These Are a Few of my Favorite Views

Jay and I departed for Alaska the day of our 11th wedding anniversary, and celebrated his 40th birthday while we were there.  It was AMAZING.  We flew to Anchorage, and headed south to Girdwood for our first leg of the trip where we climbed mount Alyeska and hiked onto a glacier.  The first time we tried to hike to the top we encountered a moose a short way in, who decided we did not belong there, so we had to walk (slash run) back to the hotel.  On another hike we used a hand tram (and when I say we I mean I stood in the cart while Jay used his hands to crank the pulley that pulled us in the tram) to cross a water passage that was maybe just shy of a football field across.  We spent a day in Whittier, not to visit the strange little town (strange is putting it mildly as I could not even comprehend a town of 225 people all living in the same apartment building) but to board a glacier day cruise.  We also did a short stop in Seward, and then onto Homer where we stayed in a condo on the spit with an incredible view (last picture), saw the largest Halibut we'll probably ever see (5' 2" and 125lbs), ate salmon for dinner that Jay's fishing guide had caught that day (and I hate salmon, but apparently not fresh Alaskan salmon!), and we think we saw Mt. Augustine erupting across the bay as we departed for Anchorage to begin our journey back home.  We both agree we would love to go back and see more of Alaska, maybe we'd get a bit more of the sun next time (not that the rain or fog stopped us from doing anything) and who knows maybe even winter, after all it's apparently colder in Wisconsin than it is in Homer that time of year!

First Family Football Game

We took the kids to the Tosa West High School football game a few weeks ago and the girls were excited from the start. (Joseph took a bit more convincing but quickly warmed up once we hit the bleachers).  They had great fun picking out their red outfits to wear and getting their hair done like "cheerleaders".  You can tell in their poses they are quit the "fashionists" (a word I still find a bit scary!) 

First Day of 2nd Grade AND Junior Kindergarten!

In a surprising turn of events, Joseph was the first one to be ready for school this morning and was dressed and done eating breakfast at 7am.  (not only surprising because he is usually the last out of bed and slowest to get ready, but also because at 9:30 last night he was still awake.  He "forgot how to fall asleep" and "he just doesn't know how anymore".)  The girls wore outfits that they picked out well in advance, and were happy to put on their back packs and head out this morning.  Joseph was super excited to see all his 2nd grade friends and the girls ready to make new ones in JK (1/2 day kindergarten for 4yr olds).  Before even entering the classroom, Hannah had already asked another girl if she could hold her hand and Leah had asked the same girl if she liked her (Leah's) clothes that she was wearing.  Hannah the forever social butterfly and Leah motivated to keep up or looking for compliments....I'm not sure which!  Both girls were wiped out after their  2.5 hour school day, and passed out right after lunch.  We will see if first day of school had the same effect on Joseph - odds are he will remember how to fall asleep tonight!

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!

I've Been A Little Slow....

It seems I've been a bit slow with posting pictures....just put the 4th of July photos out on facebook, still working on the 2013 family photo album.  Yes, I still put together photo albums...but I do use Shutterfly to print the pictures on nice pages instead of printing photos and slipping them into the albums (not that there's anything wrong with that!).  But I have managed to find time to watch about 10 old episodes of the King of Queens over the past week because I am more inclined to do that from bed than work on a photo album.  (bet you thought I would say Seinfeld?  No, I've seen all those 5 times over.  And Yes, I do still watch them anyway)  The kids watched two oldie but goodie movies recently...Dumbo and Charlotte's Web!  Jay was in New York for two weeks in July so we tried to fill it with activities along with some McDonalds and movies.  He brought back shirts for the kids, and Joseph told him he's too old for Mickey.  Jay tried to explain that you're never too old for Mickey and didn't he want to go to Disney where Mickey lives?  Joseph responded with something along the lines of geez dad, there's lots of other stuff at Disney besides Mickey.  For being such an old kid who does math problems and practices writing, he sure sleeps with a lot of stuffed animals (approx. 20...grover of course, along with a Sneech, Yurtle, the brewers Sausages, a shark, blue bunny, very large frog and huge red puppy, a yellow duck, an elf....I could go on)  And speaking of writing, I convinced him to write a page in his summer journal the other day and he decided on a biography.  It went something like "Hi.  My name is Joseph Conway.  I am alergeck to everything outside and cats.  I like....."  Yes, he led with his allergies!  It was actually pretty funny, at least to me.  Hannah and Leah practice writing letters and their names, but aren't nearly as interested in reading as Joseph was.  But they are both very meticulous in their artwork and coloring.  They cannot get enough princess and Barbie coloring books and pages, and if they accidentally poke the marker through the page or color a color where they didn't intend, they disgard the entire page and need to start over.  They also measure time in sleeps, and are counting down to the number of sleeps until they see Bubbie and Papa and their cousins at the beach, how many sleeps until Grandma comes to our house, and how many sleeps until we go to Ohio to visit Grandpap and Grandma Pam?  It's cute, except that they literally ask these questions every night. :)  Along with Leah asking as I'm walking out of the room "Mommy can I pick out my clothes in the morning?" and Hannah screaming "Mommy I love you!" as I'm closing the door.  It's actually quite adorable, which I have to remind myself of in the moment at times! 

Father's Day

 On father's day we stopped at Cranky Al's for donuts for breakfast and then continued on to Lamplighter park in Brookfield for fishing and park play.  Leah was the big winner with two catches for the morning, and after about 20 minutes they were ready for swings and slides but Joseph stuck with it for a while before joining us at the park.  Jay was then off to London for work later in the day so we drove down to Evanston and had fun at the beach with Poppa, Bubbie, and Aunt Gina. (It may have been the windiest day of the year and Lake Michigan was freezing but the kids didn't care one bit and the sand came out of my ears after a few days).  A fun summer weekend....and with the fourth approaching it seems like summer is going to be over as soon as it began!

Last Day of 1st Grade

Joseph's last day of first grade at Washington Elementary!  Leah and Hannah were happy to be there for the flag raising and pledge of aledgence as well as the ice cream social later that afternoon on the playground.  The girls cannot wait to join him next year when they go to half day junior kindergarten (they are about 6weeks past the cutoff and will be the oldest in their class).  Joseph has changed so much since the beginning of the school year....he has his two front teeth, he is over 48 inches tall, and his writing has really taken off!  Though he still doesn't like to do it, we're trying to motivate him by just writing one page a week to earn a new Wii game at the end of the summer.  His response was that he could just have a few more lemonade stands and earn the money himself! (we have some very generous customers)  He's looking forward to sleepovers with his friends, Lego camp, coach pitch baseball, and swim lessons start up for all the kids next week at the outdoor pool.  (Hannah has already scraped her face on the bottom of it but it didn't seem to bother her much)  Since we bought a pool pass for this summer it is turning out to be the coldest June on record, but we're still enjoying it!  The girls start their Safetytown class next week and then onto dance and gymnastics.  Between all the activities, parks, the zoo, beaches and camping....everyone is excited for summer!

Baking Scenes

The kids had been wanting cookie dough, so last weekend we made cookies from scratch (which I almost NEVER do) and they had fun tasting their work and enjoying homemade cookies in their lunches for a week.  (You can tell Jay's still having fun with the new camera)  And on the subject of lunches, i feel like we need to find something new to add to the mix.  Joseph almost always takes peanut butter and jelly to school, though sometimes he will bring a slice of pizza or a lunchable instead, that's about it in terms of variety!  The girls like grilled cheese (but only with tomato soup), velveeta shells and cheese, and sometimes can also be convinced to have a slice of pizza (though they prefer pizza with olives or mushrooms or tomatoes....more like me and less like Joseph and Jay!)  Everyone has had subway a few times but it seems when we make the sandwiches no one likes them, so I'm at a loss for what we can put in their lunch other than the usual.  (we did do hard-boiled eggs for a few weeks but no one's a big fan of that anymore)  Ideas anyone?