We had a great time on July 4th with some college friends and Mauston friends coming up and grilling a great meal. My only complaint/observation was that we spent most of it inside! Food was being made in the kitchen and the bugs were more prevalent than we would like. And, it was hot, so we couldn't have the windows open, bummer to spend much of the day indoors, but it was great to catch up with friends! Later that night, someone in our neighborhood lit a pretty good show of fireworks over our pond, not exactly allowed, but Kate got to sit on the couch in the loft and watch them...kind of perfect. I kept telling her the show was over and it was time for bed and then another couple would explode and she would start telling us how much she loved watching fireworks...okay, we gave in:) We told her it was America's birthday and she really got it - all day it was Happy Birthday, America! She also wanted to wear her "July outfit" the next day as well:)
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| Coloring with Andrew H. |
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| Happy Birthday, America! |
I was so excited for Friday, my family was coming! The older I get, the more I need them. Is that backward? Maybe the older I get the more I enjoy them, I don't know. And it has nothing to do with the help I get watching the kids......:) They ended up meeting us at a car dealer as my van was making noise, luckily it was on their way to our place and luckily there was no big fix for the van!
After my siblings + partners arrived, we chatted and then hit the pool/boat. Collin was fussing and I was kind of nervous about the evening, but once we got going on the boat, he fell asleep - one of the reasons I like boating:) It was really choppy on the water with the wind and all the holiday boat traffic, so we pulled up to a beach. Kate played in the sand/water with Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa while the rest of us sat on the boat and hung out. Lots of fun, but we didn't bring drinks or snacks (I tried telling people!!!) so we went back and grilled up food outside. We made it an early night (cut the Shanghai game short) so that we would be rested for the next day (my children did not get the memo).
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| Playing at the pool... |
I did not have the kids packed up for their night at the hotel with Gma and Gpa, so I spent the morning running around trying to get everything they needed. Tara's siblings + spouses arrived and the Bach fun began! Gma and Gpa took the kids to Tomah to stay at a hotel and though I knew it would be fine, Collin does not take a bottle well. At all. So, that was my only worry. I also knew he would probably be up in the night, but I knew they could handle one night of that! I hope they are getting rested up for this coming weekend:)
After our kiddos left, I felt relieved and was ready to have fun! (note - the only time I got...anxious or felt weird was when we were in the house. It just didn't feel right to not have them there, I kept thinking I forgot them both somewhere! Thankfully, it was just 24 hours:) We packed up some coolers, changed clothes and headed to the boat. It was ten adults + our stuff, so it was a full boat for sure. The weather was great, a little windy and there were a LOT of boats out on the lake. Honestly, I am super nervous when it is like that out there. Maybe we are just spoiled and do most of our boating on a much calmer, quieter lake, but I was definitely channeling my Grandma Elsie with my worrying:)
We anchored over an island called Devil's Island (Alcatraz) and it was a blast! We spent the afternoon talking, singing, in the water and out, visiting with each other....it was awesome. As Beth said later, it is so unique to have a wedding party that is all family and even better we genuinely get along and have fun together! In fact, I think we all wish we could spend even more time together, and hopefully we will.
At one point, some of us motored over to get some more ice and beer, when we got back, there was a brief search for our screw-anchor thing, but I believe Tony found it - way to go Marine! :) We then tubed, jumped off the island into the water and skied a bit. Cliff jumping had really sobered everyone up :) and the area of the lake we were on was super busy so skiing was very tricky. We decided to go home and clean up for dinner.
There was some napping, some bags games and some showering. The girls grabbed some time and gave Tara a gift (official Bachelorette type stuff:) ..then we loaded up the boat again for a quick ride to a new restaurant on the water. The service left something to be desired but I hope everyone enjoyed their food, we like the food there. It was great to talk and visit some more, how did we luck out with all these great people? I have to mention though, half of the table was feeling dizzy and weird, we finally figured out that the choppy water all day left us feeling like we were still on the boat! It felt like the restaurant was moving. I was getting very nervous that we were all getting sick from something, but luckily it eased up eventually.
It wasn't overly late (for a Bach party) when we got back, but we were exhausted! The girls changed for bed and then just chatted up in the loft for awhile and then went to bed:) The boys went out and had a fire and had some guy time:) The most surreal thing about the day was the fact that I had no children in the house. When I went to bed, there was no hoping for a full nights rest....I would definitely be able to stay in bed until morning. I couldn't even comprehend it. It was hard though, I wanted to go to bed early in order to "soak" it up! But I wanted to stay up if others were up, I think I went to bed at 1 a.m. We all slept in the next day, so I did enjoy a whole night spent in bed - yay!
The next morning, we had breakfast (a special thank you to Beth, Amanda, Kylie and Mom for bringing so much wonderful food!) and then a friend of ours come take some pictures to commemorate the weekend. Note - the bride and groom do not like getting pictures taken so I am anxious to see how Saturday goes! Ha. I realized later that we did not get a picture of my and my "little" brothers...what?! I need to make these things happen. Sorry bros, but this coming weekend, we are getting some pictures taken. Just sayin'.
People hit the road soon after as it is a rather busy week;) The kids came back in one piece - ha! I mean Gma and Gpa came back in one piece (bigger victory). They had a great time. Collin did give them a taste of my recent middle-of-the-night-blues, but they all survived. To recover, we napped and Kate and I headed to the pool to relax a bit. Floating in the water was exactly what I needed and felt so good in the heat. It was also some quality Kate & Mommy time which I am trying to find more of.
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| Collin and Daddy after the company left:) |
What a whirlwind weekend, but it all went great and we had a blast! We truly do invite any of these awesome couples/families to come up again, that is one of the reasons we got this place, for people to visit and enjoy!
My mission for the week is to clean up the house a bit and get the family ready for the weekend! The kids and I will be heading to Decorah on Thursday and Dave will join us on Friday. I am very excited and just a little paranoid I'm going to forget something we need.
Collin update: He discovered his toes last week, right around the weekend seemed super determined to roll from back to tummy and yesterday morning he finally did! In his crib after a horrible night of being up and fussy. Last night he slept all the way through (this happened last time too, his sleep seems disrupted before he does a milestone) and this morning I saw he was awake on the monitor, by the time I got upstairs - he had rolled onto his tummy! Whoa!
We also gave him frozen banana a little while ago, yesterday we mushed it up and fed him by spoon, he loved it! I did rice cereal two days ago and he loved that too! So far, he is a good eater. I am going to stop for awhile with those two foods, let him adjust.
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| I think about half of it made it to his mouth:) |
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| First time in the high chair! |
Kate update: I honestly think we may be easing out of some terrible three stuff we hit just before her last birthday. Mom said she was an angel for them over the weekend and I think we are having fewer battles. She is very proud to do the right thing and do what we ask "right away." Her potty accidents have decreased a ton as well.
Right now, she loves to do "dance shows." She will make you sit down and watch her on "the stage." During July 4th, she did a show for us all in the sunroom, but when everyone sat down to watch, she got shy:) Daddy needed to dance with her:) and then he lifts her and she does these crazy lifts like a real ballerina! She watches a Barbie movie about pink shoes or ballerinas and I swear she is doing the exact routine that they do on the movie. It is crazy. While Tony was here, I didn't get much quality time with him, Kate was latched to him and they were always off doing something:) They also did a lot of dancing. So cute.
Okay, seriously, this post is a million paragraphs long. Time to get packed up for the wedding!! Expect an even longer post next week:)
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