Meet and Greet

On Wednesday Caroline and Julia had "Meet and Greet" at their new school.  Both girls are very excited to start another year.  Hard for us to believe that we have a 4th and 5th grader!

One of the cool things about Brookfield Elementary is the kids get lockers.  I can't tell you how exciting this is for the girls.  The school asked each kid to make a poster for their locker.  Because two schools are merging the theme was "Together We Are Family" and the pictures/words were to display what the kids enjoy doing with their family.

Only a few more days until school starts!!

 

Slip N' Slide

Some neighborhood friends got a huge slip n' slide this year.  Everyone had a blast!

 This video of Sarah is pretty funny!

 

Wordless Wednesday

It's a video so you won't be able to watch it on an iPhone, iPod or iPad.  Sorry...

 

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Ah, the long days of August are upon us.  The end of summer is the time boredom sets in at our house.  Tuesday was one of those loonngg days at our house and I knew I had to find something before they were locked in their rooms all day.  Scavenger Hunt to the rescue!

A few years ago I was desperate to get them out of my hair for at least 15 minutes.  I thought a scavenger hunt would be fun.  Because everything on the list wasn't something I wanted or could be brought into our house making it a photo scavenger hunt was the perfect solution!  Fun for them and not another mess for me to clean up.  Win, win! (Sometimes it's the small things...)

The kids used their own V-Tech kid cameras so I didn't have to worry about ours being dropped.  The search area was limited to our yard and there was no time limit!

I make a new list every time (which really is from lack of organization because I don't know where the lists are from previous games).  The lists aren't fancy but fun for them.

Here's the list from Tuesday:

And the pictures they take are always the best!!

 

Summer Trip to Green Bay

To celebrate the end of summer we thought it would be fun to take the kids on a mini-vacation.  Nothing with a long drive and only a few days away.  We decided on Green Bay for no other reason than we could go to Bay Beach (people have told us about it for years), they had a hotel with a water park and we could tour the stadium. 

We left on Thursday morning and our first stop was at Bay Beach in Green Bay.



All the girls riding the Merry Go Round

And Sarah on rides her size:

This looks fun...Mom don't leave me...hmm water...phew it's done!

While Bay Beach was fun we determined that our kids aren't really that keen on rides.  Sarah never got into the little kid rides and she was too small for the big kid ones.  Caroline and Julia enjoyed the tilt-a-whirl and the swings.  We all rode the train which was fun but short.  Going on a Thursday meant the lines weren't long which was nice.

After our afternoon at Bay Beach we went to the Tundra Lodge (our hotel).  The water park inside is on the smaller size which we've found out is the right size for our kids. There were two water slides, a lazy river, basketball area, ropes and a splash pond for the young kids. 

The older girls loved the ropes (or whatever they are called):

The lazy river was a hit, except with Sarah who only went on once while screaming the entire time!  Of course, it was her Mom that put her on her Dad's lap.  That wasn't repeated the rest of the trip.

 

So, instead Sarah spent a lot of the trip either in the splash pond or like this.

 

 

After swimming we needed to find somewhere for dinner.  We asked the hotel maintenance guy if he could give us a recommendation for a family friendly place to eat.  He asked if we wanted a chain or something local.   We said it didn't really matter, but would love to try something local as long as it was kid friendly.  After mentioning the hotel restaurant (even thought he hasn't eaten there) and one local place (which was good but a little pricey) he also told us there is an Old Country Buffet and Golden Corral in town.  We thanked him and decided to ask at the front desk for other suggestions. 

Because the front desk of a hotel should have a list of good places to try either local or chain.  Right?  Wrong.  After stumbling on his words the front desk person told Brian about the Golden Corral in town.  Wow.  While we aren't people who demand a lot from their restaurant experience we were hoping for a little better than OCB or the Golden Corral. 

We ended up at the "pricey" restaurant Krolls.  Brian thinks it should be on the Restaurant Impossible show on the Food Network, but I reminded him that show was for businesses who are going bankrupt and while Krolls decor was from the 50's they are far from going out of business.  I looked at their website to link it above and on there they state "Krolls is a family-owned restaurant that has prospered for over 70 years in the Green Bay area, and we are nestled in the perfect location across from Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, it is itself a landmark, known both nationally and internationally."  Our meal was ok and by our big city standards wasn't expensive - $39 for all five of us.

The next morning we went to the water park and left around lunch time to go to Curly's Pub inside Lambeau Field and take a tour.  In sharp contract to the night before, Curly's had great food and was a fun atmosphere.

After lunch we went on the stadium tour.  It was awesome to go behind the scenes and learn more Packer history. 

Below is the tunnel the players walk through.  One cool thing they do is as you walk through the tunnel they have a recording of the crowd cheering and the announcer introducing the Green Bay Packers!

Other pictures from our tour:

And Julia had one of our camera's and here are the pictures she took:

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the water park.  And again we had to find somewhere for dinner.  A quick Google search on my phone for "Green Bay Restaurants Kid Friendly" brought up a whole bunch.  And wouldn't you know...Golden Corral wasn't even on the list. :)  We opted for Sammy's Pizza Restaurant.  Local, good food and what kid doesn't like pizza!

At dinner after a long day.  Sorry about cutting your head off Brian :)

The next morning we went to the water park one more time before we said good bye to Green Bay and our vacation. 

In the hall between our room and the water park was a huge stuffed bear.  Sarah was scared of the bear and would hold our hand while using the other hand to cover her eyes as we walked past.  It was super cute, but I never thought to get it on film.  On the last morning Brian took her down to meet the bear with the older kids.  (The bear was a complete fake.  Almost like a large stuffed animal, but I can see how it would be scary when you are only 4 years old and not very tall.)



Sisters being silly...meeting the bear with Daddy...still not so sure...

It was a successful trip and we all had a great time with many memories to share.

Feeding the fish and ducks

Grandma Weber has a pond outside the back door of her apartment.  The kids love feeding the fish and ducks.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Warrior Dash

On the 18th, Brian did the Warrior Dash again with some co-workers.  He says it is lots of fun.  All I know is that he clothes are pretty dirty when he gets done!

Here's a link to the website to show you how crazy it is.

http://www.warriordash.com

Wedding in Madison

Brian's cousin got married on the weekend.  The ceremony was held at Olbrich Gardens in Madison.  It was beautiful day and they looked so happy.

Pictures were taken by Julia, our aspiring photographer!  We are thinking a camera of her own will be in her future.

It was good to catch up with many of Brian's cousins and their families.

Update

I’ve thought about updating this blog almost every week of the summer but either an activity or exhaustion has kept me from doing it. Here are the highlights:

End of school:

The kids finished school on a high and low note. They did very well in school and we are so proud of all their accomplishments.  On a low note their school closed and they will be attending a different one in the fall. All of their friends will be with moving also, so hopefully the transition won’t be too difficult.  Change is hard and they are doing well at this point. 

Camp Vertical:

Summer has brought lots of fun but also time to just relax. Caroline and Julia were both at Camp Vertical every week they offered it this summer. They love everything about the camp and that makes dropping them off easier. Each week they sign up for a different type of camp. This year they did: Crafts & Cooking, Adventure, Musical Camp, Loud & Proud, Construct, Steps and Go for the Gold. 

Musical:

At Camp Vertical the older girls did a small musical and performed it for the parents. It was "Jail House Rock". They had a blast and it was fun to watch.

Gabriella, Caroline and Julia with dessert before the show.

VBS:
Another year at VBS. The kids had a blast at Sky VBS - Where Everything is Possible with God.  We traveled into the great beyond and had fun the entire week.  Sarah was old enough to be included this year.  Aviator sunglasses completed the look!

Smokey Hollow: 
We took a mini-camping trip in July to Smokey Hollow Campground which is located outside of Wisconsin Dells. The kids had a blast and I was ok because we are able to sleep in a gazebo and don’t have to sleep in tents!

Wirth Park:

The warm weather had us going to Wirth Park Pool quite frequently. I love the 90 and 100 degree days and spending the day at the pool is fun for everyone.  All the kids are comfortable in the water which is good. Now I just have to find a time in our packed calendar to schedule swimming lessons this fall!

Birthday Party – Caroline and Julia:

Caroline and Julia had a joint birthday party. Due to my injury we weren’t able to have a party for Caroline in January. So, we decided it was best to just wait and Julia was excited to have a joint party. We had 9 girls total that we took swimming at Wirth Park and then back to our house for pizza, cake and a movie. We were lucky they all fell asleep around 10:30. I have to say I was pretty shocked when the first kid started talking around 6:00 am! I talked with the girls about not having their friends bring presents this year. The look of shock and disbelief was almost too much for me to handle. Thinkiig on my feet, which we Mom’s do a lot, I said "how about your friends give you a book. They can pick out their favorite and give it to you as a gift?" That idea was met with great enthusium and it was awesome to see all the different books the kids got. And there were no duplicates or any that we already owned!

 

Birthday Party – Sarah:


Can you believe that Sarah is 4 years old? It seems like just yesterday she was my small baby. Now, she is lively and full of energy. She told us that she needed an American Girl Doll this year for her birday (what she says instead of birthday). Grandma Mary and Grandpa Jim got that for her to keep with the tradition of the girls getting their first doll from them. It was an exhausting and fun party.


As requested...chocolate!

Rebecca, her American Girl Doll

Triathlon:

Caroline and Julia both did the Pewaukee Kids triathlon. Neither of them want to ever do it again! Enough said.



 

Zoo Classes:

On Wednesday’s Sarah and I have taken quite a few zoo classes that are offered at the Milwaukee County Zoo. They are fun, educational and you really learn stuff! 

Olympics:

I've always loved watching the olympics!  We had a few friends over and watched the opening ceremonies together.  I brought out dish cloths that I bought in London to help decorate.  We had a typical Wisconsin dinner of brats and hamburgers, but added New Castle Brown Ale, McVittes and Ringo's to give it the British flare.  I also made the girls shirts with the olympic rings and London 2012 (in the olympic font) under it.  They turned out great and the kids had fun wearing them.  We also kept track of the medals for a few contries.  Sarah had the United States, Julia had China, South Korea & Russia, Caroline had Austrailia, Germany and Great Britian.  Caroline and Julia then needed to look up on the internet three facts about their country to share with us.  It was a fun way to get the kids excited about the Olympics.

Trees:

Brian helped our neighbors cut down three pine trees that were dying in their front yard. The trees were much smaller than the ones he cut down at his Mom’s house in Milwaukee, but they were still decent size.  It took a good majority of the day, but the front of their house looks so much better. 


This is the largest of the three trees as it's coming down.

Our friends visit from Texas:

We had a great visit from our friends Ms Stacy, Hannah and Charlie from Texas. The last time we saw them was when we made the trip to Texas a few years ago.  They were in town for a wedding and it was great to be able to see them. 

Hannah, Stacy, Charlie, Caroline and Julia

I think that's it for now...hopefully I won't have to do such a long post next time!