Camping at Lake Wissota

We went camping in Chippewa Falls at Lake Wissota with Grandma, the Groggs and Goulds and fortunately no rain and not too hot either.  All five of us were in one tent, but this year with a new cot and pad for Jay and I, along with ear plugs.  Much better sleeping than in years past!  The kids loved the "nature walks" we took despite that Hannah was stung by a bee on one of them.  As Hannah tells it:   "It was super awesome.  I went on the golden nature walk and a wasp stung me.  It was my first one ever and it was super awesome.  Mom help me get up, and Daddy came and held my hand.  He's my hero."  And Joseph won the trophy for biggest catch.  It was a walleye, and bigger than the one that Dad caught, and Grandma and Uncle Patrick didn't catch any. (according to Joseph, though I think Uncle Patrick may have caught one that got thrown back in!)  The kids learned how to play bocce ball, and we did some swimming and beach play, but one of Leah's favorites was the smores.  She waited very patiently for night number two to make these delicious treats, and then waited even a bit longer because mom dropped her perfectly cooked marshmallow on the ground and had to start over.  It was a great way to wrap up our summer fun!

Little Dancers

Leah (left, pink) and Hannah had fun taking Dance and Gymnastics this summer.  I went for the last class and watched them dance to Chim-Chiminey Cha-Roo from Mary Poppins (they loved the song choice).  But even more than the song, they loved that they got to dress up, have their hair done and wear makeup!  Tiffany (our nanny) did a great job getting them ready.  Even though class has been over for a few weeks they've still been doing their somersaults, back bends, crabs, and beginner cartwheels across their bedroom floor (I much prefer this to the acrobatic jumping from one bed to another.  No we don't allow this, but it happens quite a bit anyway, and yes there have been some downsides to the girls sharing a bedroom!)  They also took swim lessons (along with Joseph) throughout the summer, and while Joseph passed to the next level since he's able to do a front and back crawl, I think Leah gets the award for most improved and Hannah might be strongest 4 year old swimmer this side of the Missippi (ok that might be an exaggeration).  Both girls love going into "the deep" at Hoyt Pool, which is the 4 foot section where they can only touch on the shallow end and they can jump into water and swim out to Jay and I without touching.  They are trying to get ready for when they hit 48" and can go on the slide with Joseph!  Joseph did coach pitch baseball through the rec department, but he still prefers kickball, ball tag, and dodge ball to traditional sports.  And his favorite is still Hockey.  They all liked the 4th of July cooking class they took, and Joseph's favorite activity was Zooper Heroes and the Milwaukee County Zoo (of course, because it involves talking about super heroes and super hero powers...but I was surprised that it beat out Lego Camp).  The girls also enjoyed learning how to be Zookeepers for a morning....but nothing can compete with Dance!  Well, except crazy fun things like going to Monkey Joe's and Chucky Cheese's....but they got to do that this summer too.  They've had a blast, despite that they sometimes say they are bored or complain about having to practice writing and reading (Joseph of course, but not about math!) or that they don't need naps (Hannah and Leah, but sometimes Joseph too.  Don't we all need a nap every now and then?)

WI State Fair

We enjoyed a few hours at the WI State Fair with Grandma last weekend, it was a hot one so we cooled down with creme puffs and flavored milk (except the kids didn't want any creme puffs and Joseph and I wanted nothing to do with the milk).   Jay once again contemplated buying a vitamixer, but the kids vote went towards a hot tub (we didn't get either).  The cow was too hot to sit on this year, so we went with the family pose instead.  We watched pigs, goats, and ducks race, saw some huge bunny rabbits, did the big slide, but alas, no food on a stick this year.  We did however go to Saz's for dinner this week and sampled their fried pickles and fried cookie dough from the fair, so I think that counts!