JD is THREE!

Today is JD's third birthday! Here is what he looked like three years ago today...

JD has had an exciting year since his last birthday! Among other things... he went on his first camping trip, he got glasses, he rode 4,000 miles to Arizona and back, and he moved to a big boy bed. His second year was a good one, and I'm sure the next year will be great fun too! If you want to read it, JD's birth story can be found here.

I'm still a few posts behind here. We're busy having lots of fun this summer, (Jerry took the day off and were headed back to the lake tomorrow) so you'll have to wait a day or two for pictures of today's mini-celebration. Tonight it was just us and cookie bars instead of cake. His party will be in a few weeks when we have a big get together for all the July/August birthdays!

Isn't This Fun? (Part 1)

July 17, 2010

Right after the Pink Flamingo parade we loaded up the van and drove off into the northwoods of Wisconsin. If you've read my last few posts you'll remember we were at various lakes the past two Saturdays. We continued our every-Saturday-tour-of-Wisconsin's-lake's and ended up at Crescent Lake in Rhinelander. Why? I'm so glad you asked!

A long, long time ago two father's (Denny and Rich) dragged their wives (Linda and Judy) and children (Shelly, Shannon/Abby, Josh, and Becky) from Wisconsin to Idaho to start an insurance business. The four children of these two men became great friends, almost siblings really, as they grew up in the same small northern Idaho town. Ready for new adventures, these two men then moved their families to Arizona to do it all over again. A lot of people have childhood friends that they've known for years, but I would guess that not many have moved around the country with them.

Years passed, the children grew into adults, had families of their own and moved... well, most of them... back to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is a big state though and these families don't exactly live a few streets apart like they did for all those years. When the only remaining out-of-state dweller came for a visit we all figured a reunion was in order!

So we ended up this past Saturday at the beautiful lake home of my dad's good friend and long time business partner Rich Boersma. And let me tell you... we had a WONDERFUL time! After hello hugs all around we went down to the lake.
Above... JD being paddled in the kayak by Becky's oldest daughter Chloe. For those of you about to have a heart attack... it's a lot closer to shore than it looks! And he was wearing a life jacket.
Above... Eli and Hayden are (not so) patiently waiting their turn with Chloe in the kayak.

All those swimming lessons have paid off. Not one boy was afraid of the water. Let me tell you, two summers ago this would not have been possible. While my boys have been checking out new bodies of water recently, they had never been on boats before...

...and now they want a boat! And if you give a kid a boat, you know his mom is gonna want a lake house to go with it! :)

JD learns to drive the pontoon boat with a little help from Pa

Can you tell they are having a blast?
This picture of Wesley is one of my favorites from the day.

Wonder what Hayden is thinking?

We took the boats to the far end of the lake to swim and visit. When everyone was ready to go, we divided up into the various boats and headed back across the lake. The four big boys wanted to ride with Josh in the "speed boat". Do you know how much you have to trust someone to let them speed off with your children in a boat?

The old and less adventurous rode in the pontoon boat. Which, I must say, was still a LOT of fun!

To be continued...

Pink Flamingo 2010

July 17, 2010

Saturday morning we had our traditional Pink Flamingo breakfast of Uncle Mike's donuts and then headed over to Grandma's house for the parade. I feel like I'm repeating myself a bit here so if you don't know what the deal is with the Pink Flamingo (or you just want to take a quick jog down memory lane) read last year's post or the one from 2008 or 2007.
Those who wanted candy were not disappointed. We filled almost two ice cream pails with candy.And those that wanted to get wet weren't disappointed either. It is so funny that all the water fighting floats prepare for battle as they approach Grandma's house (where they know someone is always armed with the hose!). I heard several people comment that the water spraying felt good since it was considerably warmer this year than last.
I didn't get too many pictures this year because I was helping JD pick up candy. I finally had to call Wesley over to help we were getting so much! We also didn't actually go to the park and eat this year either. We had some other adventures instead! Post to follow shortly...

Shawano Lake

July 10, 2010

After the fun at Point Beach with Grandpa John, we thought we'd head to another beach for more fun with Grandma Joddy and Grandpa Steve! So once again we packed a picnic and loaded up the van (minus Roz, who had to work again).Shawano Lake has a small public beach. It is perfect for little ones because it has such a gradual entry into the water. JD could walk way out there before it was too deep for him. There were no big waves to knock him over either. A much more relaxing (for Mom and Dad) place to swim than Lake Michigan.
It's not the best beach for sand castles, but the excellent swimming more than makes up for it! I'm not sure what kind of sand it is, or what makes it different from the sand at Lake Michigan, but it didn't stick to you and get all over everything. Definitely a plus in my book!
The weather was perfect. No wind at all (another major plus over Point Beach). We all thoroughly enjoyed swimming, our picnic lunch, and more swimming.
I didn't think to take any pictures, but we saw several planes taking off and landing on the lake. It was pretty fun to watch. There aren't many pictures to share because I was enjoying myself in the lake! It reminded me of the "good ol' days" of learning to swim in the Spokane River in Northern Idaho.

No one wanted to leave but we packed up left for home with promises that would definitely be back sometime soon. As it turned out, we left just in time. A big line of thunderstorms moved across the lake area right after we left.

A Trip to the Toy Store

Jerry's dad left on Tuesday and his mom arrived on Thursday! We barely had time to wash the towels. The boys loved it though! All of the boys love to sit and read stories, show off at swimming lessons, and eat out when we have grandparent guests in the house!

We made a stop at the toy store while Grandma Joddy was here and each boy got to choose an item. They all thought carefully before making their final decisions and Mom had veto power, of course.

Most of the boys ended up choosing some dress up clothes. And, boy, was that a good choice! We had a police officer, a fire fighter, a train conductor, and a construction worker all running around the house offering their various services! (I will have to have them put on their gear and take a picture, I didn't even think of that until I started writing this post!) JD got a bonus little ice cream set (he loves play food!) and we all enjoyed playing with that too.

Wesley chose a little archaeologist kit. He spent several hours one morning chipping away at the "dirt" to excavate the little bones. He still has a few more to dig out before we can assemble the whole dinosaur body. The kit even came with safety glasses. :)

If you are looking for a birthday or Christmas gift for a hard to buy for middle aged boy... I highly recommend this kit! And for the under 6 crowd the dress up clothes are awesome too. They are Melissa and Doug brand so they are extra sturdy and seem to be holding up very well!

Wequiock Falls

July 5, 2010
When Grandpa John was here we took a little field trip to Wequiock Falls. One of Jerry's co-workers told us about this little hidden gem. The "falls" were barely more than a trickle the two times we've been there, but I'm sure after a good rain it's a little more impressive. Either way, it's a pretty little spot. Just don't forget the bug spray!
The boys enjoyed splashing around a bit in the little creek that run from the "falls".

After the falls we called Kroll's and confirmed they were open before driving over to get a bite to eat. They were open when we got there, but swamped with customers! The AC was also not working. After patiently waiting with five hungry boys, Jerry finally went and told our waitress that if they hadn't started our food we would just have to leave (it was past nap time and Buck had a vet appointment we needed to get to).

Our food appeared a short time later (after some order rearranging in the kitchen by our waitress). But we had to gobble and run. Jerry pretty much hopped out of the van grabbed Buck and got in the car. He did make it in time!

Now if you are ever in the Green Bay area and want some local flavor... Kroll's (right across the street from Lambeau) is THE place to eat. Don't let this scare you off... in all the times we've been to Kroll's over the years this is the first time we've ever had an issue there.

Fourth of July

Ever hear of the book A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Wallace? Let's just say I could totally steal his title and use it for the title of this post. The 4th was a bummer weather wise. Cloudy and rainy on and off. We still managed to have a great dinner (rain/sleet/snow never keeps Jerry from grilling) despite the weather.

"Red, White, and Blue" drink

(red and blue Koolaid ice cubes with Sprite)

For some reason I got the idea that since the boys are a bit older (and it went so well for the Memorial Day fireworks) that we shouldn't waste a bunch of money on a few fountains for our driveway, but go to the big fireworks display downtown instead. We anxiously watched the weather all through after dinner and decided it looked like the rain (which had mostly stopped) might hold off until the fireworks were over.

Silly Wesley waits... and waits...

We found a surprisingly decent spot to park and set up the chairs along the river. It wasn't nearly as crowded as we had expected, mostly due to the weather I'm sure. Then we waited. And took a walk along the river. And waited. And ate popcorn. And waited. Roz and a friend found us. We visited and waited some more. In the summer it doesn't get dark-enough-for-fireworks dark until late, WAY past little boy bedtime at our house. (Who wants fireworks at 6pm on December 4th? Me! Me! I do! Anyone else? Come on it will be fun!)
Hayden and JD said they liked the fireworks but spent most of the night on our laps, like this:
Well, at least they didn't cry! When the fireworks started (just before 10pm) so did the drizzle. Then it started to rain a bit more. I wouldn't say it poured, but it was just enough to make it... not that much fun. The boys started to complain. They were tired and cranky. And we were out of popcorn. The fireworks were good but (with the exception of the finale) not awesome.

We toughed it out until the very end and then trudged back to the van to go home and fall into our beds. I'm pretty sure that was the first time most of our boys were up that late intentionally. Next year I think a few fountains in the driveway might not be such a bad idea... especially if there is a chance for rain!

Point Beach 2010

Grandpa John arrived Friday, July 2 for a long weekend visit. Saturday (July 3rd) we loaded a picnic lunch and all the boys (Roz had to work) into the van for our annual day on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. We always enjoy Point Beach State Park. If you have never visited one of the great lakes you can't imagine how big they are! You could mistake it for the ocean except for the lack of salt.

Is the sun too bright or is that your pirate face?

The boys could play in the sand and water all day. We barely got them away for a few minutes to eat lunch and then they were back at it again.
This year it was a bit windy, as you can see by the size of the waves. The breeze keeps things cool though and the bigger waves just make it feel even more like the ocean so it's not too bad. Fortunately (or unfortunately) we did not witness any beach side weddings this year.

Three Generation Sand Castle

Jumping Justus

The only bummer part of this year's beach trip was that I wasn't feeling so hot (nothing bad just an upset stomach) and then just as we were leaving I caught my finger in the van door. I usually have a pretty high pain tolerance, but I thought I was going to pass out it hurt so bad! Thankfully, I felt much better after a short nap.

After naps and showers (or baths) all around we were refreshed and ready to go out to eat for dinner. We were all disappointed when we drove up to Kroll's to find the parking lot completely empty and the building closed. They were taking advantage of a slow 4th of July weekend to get their parking lot re-surfaced. After many grumbles from disappointed short passengers we ended up at Chili's. The boys were wary at first (they'd never been there before), but after cleaning their various plates they decided Chili's wasn't so bad after all.

The NEW Zoo

Wednesday June 30, 2010

Our local zoo is free on Wednesday nights for most of the summer. We decided to take advantage of this and take the boys over to check out the animals. (In case you are wondering... the zoo is not NEW. NEW= NorthEast Wisconsin.)

Eli, Hayden, and Hunter look at the snakes.

As we were unloading from the van in the zoo parking lot we ran into Jerry's co-worker, and good friend, Eric and his kids. We all walked around the zoo together... everyone knows the zoo is a lot more fun when you are there with friends!

Eli feeds the llama.
Is your Mama a Llama?
Llama Llama Red Pajama.

I don't remember what they were looking at here (prairie dogs, I think) but I just love this shot! If only Hayden and JD would have switched places it would have been perfect. Some day when all these boys are as tall as Jerry, I know I will look back at this picture and smile.

Justus peeks at a little masked friend.

JD watches some monkey antics. Everyone thought it was so cute that there was a baby monkey carrying around a stuffed animal!

Checking for penguins in the water. (There weren't any.)

The weather was perfect. Most of the animals were up and about. We saw the giraffes, but feeding time was over so they weren't up too close. We heard the lion roar several times... which makes Hayden nervous. And I just missed getting a shot of the peacock showing off his beautiful feathers. It was a lot of fun... and best of all... it was free!