Lenninger Family Blog

Saturday, August 15, 2015

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!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Hot & Happy Birthdays!

Another busy weekend! We had Quinn's first birthday celebration in Decorah on Saturday and David's 3$#%th birthday on Sunday!

We made the decision not to leave Friday night and just head out Saturday morning. It's not fun to go for just one night, but it fits our family a little better right now. Dave got stuck at work and had a long day and I had a long day home with the kids:) I worked hard Friday to get us packed up so we could be ready to leave early in the morning but around suppertime, I felt myself just giving up. Dave had wanted to go out for a boat ride and get supper on the lake but by the time he was home and we could get started, it would have made a late night. After I made the decision to keep the boat docked and withstood the tears (Kate or Dave? you can guess:) we decided to "go to Mexico." I was excited and was also prepared to cheat on my 21 Day Fix diet and have a big ol' margarita. It. Was. Heavenly. We had a nice meal and relaxed a bit to wind down from the week.

Saturday morning, I got up early, but probably not early enough. Worked out and started getting us out the door. We left about 9:30 a.m., a little late. We got word that Quinn and Beth were going to be at Mom and Dads, so we were hoping to get there quick! The trip went really well! A happy change from our recent trips. Collin gabbed much of the time, Kate was pretty quiet and Ayden did great but fussed from Spring Grove on.

We arrived just as Beth and Chris were leaving! We got a quick hello and went inside to see Gma & Gpa and play with Miss Q! It was a lot of fun to have Quinn up at Mom and Dads while the others were getting the party ready back in Decorah. The grandkiddos played and Collin did great (no hitting Quinn!!!) They were so cute.

Quinn helping Gma with the baked potatoes

Playing outside

Quinn loving on Ayden:)

Quinn & Collin helping feed Ayden

We got ready for the party and headed down in the late afternoon for Quinn's big bash! It. Was. Hot. The kids didn't mind, of course, though Collin gets beet red quickly and I was worried for a bit. The party was beautiful and so lovely in Pat & Roger's backyard. We played with the kids, walked around with Quinn, had lemonade and beer from the keg:), yummy food, watched the gift paper fly and the highlight was probably the surprise ponies (two!) that came to give rides and when Quinn escaped notice and ended up under the table with three cupcakes:) Priceless.

Gpa Wally made the sign!

The kids loved the lemonade

Kate riding the pony!

Kate & Ivy having their picnic

Ayden hanging out with Gpa

Opening gifts!

Ayden was passed around quite a bit, he ate some pears but soon enough, he told us it was time to go home to bed. We gathered up the kiddos and said our goodbyes. The kids got baths and went straight to bed. The adults stayed up for some wine and a fire out back:)

The birthday boy!

Sunday morning we had a few things planned for Dave's birthday! Mom helped me come up with some hopefully low-key things to celebrate her favorite son-in-law:) We started the day by making a rum cake - Dave's favorite cake and pretty much a tradition at this point. We then got ourselves down to Rubiayat for brunch! Andrew and Kylie came along and Tara and Quinn joined us too:) So sweet. The four kids did about as well as you would expect. There was a build-your-own bloody mary bar and extremely yummy (and quick!) food! A success. Dave and I also had Impact Coffee - which we totally loved (another Decorah gem).

A little brunch...

End of the meal - hanging out together:)

After brunch, we took some adorable pics of the kids on a bench and then split up - men vs. women! I mean, the men and the women! Kylie, Mom and I headed over to Hallmark to see where Mom is now working! It is the newer store over by Latham Furniture and Culver's. Andrew, Dad, Dave and the kids went to the hardware store. :) The little boys were tired and a bit of a mess but us women thoroughly enjoyed our shopping! Thank you!

The four cutest kids around - Water Street, Decorah

We then all met back up again at Toppling Goliath Brewing Company to have a beer and eat the rum cake out on the patio. It was super. duper hot. So, that was a little hard. The kids were a little restless but guess what? They had TOYS there. Yes. This is our new favorite brewery. Well, it may have been anyway. Quinn and Kate played with the toys, Ayden spent time in everyone's laps and Collin was asleep in the car. So, we played magical chairs out there. I started in the car and then was relieved by Beth! She came by and let me go out so we could cut the cake and have a piece. Then Mom went to relieve Beth since, and I quote," I can talk to Erin any time!" It was awesome to have a short time with Beth as well. And when the wind started blowing our plates and forks around, we packed it back up to leave.

I think he had a good birthday!

We said our goodbyes to Beth, Tara and Quinn (hard to do :( - but so grateful we had so much time together this weekend). We went back to Mom and Dads and we all kind of collapsed into the air conditioning for awhile. Then it was time to pack back up. The kids spent time running through the sprinkler before getting back on the road. It was a really nice afternoon. Our drive went nicely -again! Ayden slept and we put on Big Hero 6 for the big kids. We stopped in La Crosse to eat and picked Olive Garden (we hardly ever go there) but it was perfect. Dave and I had wonderful food and one more drink:) We had lots of space, the kids ate, had bathroom breaks and we tired Ayden out once again. He slept for the hour ride back to our house.

After the kids were in bed, I did my yoga and then hopped on the scale, took my measurements and closed out the three week 21 Day Fix program I'd been doing. Turns out - it went really well! I have lost 8 lbs and a number of inches off places that make me really happy:) I wore clothes this weekend that I hadn't been able to button a month ago. I was actually pretty surprised, especially given the amount of "cheating" I did over the weekend! Anyway, I'm very pleased. I had an online accountability group and a Beachbody coach (two, actually) and I'm pretty sure that is what made all the difference this time. I'm changing habits and feeling amazing.

It's good to be back home. I'm soaking up the last weeks without a "Kate schedule" that demands lots of driving around in the van. We still have a lot to look forward to, as always. We have friends coming this weekend and a trip to Missouri coming fast too! Kate will be starting Kindergarten before I know it! (before I'm prepared for it?!?!)

Happy Birthday, Dave! 34 is going to be a good year, I know it:) Much love to everyone that helped with the kiddos again this weekend. What a fun, hot and full couple days!

Monday, July 27, 2015

Ayden is 6 Months!

Well, this guy just keeps growing. I tried to stop it but couldn't:) While we were away in Minnesota on vacation he turned six months old. He's changing fast these days, here are some quick facts and lots of pics!

I guess he tried some watermelon one day:)

Eating: We are still doing a few solids, I just bought some peaches and pears to try next. He likes sweet potatoes and LOVES bananas. Which is lovely because it is so easy to prepare. But a bummer because I do not like bananas. Blech. Anyway, this guy attacks the bananas and devours a whole banana in a sitting, so I'm pretty happy about that.

I'm still nursing away. But since we have straightened out his sleep, I think it is back to within normal 6-month-old standards. During vacation, he was fussy quite a bit and without our normal surroundings and situations...I ended up nursing him a lot. Uff da.

The quilt he received from Great Grandma Oehlke!

Grabbing Cousin Quinn

Skills: He is no longer a babe you can just hold and he stays calm and sweet. He is grabbing everything. He is flailing. Like a......something that flails a lot. I am regularly smacked in the face with his waving arms. He's got quite a left hook. He is rolling all over and scooting around in a circle. When he rolls from tummy to back, his body goes first and his head last and sometimes it smacks down hard on the floor. He doesn't like that:)

He has started to push up and get up on his knees and looks like he is wanting to crawl. He even started rocking back and forth already! Oh man. Not ready for that. He can grab at all kinds of toys. When he is in his Bumbo, if he drops something, he can reach down and grab it! That is nice!

He'll really be crawling soon!

He is making more sounds. A few "mamamamas" have been noticed:) But he buzzes his lips and makes this sort of throaty sound. I don't know. He kind of sounds like Chewbacca. It is always a highlight to watch your little one find their voice. He doesn't fuss much (unless teething:) and is the smiliest little babe we've known so I'm quite curious to hear what he has to say!

On vacation!

He does not love his life jacket, but some trips he puts up with it really well
He has been on many, many boat rides already:)

This is what he does 80% of the day

So glad he has visited Great Grandma a number of times,
Lots of smiles for her and I know she loves it

His lovey

Sleep: Okay! I am SUPER happy to report that he is doing awesome in this department. Since last Sunday night. Between months 4-6, he was spinning down a bad spiral, similar to his older brother at the same age. With vacation, travel (and what may have been teething) we were just completely out of sorts and nursing a lot, only wanting to sleep in Mom or Dad's arms...ugh. I was a sleep-deprived, cranky zombie and after our trip back from Minnesota, coupled with a busy weekend - I kind of lost it. I tried getting him down for a nap on that Sunday we were back and he woke as soon as I laid him down. I marched out to the garage and told Dave we were going to "cry it out" that night.

I wasn't happy about it, but confession - I was happy that we were going to try something. Then I second-guessed myself the rest of the day:) You have a to have a game plan and be on the same page and ideally? Have Dave do it:) Long story short - we did a bathtime routine (bath, book, nurse) and then gave him his lovey and put him in the crib. Dave did the legwork that night, going in to soothe him for a couple minutes every 3-5-7 minutes. We started a little after 8 p.m., he was sleeping by 8:45 p.m. and was soothed in between there. He slept until 4 a.m. I nearly fell out of bed. Except I was finally sleeping in it :) And it has been great every since. For days, he didn't make a peep, just happily laid down in his bed and fell asleep. The last day or so, I think we may be hitting the nap times a little wrong, he has fussed a bit more. But we don't rush in and sometimes he soothes himself and sometimes we comfort. But that is all it takes. I'm only up once in the night, I have my evenings back. I am a new woman!!

This was the morning after we cried it out - it kind of broke my hear that he looked this rough
Though honestly, he kind of looks like this each time he wakes. And he got a lot of sleep that night!

I believe this was taken a couple hours later - he doesn't look like he hates me!

Our new routine! I nurse Ayden, he gets a bath (loves splashing, giggles through most of it), jammies, book (we are looking at the book "Words" :) and the StoryPeople book (can't remember the name), I nurse him again, sing a song and lay him down awake with his lovey and walk out of the room!

Gma and her grandkids

Siblings: The kids are ridiculous as always. Collin and Ayden are starting to have quite a dynamic. They have these giggle fits together and Collin loves it. Collin is also trying to "help" Ayden roll over which is not good. Kate always wants to hold him and that means sitting on the floor and letting him stand up/bounce or sit in her lap. Then I will walk away and when I look back, she is carrying him somewhere else. Grrr! He is way too strong and flaily (?:) to do that. Ayden can make his way around a room now, so the day I walked in to the sun room and Ayden was on the floor and Collin found a small box of little legos and had opened it on the floor near Ay....not good! This is going to be very hard - Collin getting to a point where he likes/has toys with smaller parts and Ay crawling around and putting everything in the mouth. Ayden lights up around the big kids and it will continue to be fun to watch the next months with these three!

Growth: As I said about, he was quite fussy during our vacation. It could be chalked up to new situation, out of schedule, etc. But we learned when we got home - it was also due to his first tooth! Dave spotted it a day or so after we returned. It is his front bottom right tooth and it is very sharp! I always feel so bad for them when they are teething. He is looking quite drooly to me right now, so we'll see if he mirrors his brother in that regard too (side note: Collin cut two of his two-year molars this week as well!) I need to invest in a few more of those bandana bibs for the drool.

I wrote this post a week ago but decided to wait for the doctor appointment to get the up-to-date stats on this boy... so here is the latest from the doc. He weighs 20lbs. 2 oz which puts him in the 88th percentile for weight. He is a little over 28 inches putting him in the 95th percentile for height and his head is huge and in the 90th percentile of course. All is going well, the appointment went well this morning and he stopped crying right after the shots, which was nice. Though he is a bit fussy as I try and finish this post:( He is wearing 9 & 12 month clothing and I have just been putting him in the same size 4 diapers as Collin.

Reading before the appointment, they were behaving really well!

Cheering Ayden up after shots (and nursing)

They were behaving and we were already out, so we found a new park

Toys: Okay, favorite toys right now..his Peter Rabbit lovey, those plastic rings that come with every baby toy. The crinkly toys with the harder plastic to bite on. Tupperware lids. Sophie the Giraffe (was Kate's!) He still chews on burp rags (still needs burp rags). He is starting to really like toys and they are starting to soothe him which is always a really great milestone! His grasping is so much better and those teeth want something to chew on - so go for it, buddy!

He loves these toys!

We sit him in the Bumbo on the counter in the kitchen and he happily watches us and plays with things, but I think we will have to move it off the counter soon as he is getting stronger and can almost push the seat around. His chunky monkey thighs are almost too big for it, but it has an insert, so hopefully we can take it out and use it longer!

Love you so much, Little Man!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

A True Summer Vacation!

WARNING: It's a long one:) Scroll through for pictures if you are short on time!

Long, long ago, the Brown family decided that we needed to take a vacation together. And not just stay at some one's house for a weekend as we normally do. We road tripped to California in 2006 - yes, 2006!! - and that was probably the last "road trip" or getaway we had. Well, clearly that was eons ago. Anyway, we have been talking about this since last year and around Collin's birthday this year, we put the pressure on ourselves to finalize our plans. We found a home for rent on a lake in Northern Minnesota. We synchronized a week off in July. We booked it.

This place was about an hour north of Brainerd, so pretty far up but not ridiculous. It was about a 5.5 hour trip from Mom and Dad's in Burr Oak. Since we had hosted for July 4th and we had a busy week prior, I wasn't super prepared for our week away. Luckily, Dave didn't have to go in to work the Friday before (July 10) since he was on call that Thursday and we worked all day to get ourselves out of the house! Good. Lord. It took us all day to get out of the house! We needed to take care of some lawn things and of course get the house ready for a showing while we were away as well - so that complicated things a bit.
.
BUT, we eventually had the car packed, the boat hitched and the house clean. Abby was at a nice pet retreat in the Dells. All was ready. We hit the road to Gma and Gpa's house and the big kids did alright. Ayden did okay, I think. All the car time is starting to blur... but the cover on the boat kept unsnapping and flying up a bit. It's safe to say that Daddy-O was a little distracted. We stopped three or four times to re-snap the cover and deal with Ayden. We are definitely not traveling with a newborn anymore, he doesn't just sleep the whole trip. I'm already counting down until we can turn him around to face forward (and thus be a whole lot happier) but we aren't supposed to turn them around...until....forever anymore :(

SO excited to be on our way!

Our first time trailering the boat this far!

Passed out mid-snack

Anyway, I was texting Gma about our impending (and cranky car) arrival and we rolled in and unloaded the kids at the bottom of the driveway and let Gpa and Dave deal with the boat:) No crankiness for Gma, the kids and I! We were on vacation! We let the men be their - ahem!- super-fun selves and knew they wouldn't probably relax until we got on the road or at our destination:) PS - Gpa had rigged up a bike carrier for his pickup truck that would also allow a cover for the bed of the truck, where all their gear/bags would be. Pretty impressive and a lot of work. So definitely kuddos to Gpa and Dave for dealing with all the logistics! (Gpa and Dave also fixed the snaps on the boat cover that night so they were fine for the long trip up to the cabin!)

Dave and I packed well for the trip, got the kids down and we all went to bed at a decent time to get up early and GO! We were actually all ready and packed back into the suburban on schedule! Super amazing bonus of the morning? Tara and Quinn came out to say goodbye and they brought coffee (real espresso!) and pastry. I mean, come on. Is that not awesome?! We got to play and chat while Andrew and Kylie arrived and everything got loaded into Gpa's truck (and some in the boat, I think?) While we waited, we got some great pics...

Yay! A great pic of all four grandkids!

And we are off!

Wow, I can't tell you how happy and excited we all were to be on the road. Also, no one took us up on the offer to trade places and ride with the kids while we sat a spell in the truck. :) Actually they did great all the way through the Cities up until near Garrison. Really, quite wonderful. There were some fun times getting through the construction in the Cities, only a couple wrong turns and Dave did really well for towing the boat through it all! We had fun with a couple walkie talkies we brought along too - a la road trip in the 90s:) (I still found it easier to just text them, but oh well).

We planned on eating in Garrison but of course, about ten minutes before we got there, Ayden really started firing up. I pulled a rookie mistake and let us just keep going. I should have said - we are stopping and eating right here! (Grand Casino Mille Lacs, I think) but....we kept driving. Then the lead car (truck) missed a turn or two and we were headed out of town with a SCREAMING baby. Since we had the boat, we couldn't turn around easily or quickly. So we kept going and I pulled up a map to get us turned around. I told Dave to follow my Google map directions and we ended up going too far, in some sort of campground, had to stop because someone was blocking the road/path....ugh. Not good. We eventually got back into Garrison and parked. I sat with Ayden and nursed him/cuddled him after crying for 20 minutes straight. We ate a little diner place and got the hell out of Garrison:)

The rest of the trip was fine! We made an epic grocery stop at Cub Foods in Brainerd (Andy, Kylie, Mom and I shopped) and I felt like I was on some sort of stupid Food Network challenge show. We had no idea where anything was, I had a huge list, there was a time crunch with Dave and Gpa and the kids in the car outside....ahh! Oh - side note, I was starting a 21 Day Fix program the Monday of our vacation - I didn't realize it was starting then and it definitely complicated matters. BUT - I had committed and wasn't going back. By the way - how we decided to do the food for the week was brilliant. We gave each family a day to handle the meals for that whole day. Breakfast was a kind of on your own, we had various options for that. But then lunch and supper were made by either Gpa/Gma, Dave/I or Andrew/Kylie. It worked out perfectly. You knew which days you needn't worry about meals and which days you made a meal. All the meals were SO good and it took a lot of stress out of the week. Dave and I wanted to boat out to the one restaurant that is on the water. It was nice to explore and see something new (Deer Haven) and it was a nice boat ride too!

Kate writing her name on the chalkboard at Caribou:)

Going uphill while towing the boat - says 6 MPG but it was down to 3:)

We came out and loaded up the boat with our groceries (!) and then the truck stopped at the liquor store while our suburban made a potty/coffee stop at Caribou:) We left the parking lot with only an hour left to go! So....we turned left and the truck went straight. Some hilarious texts between Kylie and I ensued and the Lenninger car definitely won the race to the cabin:) The Brown truck took a ......scenic detour:) But we arrived and the place was glorious. The owners were super nice (very concerned about invasive species for their lake!) and soon we were walking around our digs for the week and unloading the cars.

The place was simply gorgeous. Beautiful, laid out perfectly and just....ahhh, relaxing.

The backyard, I'm standing halfway to the dock

The dock! We tied up our boat here all week

Fire pit area

Looking west on the beach

Master bedroom - beautiful!

"Porch" off the master....so cool

Great room

Our family stayed upstairs in a huge room- with this adorable nook (twin bed)

Our king bed - twin built-in bunks on the left, picture below

Great room fireplace

Built-in bunks. Kate and Collin loved them!

We spent the week mostly skiing,....

Big side note here - the whole crew skied with the exception of Gma and that was due to her back. I skied three times, I wasn't looking to do a lot, was super happy I can still pop up right away and really enjoyed it! But I kind of was looking for more of a "lay in the lounger on the beach" kind of vacation:)

This sums up much of my week:) Nursing and trying to get this guy to sleep (and stay asleep)
But.....not too bad when you are sitting in the shade on the beach, watching your loved ones ski in front of you!

Dave skied every day and eventually learned to drop one ski and slalom! He was super proud and should be - that is NOT easy! It did not take him many passes to get it down. I have a feeling the pressure is on for me to drive the boat, this guy is going to want to get dragged around Castle Rock Lake:) Gpa skied every day, I think. He of course dropped a ski and also got up on one - whew hoo, someone still has it after all these years! :)

(I don't really have photos of Dave and Dad skiing! I wasn't out on the boat for a lot of it. I have some great video from the dock, but not sure it will load...)

Andrew skied every day! He has learned quickly and he was all over the place, skiing a ton and on the very last day, he dropped a ski as well! That was super fun to watch and cheer on and nothing can replace the grin on his face. Priceless.

Such a pro!

Kylie skied every day, I think. Here's something I know about Kylie. No one perseveres more than she. She doesn't give up. I have watched her try and get up on skies probably.....a thousand times. Okay, not that much. But multiple vacations and visits we have had her floating in the water, trying to get up. She has had bad wipe outs. Really bad wipe outs. She Just. Keeps. Trying. It is pretty amazing to watch. I have about a dozen videos of her almost staying up:) She definitely wanted documentation when she finally got it! And guess what?! SHE DID. You could hear the cheering across the lake when she got up! And she went around - far! And she went outside the wake. Again, a rather awesome progression throughout the week. I'll have to get some of the pictures off her camera, she had some great ones. I also have a lot of cool videos of the guys ending their runs at our dock. They would come in hot, whip the boat around and come flying outside the wake...throw up the rope and glide in to the beach. Sometimes, literally walking up to the beach in the skis! So cool!

Okay, back to what else we did...playing cards, playing catch and ladder golf, boating, reading, nursing Ayden:), biking, etc. We really only left the "cabin" once (besides a couple quick grocery runs) and that was to go to Longville for the Turtle Races on Wednesday! We loved how settled and relaxed it was and having the boat right at the dock in the backyard was....SO NICE. Here are some pics from the Turtle Racing Capital of the World...

It was like a carnival - games for $0.50

Prizes when you won

Watching the races so we knew what to do. The kids' numbers were 305 and 306,
when we got there, they were starting at #1...

It. Was. Hot. They got lemon shaved ice and sat for a bit. We were lucky to get some chairs in the shade

Ayden and I stepped into a little shop to nurse and hang out

Getting their turtles!

On your marks, get set...

Go! Cheering them on...Kate's turtle immediately sucked in all it's limbs when it hit the pavement:)
BUT all the other turtles were fast! It was crazy!

Collin did awesome (and Dave:)

He really almost won!

Ice cream afterward to celebrate. Collin didn't eat his ice cream, just drove the arcade game

Oh, other things to note. The lake (Thunder Lake) was the clearest, most beautiful water. Honestly, Dave said yesterday that the boat was cleaner after sitting in the water up there for one week than sitting one day in our driveway. You could see to the bottom everywhere. You felt cleaner when you got out. I can't explain it. God bless those Minnesota lakes.

Jumping in and swimming

The water was a bit cool, the kids didn't want to be in it. Oh well.
The rest of us thought it was very lovely and refreshing!

You can see Mom's toes! It was ridiculous!

Aww:)

We found some sunshine!

These guys had just a little bit of fun last week:)

It stormed and rained. Almost each day. We had some rain, we had some wind/thunder/lightning. But amazingly, we still got the boat out each day, skied and we still got plenty tan! It was just those lovely middle-0f-summer storms that can pop up. We watched a few go south of us and though it was "fun" to watch from across the lake, Brainerd was hit very hard and they are still cleaning up from "the big storm." SO lucky that didn't hit us.

There was a tree down near us!

We were due to leave Friday by noon. Of course, that was the warmest, sunniest day of the whole week. So, Mom emailed the owners and they said we could stay a little longer and stay on the lake as long as we wanted. So, we tried to get ourselves all the way out of the house (for the cleaning lady who comes) but stay out in the water and sun for as long as possible. It worked! There was some great skiing by Andrew and Kylie that day (Andrew on one ski! and Kylie outside the wake!) we boated to a cove and just floated for awhile. We truly soaked up every last ounce of fun on our final day. And then packed up to leave.

Uff da. The drive back. We stopped in Outing (closest town) to eat as it was 5 p.m. (!) already and we wanted them to eat and then sleep. Also, Kate has to go potty 1,259 times during any road trip. The rest of the crew didn't want to stop yet, so we said goodbye in the parking lot of The Pickled Loon Saloon:) A log-sided bar/restaurant on Lake Roosevelt. The rest of the family headed south and we went in to eat. It was really wonderful food and we sat and looked at the lake, exhausted. Then we watched a pontoon pull up to dock. Then we realized it was Santa. Seriously.

Santa pulling up to the dock

I took some stalker photos while they docked. Then he (and Mrs. Claus of course) came in and sat next to us! Okay, Kate had a pretty hilarious look about her. She kept saying it wasn't him but looked extremely curious and was on pretty good behaviour:) At some point, he turned around and started talking to us. He said that he likes to fish, but the ice is too thick at the North Pole to fish, so he comes down south to Minnesota;) He handed me a card and when I asked if I could have my picture with him, he whole-heartedly agreed (though whispered that he won't take pics anywhere near alcohol, so we went outside:) It was So. Priceless. Kate was unsure at first, but by the time we got outside, she was smiling and talking to him. We left to go and she had to have the card he gave me and exclaimed it was the most amazing moment of her life. She of course, made up songs about meeting him in the summer, and so on. You can imagine:) Collin was pretty oblivious about it all and Ayden just smiled as usual...

Quite the pic:)

I mean....

The rest of the trip....I'd like to forget. It was hard. For awhile, they all slept. But mostly, Ayden was up and unhappy. Like screaming unhappy. We stopped a bunch for potty breaks and attempts at soothing him. I wanted to just stay in a hotel so bad. Dave did really good at staying calm. We rolled in to our place about 1:30 a.m. Yeah. The next day we had to get up and moving, pick up Abby down in the Dells and get to a birthday party in Baraboo at 11 a.m. We made it and it is a wonder.

The one time they were all asleep at the same time

This trip was truly a summer vacation. Thank you to Gma, Gpa, Andrew and Kylie for dealing with, helping with, playing with our kiddos. They are not at the easiest ages for this kind of stuff! It was all that we wanted from a "cabin" up north and I think we all are dreaming of doing it again as soon as possible. I know we live "on a lake" and can boat and such but it still felt like a real getaway and we LOVED it!

This feels a little random and like I'm missing a million things and I don't have all the pictures yet, but here are a few more pictures from the week...