WI: tubing

Photo Warning: My sister in law got a bunch of really great shots and I had a hard time narrowing the photos in the post down. Consider yourself warned.

We were able to get a few good tubing runs in. Taking the girls out on the tube was hilarious. Rylee was scared: sqoze my hand the whole time and tried to hide behind whoever was on her opposite side (dad or auntie M). Kelsey (AKA: the thrill seeker) loved it. She found the handles and knew just what to do. The only time she let go was when we crossed the wake and then she'd clap her hands and cheer, lol. Ah man, I can't wait for her to be tall enough to ride the steel eel with me at Sea World :)

see Kelsey clapping?

After a few minutes, we ditched the girls so we could get up to an appropriate tubing speed. :) Team Mike and Trish was unable to be thrown from the tube this trip.  Not for lack of trying. Even when the twenty-something brother was behind the wheel and no parents in sight ;)

We did however catch some air:

and speed:

It is REALLY hard to hold on when you are laughing that hard, but you are swinging around so fast that you know it will hurt more if you hit the water at those speeds. And then Michael yells in your ear: "Hold on!! Don't let go!!"

so. fun!

After my arms turned to jello (and the random neighbor yelled at us to stop) we decided to jump off the boat for a swim.  Like most things in life: its much more fun to do with a friend.  Bonus points if that friend is a cousin.

WI: fishing

Michael was very excited to be able to fish on vacation. One day he came up to me all sweet-like and asked "what would you like to do today?" {mind you we'd had a bit of a rainy day or two) "I don't know maybe-" "We could fish off the dock. We could fish off the pontoon boat. We could fish off the speed boat. We could fish off the shore. We could fish off the beach" you get the idea. My sweet husband had a goal: catch a large mouth bass.

So, we headed to the local fish/bait store for a few new loors. We seemed to have the most success fishing from the dock. I may have even been able to grab them with my hands from the shore. They're fed plenty (enter leftover pancakes or ends of bread) and small fish congregate near the dock/beach. One even mistook a mole on my leg as food. But it hurt and I had a welt for a few days, that fish had to find his dinner elsewhere.

That evening on the pontoon boat Michael's dream of catching a bass came true.

The REAL prize catch was mine, if I do say so myself.  We were just about to head in and I let out a cast and quickly got a bite and reeled it back in.  Well, as soon as I could see the end of the hook I started laughing.  I caught a baby of a fish.  It was barely bigger than my palm.  Like 5 inches.

Michael teased "you caught it, you have to get the hook out"  which I promptly did. (after letting out a small yelp when the fish jumped out of my grasp. (For the record, I was more afraid of getting the hook in my hand than the fish itself)

We leasurely watched the sun set.  Michael was graciously asked to leave the poles home on the next boat ride :)

WI: boating

It wouldn't be a summer vacation in Wisconsin without a pluthera of boat rides. (Kelsey learned a few new words that week, one of which was "boat") We fired up the pontoon daily and the girls absolutely loved it! Its giant play pen! Most evenings we were the only ones on the lake. We'd ride around checking out the loons, and the eagle that live on/near the lake. The girls loved taking turns driving. Kelsey had a special facination with the light "switch" (?). It was so relaxing taking in the wonderful views.

After a few days Michael's siblings began to join us - which quickly meant COUSINS!! And Aunts and Uncles :) We don't have the opportunity to see each other often but we have loads of fun when together.

WI: cabin, 4 wheeler

Not only was this our first time to the cabin, it was the first time we'd been to Wisconsin and spent any time with just Michael's parents. No siblings or cousins for a few days. It was fun and nice that Rylee and Kelsey could get a little one-on-one with their Poc and Nana- let alone their Daddy was around all day! We did puzzels, went out to see movie, and Rylee begged anyone to play her Princess matching game, yahtzee or sleeping queens.

The girls loved playing outside most of the day. Especially once Poc pulled out the little 4 wheeler. Dad used an old shovel handle to push the pedal for Kelsey, though she learned quickly to lean to the right and she could just reach. Both girls had a pretty difficult time sharing this toy.

We probably shouldn't laugh so hard at our children's misfortune, but this was just too funny. Kelsey nearly being dragged around the grass kills me every time. (btw, does my laugh really sound like that??!! ugh.)

Our girls are both obsessed with stairs. Kelsey especially loved sitting on them and eating a snack or two. Rylee liked to lay on them. Considering the amount of time spent on them and the fact we don't have any in our home the fact that they each only fell down the staircase once is remarkable. Rylee's roll was quite comical, Kelsey's however.

WI'13: EC/Strawberries

We decided the best course of action for traveling 24ish hours non-stop would be to definately sleep in as late as possible, pack the car, and take care of any other loose ends around the house then get on the road. The trip up went really well. We stopped in Dallas for a few minutes to see Michael's brother who just moved to Texas (Yay!!). Driving through the night works well for us. The kids sleep and we just swap drivers every few hours and then that leaves less day time on the road. We enjoyed seeing all the farms along the highway or as Rylee called them "Big Gardens". We got to Michael's parents house in the early afternoon. btw did you know they moved?? Their new home is big, beautiful and just a mile or two from their old home where Michael had lived since he was 7. It was a little strange for Michael to be in Wisconsin but not "home". He may or may not have almost missed the turn several times ;)

We spent a few days in Eau Claire, went to church where Kelsey had her first "offical" day in nursery (our home nursery is amazing and let her attend early) where she was promptly bit - don't worry, she STILL refused to let go of the sought after for toy. lol. Michael did a bit of reasearch and found a local farm/orchard was in picking season for strawberries. Michael was really excited to pick berries. . . . . I wasn't *quite* as thrilled. Though, I don't think it brought back the same sleepless summer mornings for him as it did me. On the upside, I do know how to swim multiple strokes :) (I payed for swimming lessons in raspberries summer's as a kid. So, if I wanted to swim, I had to pick the raspberries :))

We all took our turn holding the Quality Control title, but Kelsey took it to a whole new level. She did get a few in the bucket. And you can kindof see how she avoids using her pointer finger on her right hand too.

Our haul:

Autie M had girls camp that week so she was dropped of and then we headed up to the cabin for the remainder of our vacation. Michael's parents have had the cabin for 4-ish years and this is the first time we'd been. I think we were the last of all the family members (including the extended family) to see it. We were really excited to go play!! We took our berry haul with us so we could enjoy fresh berries, pie, shortcake and jam. We even made enough to take a few jars home with us. So tasty!!

Independence Day

Way back in the beginning of July we celebrated our Nation's Independence.
I don't know that I would recommend hosting a party the day before you leave on vacation, but we did.   Earlier in the week I was reminicing 4th of July parties in the past (namely Provo UT Freedom Festival) with the big parade and whatnot.  I forget how much I love parades but in the midst of getting ready for a party and packing the family for a road trip vacation I didn't want to fight the big crowds downtown or at Woodlawn lake (which apparently is HUGE here for the 4th, I can't speak from  experience as we've never gone.)
 
Anyway, I kindof gave up on the idea until the evening of the 3rd - we ran into a ward member and they were going to the parade in Castroville (A small town west of us, but actually a shorter distance from our home than downtown SA - We go out that way every now and then, but I kindof forget about it) and I thought what a genious idea. So the next morning we headed to the local parade.  We were able to park a block away and found a seat about 5 minutes before the parade started. Perfect.

We even found a few other friends to join us!

Now, if you haven't had the opportunity to view a parade with me, you are missing out on a special experience. . . . . not quite once in a lifetime, but close ;) I yell for EVERYONE. Politicians. . . . . Bands. . . . the kids selling beverages. . . . royalty. . . . everyone. And its awesome. If you have a poster, I yell what is writen on it. Even the stranger next to us said "I don't even know you and I'm having fun!" haha. Though I guess I technically I can't say I yelled for everyone this particular parade. So there was an entry where there were a bunch of Native Americans and one inparticular all dressed up . . . . The problem was there was no sign or group name, so I didn't know who exactly they were. I kept thinking of the clip from a SNL skit "Go Native Americans!" and thought that might not be appropriate. I also toyed with the idea of screaming "HOW!" or singing "what makes the red man red?" (Peter Pan anyone??) But didn't want to offend anyone with my political incorrectness. Later Michael commented how he was waiting for me and I came up with nothing. I was stumped by the Indians and just clapped. lol. Oh well. Next time have a sign yo!

It was a relatively small parade. Only a few floats, one band, and LOTS of cars (only some of which were old), horses and TONS of candy. One of our friends commented how he hadn't seen the correlation between the volume of screams and the amount of candy thrown. They asked for us to be sure and let them know where we'll be sitting next year :). It will definately be a new tradition. It was hot, but lots of fun too.

After the parade, we walked down to the town square where we were served free lunch: hotdogs, chips, water, watermelon and popcicles. We then headed to our brand new Steak and Shake restaurant so we could receive our free steak and shake for 2 months promotional coupon book. (seriously 3 free meals once a week for two months. . . .awesome!!) Then got ready to host the bi-annual firework extravaganza. Once our friends arrived we ate dinner, watched the kids splash around in pools/sprinklers and waited for the sun to start setting. We had a great show. This is the first year Rylee actually stayed outside to watch- mostly because she was wearing earplugs, and the ear "muffs". She couldn't hear anything and was humming and singing to herself all night! As long as the girls had popcorn in their hands and I didn't make them hold a sparkler and/or roman candle they were good (one of the main reasons Rylee clung to another Mother). That's fine. . . more for me ;)

Since we were leaving the next day for our trip to Wisconsin we made everyone take perishables out of our fridge on their way home. We quickly cleaned up and tried to get a good night's rest. As I said- I wouldn't recommend hosting a party the day before you leave for 2 weeks, but I wouldn't have NOT done it either. We love being surrounded by friends on the Holiday's :) We hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did.

a vacation from our vacation.

Just incase you didn't know, the past 6 weeks have been NON STOP for us! 2 trips to Wisconsin with a little jont up to Oklahoma in the middle, followed by girls camp and a work trip to Dallas. That's about 8300 miles driven - and the better parts of 10 days in the car. After this week I'll be locking our suitcases in a closet for at least, I dont' know, a month??? haha. not sound long enough to you? I have big plans to update the blog on all our crazy, fun, and a little obnoxious adventures over the last month and a half. But first I have some sleep to catch up on and (of course) laundry to put away.