Baby Mason!

I'm an auntie!!! My brother Greg and his wife Malee's baby boy, Mason, was born on August 30th. My mom and the girls and I will be going out to Seattle at the end of Septmeber to meet this special little guy. Can't wait to hold him and for Greg to send some more pictures!! This is the only one I have for now, but I'm sure there will be many more to come! Congrats Greg and Malee, he's perfect!! Welcome to the world, Mason. It's been waiting for you!!

What Wonderful Little Pigs!!

Since Jessica started school last week, the kids have been spending their last few days of summer in all kinds of different places. They've spent a day with grandpa, a day with Carol and a few days on their own. Last week, they got to spend a day at the pig farm with Uncle Galen and Aunt Sara. Sara brought them out to the barn where the baby pigs are kept. They had to shower in and put overalls on and everything! I have never been in the pig barns, but apparently it is pretty loud. Lizzy was a little hesitant and stayed pretty close to Sara, but eventually held one of the baby pigs. Taylor gave me the whole scoop on the best technique for catching a pig and even named one the babies Ruby. Luke got right down on the ground and layed down with the pigs. They loved hanging out in the barns with the pigs and can't wait to go back!All showered and dressed for the barns!

Lizzy mustered up the courage to hold one of the squeeling baby pigs!
Luke is right at home in the pig barn!!

Taylor and her little pig Ruby. :)Thank you Auntie Sara and Uncle Galen for a great day at the farm!!

More Summer Fun!

Although summer seems to have flown by, I’m ready for the fall and for the kids to be back in school. Even though I am at work during the day and don’t get to be home with them in the summer, I am ready for the sense of routine that school brings and to get everyone back on a regular bed time schedule. We were lucky to have my cousin Jessica babysit the kids this summer and it was a blessing to have someone who could drive to our house in the mornings and also chauffeur the kids to the pool, all their activities and to friends’ houses. Jessica is also known to stop with the kids for an occasional treat and knows just the things to get from the store when someone has an upset tummy! She has been great to the kids this summer.

As I looked back through pictures of the summer to use in this post, I realized that other than vacations, we take way fewer pictures nowadays then we did in the past. It was hard to find some pictures of some of the things we have been up to this summer, but I have included some of what I could find below.

We bought a house and moved back to Mantorville in March of this year. When we moved in, a large corner of the backyard was covered in pea rock and a sandbox and was edged with wooden timbers and a chain link fence. We had no need for the fence and decided to rip it all out to give us more yard. I wish I had a before picture, but the first picture I have is after we did most of the tearing out. It took 4 large trailer loads to remove the rock and a pickup load full to the dump with the timbers. We needed 7 yards of black dirt to fill it back in, which Jeremy had to move by the wheel burrow from the driveway. The grass has grown in pretty nice and we put in a fire ring and some flowers. It is a work in progress, but has come a long ways since the beginning of the summer. I’ll have to add pictures of the finished project at some point.

The yard after removing the rock, sandbox, edging and fence.

The pile of dirt Jeremy had to move.

Growing up in Pine Island, summer always kicked off with the Cheese Fest. We typically stay in Pine Island with my mom and dad for Cheese Fest weekend even though it isn’t quite what it used to be-or maybe that’s just my nostalgic mind remembering it to be more than what it was. This year, the kids went on the Graviton (spinning space ship looking thing) for the first time. Lizzy was scared to try it without me, so I gave in and went on with her. I survived the Graviton but then followed it up with the Zipper and the Scrambler. Not a great idea. I am getting too old for all that spinning! Riding the Graviton-yuck!
Cheese Fest Parade

In June, the kids spent a week at Camp Victory in Zumbro Falls. Taylor and Luke did the overnight camp and Lizzy did the day camp. Despite the rain and tornado that went through that week, they had a blast at camp. The facilities there are amazing. They have beautiful sleeping cabins and so many wonderful activities for the kids to do. Luke’s cousin Parker came from over by Milwaukee to go to camp with him which he was sooo excited about. Taylor’s best friend Kate went with her and they made lots of new friends. Lizzy got to stay over on the last night for her first overnight camp experience and did great. It was the night of the severe weather which usually freaks her out, so we were really worried about her, but she did great!

Lizzy in front of the storm shelter where she spent most of her first camp overnight. Luke and Parker in front of their cabin.
Taylor and her best friend Kate and a new camp friend.

We have tried to participate in Carefest, a community service project though the area churches, the past few years. Taylor had a soccer tournament the same day this year, but we got out to one of the Rochester schools and helped clean lockers for a few hours. It is a great way to give back to the community as a family. Lizzy cleaning out lockers at a school in Rochester for Carefest.

We sold the pop-up and bought a tent earlier this summer. We’ve only used it a few times out at Chesterwoods, but have loved it so far. There’s tons of room in it and there is just something about tent camping!!Loving the new tent!

Greg came to visit in July. We hadn’t seen him since last summer, so it was great to spend some time with him. My mom and the girls and I did lots of baby shopping while he was here to send home lots of baby boy clothes with him. Malee is due anytime now. Can’t wait to hear about the arrival of my newest nephew! Luke, Greg and Lizzy
Greg and Taylor

In August, we walked in the Kasson parade in support of our friend, Jim Trihey, who is running for Dodge County Sheriff. If was fun to get out and help him campaign and the kids had a blast carrying signs and handing out candy. Go Jim!! The kids getting ready for the parade with Jim.
Lizzy all set to hand out candy-after she picked out her favorite pieces and put them in her pocket!

Jeremy and I took a weekend in August to camp without the kids with some of my friends from high school. It rained Friday night and delayed our weekend, but we headed out to the campground on Saturday morning and had a great time. I love catching up with old friends and although our husbands come from all over, we’ve all become friends and have so much fun together. Becky and Dan taught us a new game while we were camping. For lack of a better name, it is called “Cup on Pole.” It was a blast to play and generated tons of laughs!
Becky trying to catch a cup and me ready to provide back up if it bounces. Great game!

This summer, the kids have also stayed busy with other summer activities. They took swimming lessons and skating lessons and spent most afternoons at the pool. Luke played baseball through July and August and also took a few weeks of guitar lessons. Lizzy danced and Taylor socialized. We’ve been busy, but it’s been fun. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I am ready for school and for fall to be here. I love to do some hiking and visit the state parks and the zoos, but it seems like it has been too hot this summer to enjoy some of those things and I hope to do some of them this fall.

The Battle Continues…

The kids with Paul and Dar outside their house-with the Packers flag, of course!

We had a great trip to Wisconsin this past weekend to visit Jeremy’s Uncle Paul and Aunt Dar. They live about an hour or so north of Green Bay and Dar is a huge Packers fan! When they were out to visit us last Thanksgiving, Luke and Dar had a battle to see who could put on the most “home” team colors. Luke kept running into his room to add another layer of Vikings clothes, t-shirt, sweatshirt, helmet, etc. Dar didn’t even have to leave her seat-when Luke would come back to the room, she would just point out items beyond her shirt that she was already wearing that he hadn’t noticed before, like her earrings-Packers; then her necklace-Packers; her socks-Packers, etc. In the end, it was a pretty close battle!

Around this time, Taylor decided that she was also a Packer fan-partly out of loyalty to Grammie Ann and Aunt Dar, but also to go against the grain and be on the opposite side of her dad and brother. Since we were so close to Green Bay, we couldn’t visit Paul and Dar without checking out Lambeau Field. We did the tour of the stadium and it was really interesting learning about the history of the Packers and of Lambeau Field. We got to sit in one of the box seats and walk out to the field through the Packer tunnel. They had us stand at the end zone and yell “Go, Pack, Go” to hear how the sound echoes off the aluminum seats. Jeremy and Luke refused to do this, but it was fun to stand in the empty stadium and shout at the top of our lungs.

Standing in Lambeau Stadium.

Taylor showing her Packer spirit!

We couldn't walk on the field, but you could pet it real lovingly... :)

After touring Lambeau Field, we drove up into the southern tip of Michigan and got out at a little beach on Lake Michigan. We have never been to Michigan and stayed just long enough to say we had been there. The water was so clear and pretty-I’d love to get back there to stay longer!

Playing in Lake Michigan.

Paul and Dar live on a little lake and the kids had a blast playing in the water. They did lots of swimming, fishing, jumping off the floating dock and taking out the paddle boat. They got to meet Paul and Dar’s grandkids, (which would be their 2nd cousins) for the first time and had so much fun playing in the water with them. It always amazes me how quickly kids can bond and it’s like they have known each other forever. Luke co-piloting the pontoon with uncle Paul.

Lizzy had so much fun swimming in the lake and jumping of the pontoon.
Lizzy, Taylor and Ciera jumping off the floating dock.

Luke still loves to fish!

We had a great weekend and can’t wait to visit again. Thanks for having us, Paul and Dar!

The Black Hills

In July, we also took an awesome trip to the Black Hills with two other families. It was so fun to take a vacation with great friends-for us and for the kids! On the drive out, we made our first stop in Mitchell to meet up with the DelBiancos’ and to see the Corn Palace. We then stopped at a prairie dog town and got out in the Badlands to do some hiking and meet up with the Helgets’. After climbing around in the Badlands, we made a stop in Walldrug. The kids did some souvenir shopping, splashed around in the water and got an ice cream treat. After a long day of driving, we finally arrived at the Hill City KAO where we had all rented cute sleeping cabins for the week.

Luke trying to get to highest point possible-of course! Such a beautiful view!

All 8 of the kids that were with us.

The sleeping cabin we stayed in for the week.

Lizzy, Abby and Ashley talking on their phones on the porch swing.

On our second day in the Black Hills, we drove the Needles Highway and through the Custer State Park wildlife loop. The kids did some climbing around the “eye of the needle” and had fun exploring the area. On the wildlife loop, we saw big horn sheep, lots of prong horn, wild burros (which one kicked Luke in the butt!) and a huge buffalo traffic jam. After driving around most of the day, we stopped at beautiful Lake Sylvan to swim and cool off. Later that evening, we went to Mount Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.

The Eye of Needle

This is not the burro that kicked Luke in the butt. :)

Buffalo traffic jam!

Jeremy and Lizzy at Sylvan Lake

The kids all had so much fun together.

One of the highlights of the trip was having an old time photo taken of our whole group. The kids loved dressing up and getting to hold guns and “wine” bottles. They really got into their roles and had a great time. After having our old time photo taken, we headed to a Chuckwagon dinner. The kids took pony rides, panned for gold and shot wax bullet pistols.

Soooo much fun!

We also did Bear Country USA one day. There were tons of bear to see and lots of other wildlife too. When we were done driving through and got out, there was someone dressed up like a bear sitting on a bench. The kids had a blast sitting by him and giving him hugs. We also went to Reptile Gardens before heading home. We went here last year with the kids, but they loved it and wanted to go back. The alligator show that they do is awesome! There is so much to do in the Black Hills. We’ve been out there twice with the kids and there is still so much we haven’t seen. We had beautiful weather and wonderful trip.

Abby and Taylor having fun with the bears!

Alligator kisses for Taylor!