Sun and sky background

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Strawberry Fields Forever




Wisconsin called, and we answered.  We had a long overdue visit with Andrea & Abby at the zoo, and then instead of just going right home we "vacationed" at Mom and Dad's house (even though they weren't home!) and went strawberry picking the next day.

Look at all these kiddies!  So fun to see them all playing together.
Andrea's Eloise, Abby's Page and my Claire are all within 6 months of each other.



Andrea and Kevin are pros - my first friend with 3 kids!  They can fit all three of those little ladies into this one stroller, amazing!



Josie and Luke were born 4 days apart and are exactly the same size and have the same coloring.  

Page is suuuuper adorable

Come here goat!

Ice cream treat time!



Yummy Mexican dinner in Waukesha after a late afternoon nap


The restaurant is built into to an actual train, Luke was a big fan.

Sit 'n spin, always a hit

"fishing" in G&G's backyard pond

We were too lazy to bring up the high chair, so we fed Claire on the floor (yes, kind of like our dog).  Luke thought this was a great place to eat his eggs, too.  My parent's house is so clean you can literally eat off the floor!

Meanwhile…Mom and Dad were romancing in Finland!

Strawberries!!!!!  Our first time picking with the kids.  They both ate their weight in berries.  Luke brought his harvesting bucket from home.


 

Yummy berries!  I made jam for the first time that night with all these berries, not as good as Mom's, but I hear having pectin helps so maybe better luck next time:)

These shoes are heavy!

Rolling out the red carpet with my super huge fuzzy sweater on in summer

Wrestling is fun
I love to brush my teeth like a big girl!


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Lazy days of summer

In addition to celebrating Father's Day last weekend, we camped in our backyard and did a bunch of other fun stuff.

We go to the concert in Market Square every Thursday night.   Jack, our neighbor, is quite the dancer and watching him and Claire cut a rug is hilarious.  I've tried to attach a video below of the sight.


My morning run one day in Open Lands.  Love it! 
Playing around in the car (while parked in the driveway) wearing their matching shirts from Uncle Ben & Auntie Linda - souvenirs from their Ft Collins visit

Imagine lots of whining from both kids and you'll pretty much have been there for this moment.


Luke driving the boat

Luke selfie

Those saaaaaaummer nyeeeehiiiiights!  tell me more tell me more



I'm not quite sure why his marshmallow never gets browned when this is as close as he ever gets to the flame?

Pretty sky
Getting the beds ready to go to bed in the tent.  Claire slept in the house again, but Luke, Matt, Spumoni and I all slept in the tent all night and it was quite comfortable!

Claire likes to repeatedly slam her marshmallow into the dirt and then try to eat it.

nice bonfire


reading stories before bed with the headlamp on

Luke had the great idea to do take out Egg Harbor and go to the beach to eat it instead of eating at home.  Little did we know that the little restaurant down there serves breakfast!  We'll be keeping that in mind.  

It was a GORGEOUS morning, and great to let the kids play in the sand while Matt and I lingered over breakfast and enjoyed our coffee and the lovely views.





sand angels and other fancy moves
Homemade Father's Day gifts from the kids (with special help from Iso)




Hanging out with Dad in the tent

Father's Day with Grandpa

A mean game of Hungry Hungry Hippos


4:45am wakeup….It is HIGH-larious to purposefully spill your milk out on the stones

Who is that little girl in the window?


I went to get something in the kitchen and came back to see this.  She turned on the TV herself with the remote, I can only assume, and was watching The Today Show with genuine interest.

I'm obsessed with peonies, and these beautiful ones came from Donna & Emil's neighbor's house

Helping with the sprinkler

Our strawberry harvest is in!  Using the harvesting bucket to pick them from our garden.

First day of summer camp!  Luke is in camp two days a week at his school.

Claire assists me in my home video yoga exercising

She really has that downward dog position down pat!

Driving their cardboard cars

Couple of cool cats with their shades on

You talking to me?  I'm loungin'…no time for that fool!