The North Shore

We took our first family trip to the North Shore! I have fond memories of going up there several summers in a row as a child, and I really wanted the boys to see Lake Superior before they got much older. We went with Brian's brother John, his wife Kate, and their daughters Meghan, Ava, and Amelia. We had a great time being by the lake, climbing on rocks, swimming in the pool, canoeing, riding the alpine slide, and the list goes on and on. I am hoping to make the North Shore a family tradition every summer!

Kate has done a great job blogging about our trip. Check it out for more details and pictures!


Everyone enjoys a good S'More!


Ava taking care of the little ones.


Matt and Ava


Grand Marais



Ben did a great job helping to paddle the canoe.


Brian LOVED golfing in these surroundings!


The lake is always impressive.


The boys and Temperance River


Ben couldn't get enough of climbing on the rocks.


This made my heart drop a few times!


Taking a break from rock throwing.


Warming up his arm.

Wisconsin Dells & Indianapolis

We've been back for a few days from our first official trip of summer! We spent the first couple of days in the Dells with just our family. It was fun to take in the water park and theme park, and really have no agenda but whatever the boys wanted to do.

From there we drove to Indy to visit Brian's brother, Richard, and his family. Only Brian and Ben had been to their house before, so this was a long overdue visit for us. It was great to see the cousins playing together and we had fun visiting with Rich and Kathy.

A few mishaps along the way:

~Adam threw-up in the car.

~We got stuck in traffic for an extra 2 hours in Chicago.

~Adam and Matt both fell out of bed, on different nights, in the Dells.

~I forgot to pack my underwear.

We stayed at "Hotel Rome/Mount Olympus". This is probably as close to Italy as I'll ever get.

Adam rode this slide over, and over, and over and....

The train whistle was a bit loud.

8 more years and he'll be driving for real!

The biggest kid at the waterpark!

There were some medium-size slides PERFECT for Matt.

Enough said.

Cousins Alexandra and Olivia

The Gang

The Indy Relatives

The dads and big boys found time for 9 holes.

We went to a triple-A game!

Aren't they pretty?

Baseball

Ben and Matt are in full swing with their baseball seasons. This is Matt's first year, and he's enjoying it. Brian is helping out with the coaching and loves seeing his boys play ball. The bummer is that the boys play on the same night, so we have to split who goes where. I've even stepped in as assistant coach so I could see Matt, and Brian could go to Ben's game.

We've lucked out with weather so far, but the hot and steamy days of summer will test us all!

Ben is the catcher in this photo, although 2nd base is his favorite position to play.

We Made It!

School is out! Hooray!! Today was my last day with kids and I am WIPED OUT!! The past several weeks have been crazy busy. Here's a recap:

*Boys finished school last week. Their last few days were filled with field trips, field days, special programs at school, etc...
*We went to Des Moines last weekend and ran the Dam to Dam races. Brian ran the 20k and I did the 5k.
*Came back from Des Moines with Brian's mom and his oldest brother's 6-year old daughter. Grandma had offered to stay with our boys for the week while Brian and I had school.
*We wanted to do some fun activities with Grandma and Ava, so we hit the pool, zoo, daycare BBQ, both boys' baseball games, park, and lots of trampoline time.
*Wrapped up my last week of school by doing report cards, putting together a 15 minute slideshow with over 300 pictures of 5th graders, was the overseer for an hour-long 5th grade talent show this afternoon, kept 27 feisty kids busy during the last week of school

Monday I have to go to school for a staff development day, Tuesday I clean, do laundry and pack. Wednesday we leave for Wisconsin Dells for 2 days and then on to Indianapolis to visit one of Brian's brothers and his family.

Maybe I'll have time to blog in July!