictures from our afternoon.

 The kiddos in a giant goose

 Wy trying on this turtle shell for size

 Soooo pretty!  Looking forward to a visit in fall!

 My girls

Feeding the ducks and geese

Up close and personal

The girls said this was the swamp and that maybe Shrek lived here:)

The otters were so cute

Climbing the spider web

She's getting too big;(

  Grace going through the doggy door

So pretty!

Mini Photo Shoot Fun

Today we went out and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather and had a mini photo shoot session for Madi's rock star birthday.  Who knew that our little Pulaski Community Park had so much beauty to offer?   It was so much fun and with a subject as beautiful as Madi how could I go wrong:)  I know I'm not a great photographer but it's fun and I enjoy playing so that's all that matters.  I wanted to share a couple but the rest we have to keep secret for her party;)  Grace also had to pose for a couple of course and Wyatt was having fun playing on Papa's lawn mower when we visited Grandma this afternoon so we couldn't leave him out! 

 This is my favorite picture of my beautiful little rock star!

 I was wishing I would've made Grace "dress up" a bit more after she decided she wanted to be in some pictures. 

 She was nervous sitting on the rail as you can tell from her expression!

 Her poses were just cracking me up:) 

It was more fun seeing what she came up with than trying to get her to pose any certain way.

 My handsome, handsome little boy looking so cool on the mower.  He just melts my heart!

 Watch out ladies!

 He is lucky he's so darn cute because boy is he a stinker!

As pretty inside as she is outside:)

 

A Perfect Kind of Day

Today has been a perfect summer day.  I opened up the windows before bed last night and woke up to the sound of rain this morning.  It was a little chilly and it felt so good to cuddle back into the warm covers.  My little man woke up when Dave was getting ready for work so I got him a bottle and he snuggled right in next to me and we went back to sleep for a while.  The girls have been playing Barbies basically everyday for the last month and after breakfast they were right back at it.  We had decided that today would be our designated pajama day, perfect for our rainy morning.  We had decided that we would have a read-a-thon today too; it was supposed to be outside but we cuddled up inside instead and I think they enjoyed it. 

Does anyone else remember having read-a-thons in school?  I remember looking forward to those days so much.  We were allowed to bring in our favorite snacks, a comfy pillow and/or blanket, and a good book(s) to curl up with.  I knew a read-a-thon would be right up Madi's alley; snacks and books are the way to that girl's heart.  Yesterday we went to the library to return our old books and get new ones for our read-a-thon.  We also went to the store and the girls each picked out two treats and a special drink to have.  This morning they picked out their favorite blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals and picked their perfect spots in the living room.  I was so happy at how excited they were for it; just putting a fun spin on our normal book reading.  They have been asking me for a while if we could order pizza.  I snuck into my room around lunch time today and ordered some pizza to be delivered to our house.  They jumped up and down saying, "pizza, pizza!" when the kid came to deliver it.  Now they are back to playing Barbies. They are such good kids:)

 My Bookworm

 Gracie checking out our pile of books and deciding which ones she wanted me to read.

 Even though Wyatt won't sit still long enough to read a book, he still had fun:)

 Madi reading Grace and Wyatt a book about Pandas

Happy with their lunch.  Between the 3 kids, they ate all but 1 1/2 slices of a medium pizza. 

Wyatt can eat almost as much as the girls.  They were hungry!!!

Our Angel

Two years ago today heaven welcomed you, our precious, angel baby.  Not a day goes by that we don't think of you, but today is especially hard.  I wonder what you'd look like and what your personality would be like.  Even though my body couldn't carry you, my heart will carry you forever.  One day I will get to meet you, sweet baby.  I know you are up there with all your Great Grandparents and I know mommy's friend Steph, Auntie Jane, and some other pretty great people are there with you too.  We had a fun day in memory of you today.  I love you so very much and couldn't let the day pass without sharing a couple things that made me think of you.  As hard as it is to share, it's even harder to keep all my feelings for you tucked away.  We love you little angel.