1st corn this year

Grandma Pam was here to visit tonight, and she came bearing corn on the cob. And boy was it good. Not sure why we waited this long to endulge.

zoo time

The kids and I decided to go to the zoo today and invited our Schuett friends to join us. Despite the fact that they were all just at the zoo the day before, they had nothing on the calendar so joined us! It sure was a perfect day for it. The kids all got along great, held hands and stuck together. We had lunch by the train tracks again, and of course rode the train as well. The older kids rode in a train car together and did great. The youngest two were stuck with Andi and I, but didn't seem to care. Such fun.

rough grade

They finally came to do our rough grade today! Bye bye to the weed pile in the backyard.

Brewers, muah!

This is about as good of a picture I could get out of my husband!

 

Muah!

 

Too bad the Brewers never win! Definite fair weather fan here this year for sure!

Waukesha County Fair

Today we joined the Swan family at the fair to watch Breyson and Sawyer show some pigs and attempt to ride a sheep. Turns out just Sawyer rode the sheep, and a quick ride it was. Medals were obtained by both boys though!

 

Then we went on our merry way to try out some food and a few rides, even some face painting before heading home. The kids loved the rides of course.

And you can't go to the fair without seeing a few barnyard animals. Eddie wasn't so into getting very close to any of them.

Christmas in July

The Hanson family decided to break tradition this year and host Christmas in July in hopes to break up the chaos in December. My Dad and Julie were the hosts for 2013 so it was perfect to have an outdoor party. They still plan to have an open house on Xmas Eve just not to the scale that it would normally be.

 

So there was a little pool time, but surprisingly not as much as I had expected. There was definitely lots of washer games and beverages consumed. We exchanged names between our kids and did an adult 30$ drawing as well. The kids had fun playing together and gifts in July is quite an excitement as well.

 

Appleton Wedding

I drove to Appleton solo today to attend a girlfriend's wedding with some ex-coworkers. Ed couldn't get off of work, so I just decided to go alone. Definitely boring to drive any length alone, but I survived. Was able to catch up with some of the ladies and then headed back home for a busy weekend. Glad I could be there to celebrate with Brooke and Paul.

Pool Party

Today was an awesome day by the pool! We got together with the Schuett's, Grulke's and Czechowicz's! We all contributed to lunch for the Mom/Aunts and kids. Swam a ton! And enjoyed the sun. Rowan was a swimming machine. She didn't use her wings all day and was jumping off the diving board and swimming all the way back to the shallow end all by herself. Quite impressed. Glad that all of those swimming lessons paid off. Too bad she has never shown an instructor all that she can do. Some day! Hope to be able to do this again this summer.

delafield days

Uncle Dusty and Aunt Julie were in town today to visit. They came bearing gifts, birthday and housewarming. And also joined Nana, Papa and family down in Delafield for some music and fun. I met them down there on my way home from work. Eddie was a little dancing boy. We lasted about an hour after I arrived and then it was bedtime. And back to work for me tomorrow! 

weeds and balloons

We were back at Nana's today to raid the garden and pull some weeds. Therefore we paid a visit to Gail, Maison and Clay! She had some water balloons to play with while we were there. Pretty sure Gail and I were more wet just from attempting to fill the balloons. It is quite the science.

Rowan is 5!

Nothing better than starting out your birthday with a donut and some candles!

Then we headed to Hartland to try out the new Splash Pad! Nana joined us for the day. And we met up with some of our new neighbors there by luck. So the kids ran around for a while in the water. Was a warm day but when the sun went away it got a bit chilly if you were wet.

After the Splash Pad we headed to Culvers for lunch then home for nap. When Ed got home from work, Rowan got to open her presents. And she even had a package from Uncle Blayne and Aunt Molly to open as well. She got a new beauty chair from them, Eddie was a fan as well. Mom and Dad weren't as exciting with the new nail polish kit and bike helmet. A bike was supposed to come along with it, but since she hasn't been as into her 'big' bike lately, that is on hold. After dinner it was cupcake time, and Eddie thought he should be able to blow out candles as well. Fun had by all.

homeward bound

This morning we were up and packing up our stuff to head home from Conover. Definitely bittersweet. We had such a fun week. But then again, sleeping in our own beds sounds quite appealing as well. We went out for breakfast with the group this morning before officially hitting the road.

Kids were asleep quite fast once we got moving. We stopped in Neenah to visit with our old neighbors, Angela and Justin. Was nice to catch up, even if it was brief. McKenna wasn't home and Kendall was napping, but the kids had no problem playing with their toys while us adults visited. Got the scoop on new happenings on the neighbors and the people that bought our house. Hope to get back up there before summer is over to see everyone and maybe have a fire like old times!

Last day in Conover

Today was another day of water! Rowan and Lilly went tubing together today. They both had a blast. Eddie got quite secure on the boat and wanted to hold on himself. And of course both kids got a few chances to help drive the boat as well. Such fun. And lastly, Ed finally caught a keeper! Nothing frustrates the impatient man more than not catching any fish. Glad he finally was successful!

 

The end of a fun, warm and relaxing week up north is coming to a halt until next year. It is so fun to see the kids enjoy something we also enjoy thoroughly.

4th of July 2013

This morning we were up for some swimming while the men were out fishing. Then it was time to get ready to head into town for the parade! This is our 3rd year coming up here now and each year it has been a scorcher on the 4th! Luckily the Praeger family continues to bring their tent. It has been a life saver. But we all still have fun. After we catch as much candy as possible, we head to the park for a bite to eat and a few beers before heading back to swim some more.  Rowan was totally into the dunk tank at the park (only have pictures on my phone) And since it was so warm, Lilly volunteered to go into the dunk tank. So then Rowan was even more interested. She and Karen spent lots of money throwing the ball at the dunk tank. Due to Rowan's age, they would let her push the tank button if she missed with the ball. And of course there were prizes for every try!

Most people are spent early on the 4th of July because of all of the fresh air, heat and beverages consumed. But we always manage to stay up for the fireworks. Luckily Rowan crashed for an unexpected nap so she will be awake long enough for the Grandpa Bill firework show. We almost got carried away by the mosquitos again this year, but we survived.

Lake Bucky 2013

We decided to come up to the lake last night when I got home from work, not sure it was the best plan, but we made it. We pulled into the resort around 130am. The hope was that the kids would sleep most of the way making it a quiet quick trip. Well, Rowan did sleep most of the way, Eddie on the other hand despised the idea. He maybe slept one hour and whined after that. It came to a point where I had to climb in the back seat and prop myself up between the 2 carseats and hold him for him to sleep and stop whining. Clearly he just wasn't comfortable and eventually overtired.

 

That being said, we all slept quickly, Ed and Bill went out fishing early, and the rest of us were up shortly after ready for the day at the lake. The kids both got new fishing poles from Karen and Doug, so they had a blast playing with those. The water was a bit chilly at first, but the sun and heat helped us to get in and swim. Rowan had a friend to play with, Lilly. She is a little older, but it didn't matter to either of them. There were 2 little fish together in the water.

Ed and the kids did a little last minute shopping before we headed up north. They picked up a tube to use with Grandma and Grandpa's new boat. Rowan loved it! She wanted to go with Ed first, but then she let me go too. Eddie wasn't so interested, so we didn't push it this year.

Then after dinner the first night, we headed out on the water to do a little fishing with Ed and Grandpa. The kids were actually more patient then I thought they'd be. Of course we didn't last as long as Ed and Bill would have liked, but it was a fun experience. I think Ed and I were the only ones that caught a fish. And we left the handling of the fish to Ed as well. No keepers anyway.

the long awaited concrete

Annoying that this darn concrete was the cause of such chaos in our lives for the last few weeks, and now it is in and done. Mother Nature has a way of screwing big things up. Oh well.