Visitors!

After a year of hosting much less than normal (new baby will do that, I suppose:) we have had a few visits from friends and family lately! We do love to host, but with the three kiddos, it is always...interesting. Flexibility is the name of the game, but I really think it all went super well. 

At the very end of July, my aunt, uncle and two cousins came from southwestern Minnesota to vacation in the Dells! Marie, Guy, Sam and Charlie were camping at Mt. Olympus and came up on a Thursday afternoon and stayed through supper. It worked out perfectly as Dave was post-call and was home early. It was a gorgeous day. They went to the amusement park that morning and then had lunch and drove up to our place. They had never seen our house, so that is always nice. We showed them around and then we hit the back beach! Sam is going into 8th grade and Charlie into 5th, I believe. They are energetic, polite, fun young men and our big kids were pretty much tagging along and soaking up every minute with their big cousins. The big boys kayaked and Sam jumped right into paddle boarding:) 

Our crew out back

Big kids having fun

Our kiddos were much braver with the boys here, they definitely went deeper into the water than they normally do and each one rode along in a kayak at one point. So sweet. The adults and Ayden sat on the beach and watched:) Ayden was fussier than normal and we ended up putting him down for a nap around 6 p.m. (he wouldn't go down for his afternoon nap, so we thought a little catnap would be okay) but he slept until 3 a.m! 

Sam & Charlie took them out for a kayak ride!

We kept it simple and ordered pizza from Kozy's (a local place up here on the lake). Pizza, an oreo pudding pie and then some playing in the front driveway topped off the night. It was perfect! The kids didn't want to part, but I have a feeling Sam and Charlie had a lot of fun to go back to at Mt. Olympus:) It was wonderful to get to see them during the summer, we usually just see them at Christmas! I can't wait until the kids a little older and we can road trip out to see them at their farm during spring, summer or fall:) 

Charlie saying goodbye to Kate - he is SO sweet with the kids:)

We also hosted the Peterson's for a weekend! It had been WAY too long since we had seen them and Cass and I were at our max for time apart, I think:) We had previous plans that Friday night to go down to Devil's Lake State Park for fish fry with some friends but it worked out that we could still do that and then come back up and host for the weekend. Unfortunately, the Peterson clan did beat us to our house:) but it wasn't too terrible I don't think. 

Man, we love Devils Lake SP!
Trying to convince Collin to come out to eat was NOT fun:)

It was cloudy, we had a weird downpour and then sun

The men and their beer. And babies:)

The kids rode bikes out front until we couldn't see anymore and then we brought them in and put them to bed. After bedtime, the adults were able to sit comfortably and chat for a few hours! We stayed up pretty late, but it was wonderful to have some uninterrupted conversation:) 

Side note - we had Ayden sleep in the pack-and-play in our master closet, Waylon and Lawson in Ayden's room and Cass and Kris in the loft. It worked pretty well! Ayden slept great at night in the closet:) but his naps have been rather short lately :( I'm not certain why his naps seem off. 

Heading out on the boat!

The forecast said sunny/partly sunny and low-mid 80s. HOWEVER, it was extremely overcast and in the upper 60s, 70s. Boo! Saturday morning, Dave and Kris went to test drive some vehicles at a local dealer (I am guilty of proposing that - it was a fundraiser for Kate's school and I know it is one of Dave's top 5 favorite things to do. And torture me with:) They thought they could escape without any children, but I made them take the two biggest kids. I know it is hard with car seats, but they are just in boosters. You are not leaving all five kids with Cass and I:) So, we had the younger ones and we chatted, played and then got us packed up and ready to go on the boat. 

The boat ride was really fun. Mostly watching the kids enjoy it:) I sure wish it had been warmer! We boated around a bit and then when our kiddos started fussing to eat snacks, we went to the Dirty Turtle for lunch. I didn't even think about it being a Saturday in August. We found a table fine, but waited FOREVER for our food. And they brought the Peterson's food out practically an hour before ours. And then brought double the appetizers and forgot the kid's meals. Yeah......

Waiting and waiting and waiting...

It was a little rough there for awhile. Eventually, we ate and packed up to leave. We boated straight home and put the kids down for a nap (big kids got to lay down and watch a movie). Then the biggest kids (Dave and Kris) fell asleep too. Cassie and I decided to take Waylon and Kate to the pool while the little boys were asleep. A brilliant plan. Much easier. We walked over to the pool and had it practically to ourselves! So fun. Cass and I were able to just sit on the loungers and chat. Kind of. Mostly, it was, "Hey Mom, watch me! Mom! Mom! Watch this, no watch this! Time me! How long can I do this?!" So, you know...:) We snapped some pretty fun pics of them jumping and then headed back to the house when they started chattering and the little boys were up from their naps. 

Getting ready to jump...

She plugs her nose (so do I) but was starting to do crazier jumps!

We kind of just snacked on yummy things for supper, did a little more biking/riding outside, fired up the rest of our sparklers from July 4th and then had a fire and made s'mores:) The fire was really nice and the breakthrough of the weekend??  Smear a little peanut butter on your graham cracker when you make your s'more. It will change your life.  :) 

Leftover 4th of July sparklers

Lawson and Collin chatting during the fire;)

We bathed and put the kids down and then headed back out to the fire. We could hear the live band at one of the bars on the water. Kris even correctly identifying the tune (a new fun campfire game for us!). It was a great fire, but we went to bed at a halfway decent time that night.

The next morning brought more playtime, but kiddos that were a little sad that the fun was going to be ending soon. We said goodbye and of course, the sun came out. Why, why, why, does that happen so often?!! Ugh. It was so nice to catch back up with best friends and continue to watch our sweet kids grow up. Thank you for making the drive up, Petersons!!

I was quite tempted to go to the pool or get back on the boat, but we had so many things to do at the house. House projects won out. A big ol' road trip coming up... we definitely needed to check some things off the list! 

All the playtime makes for hungry kiddos!

I went through the kids' closets, sorted clothes and moved things up and down from the basement. Made some marina sauce, sorted laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. Dave took the kids for a "before bathtime walk" which was lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed 30 minutes of a quiet house! 

Currently, we are driving down to Missouri! I am so excited and cannot believe that soon after we return, we will be getting ready for school to start! Wow - time flies when you are having fun!