Family & Friends!

After our whirlwind Iowa City tour, we drove back to our place with Dave's folks, Ron and Bobbi, following! It was a beautiful day and we ended up taking a different route than we normally take. Due to road construction earlier this year, Dave had found an alternate route and said it was very scenic (so is the normal one:) and so we veered off our beaten path. I drove and that was just a little frustrating as I wanted to look around more than you should when driving! 

We stopped for ice cream, drove through the many, many hills and saw some incredible flood damage. A nice bonus was that we hit the road in time to enjoy the evening once we got to our house. We got some pizza and sat on the front porch and enjoyed the weather! 

Grandma and the kiddos!

Grandpa talking with Collin

Dave still had to work - bummer, but luckily he was home pretty early each day to hang out and have fun. I always enjoy having Ron and Bobbi visit, we usually have super yummy meals, lots of laughs, and help with the kids:) We ended up getting to go to the pool for an afternoon, Kate is a fish and it is so much fun to watch her. I ended up nursing Collin and letting him sleep in my arms on a lounge chair and watch the others in the pool, which I didn't mind at all! It was very relaxing.

We were able to get on the boat one evening too. This season has left much to be desired for boating so far, so it was such a nice change to be out on the water. It was Collin's second trip and he did great. Kate is pretty much an expert at this point, and it was awesome to have Ron and Bobbi there to help (they have an amazing boat down in the Ozarks:) We ran over to the other side of the lake to get gas and then pulled up to a beach and let Kate play. Oops, we forgot the sand toys. Yes, we let her play with an empty red Solo cup we found on the beach. Best parents ever. One of the things I love about our lake is that it is not overly developed on the shoreline, but there are about a half dozen restaurants/bars on the water that you can get to by boat. So we just cruised over to Portofino Bay and had a nice Italian meal! Then Grandma and I took the kids home while the boys buttoned up the boat. 

Driving the boat

Out to dinner at Portofino Bay

It turns out that oftentimes, our guests are involved in some sort of home/property improvement when they visit...I just want to say that we don't require hard labor if you want to stay here:) It wasn't planned but we (I use that term loosely:) cleared out the "front yard." When Dave said he wanted the front cleared, I didn't think that was the first priority but afterwards...it is awesome! What a difference it makes! Our yard is just a total blank slate, nothing has been done, there is MUCH to do, slowly, over time, but I am already so happy with the little we have accomplished so far in 2013. Thank you to Ron, Justin and Dave for the hard work last week!

Collin had a doctor's appointment in the mix as well. Dave happened to be post-call and home and so he came along. The kids' pediatrician is one of our best friends up here and I did have to say at one point, "Dave, if you want to show Ryan the trucks you are looking at (on his phone) please schedule your own appointment."  :) Collin did great, Ryan kept saying, "Is he always this good?" Yup! He is average for his weight (15 lbs. 12 oz) and is 95% for his head and his height!! He is over 26 in. long:) Kate was (and still is) our 50% babe, but I'm pretty sure that this little tank I gave birth to is going to be...substantial:)  He is definitely a healthy, breastfed babe (and super cute!) Of course, then he had shots - boo and I was nursing him right after, when Dave got called back into the hospital! Ah! Not really wanting to abruptly end his feeding after getting three shots, I told him to just pull the carseat and go (we drove in the van together). He called back to the house where his parents were (had to call our home phone and convince them to pick it up since they have no cell service at our place) and Ron drove over and picked us up. This doesn't happen too often, but it is such a logistical problem sometimes, especially with two kiddos/carseats, etc. I am just so happy Ron and Bobbi were here. Ooh! We also had Collin try his first food while they were visiting - a piece of frozen banana in that little mesh thing. He devoured it. Well, he is trying to devour/gnaw on everything right now, I think the frozen banana felt great to him. I haven't done it since, just because I haven't had time/thought of it. So funny, with Kate, we were giving her rice cereal the day she turned 4 months old, this time I am just not getting around to it! He is 4.5 months old right now....

Happy baby!

After a nice long visit with Gma and Gpa L., the kids and I packed up to head to Decorah/Clermont for the weekend. Dave was on call but we had previously scheduled a get-together with the Swoboda's and Peterson's. I didn't want to miss it, it would be the first time all the kids were together after Lawson was born in April! I also needed to get my bridesmaid dress so, we had a nice trip to Decorah on Friday, though at one point due to construction, I was wandering around the gravel roads of extreme southern Minnesota, I have to admit that I was reciting Psalm 23 (my go-to verse) because at times, the road was about one lane and looked like it was just a driveway and I didn't know where I was, Collin was waking up...whew, we made it. The dress fit, Mom left work early and we headed back up north to the Laura museum in Burr Oak and then up to Canton to the antique shop! 

Mom and I found some fun stuff at the antique shop and purchased a few things (we always get more when we are together:) and then bought a bunch of baked goods from the Amish lady out front. Yum. We relaxed for a minute at Mom and Dads and once Dad got home, headed to the Old Armory BBQ, it was my first time and I loved it! Can't wait to take Dave there and hopefully we can sit outside without rain chasing us inside. 

Saturday, we headed to Clermont as my Mom went up the Cities to see my Uncle Jerry throw out the first pitch at the Twins game!! Dad was the poor one left to work on projects at the house. I can't even tell you how much I love spending time with my best girlfriends and their families. Luckily, we spent much of the time enjoying the (finally) nice weather! The kids ages are 3.5 years, just turned 3 yrs, 1.5 years, 4 months and 2 months:) I will never tire of watching these kids play and interact, I wish I would have video-taped a couple hours to show Dave. Kris cooked up phenomenal food, we tried to run the energy out of the kids:) and us girls got to catch up and hold babies! Fun note - Lawson and Collin are almost the same size..can't wait to watch these two grow up so close in age. 

Best college friends and our kids!

Loving the trampoline

Running around - God bless summer:)

Too soon, the kids and I were packed up and headed back to Wisconsin, though we were eager to see Daddy. It is somewhat of a new route for me to drive from Clermont to home, and all was going well, Collin asleep - which is the key to success, but Kate was complaining that her stomach hurt and cried out loudly waking Collin. I was in the middle of nowhere, Collin is screaming and Kate is crying and I keep saying, "Are you going to throw up? Do you think you will throw up?" Oh my gosh, there was no where to pull over, I drove for what seemed like four hours before I got to Caledonia and stopped at the Kwik Trip. I think we were there for about 45 minutes. I couldn't get him to stop crying and I thought I was going to lose it. After buying some food so I could emotionally eat the rest of the way, we hit the road and he finally slept once we hit La Crescent (after one more stop to sway the carseat).  The rest of the ride was fine and needless to say I was REALLY looking forward to seeing my husband:) 

Of course, Dave was still on call and he was called in two more times that night, so I ended up unpacking and doing bedtimes alone again. Ugh. I am super tired of his call right now. But, we had a blast visiting with friends and were home in our beds again. The best days of our life!!