One Fish, Two Fish

Joe has always been crazy for swimming, and Kate is quickly following right behind. It's been rare for a week to go by this summer without being in the water at least once. They love it! Joe does really well, he loves to swim underwater with his goggles. We're at my grandparent's house pretty often to visit and swim...it's becoming a bit of a struggle to get them to come out. It usually takes ice cream or a popsicle to do it, but I suppose there are worse things.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

There's a big area in our back yard that used to be filled with old overgrown plants and a dead crabtree (alright, the crabtree is still there, just less of it now). But earlier this summer, Jason and his uncle Jim cleared out a big patch and tilled it for a garden. Jason even came across a bird's nest clearing out the brush. It was a lot of work for them, but it really turned out to be a cute little garden for us this year. Growing up, we always had a garden, and it was always neat to watch everything grow. The best part, of course, was to see the literal fruits of the labor. Since we didn't fence it in this year, our beans, peas, and beets were eaten weeks ago. But, our tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and strawberries have thrived. Joe picked our first cucumber this week. I really think kids love having something to take care of, it's a fun summer project. Hopefully we'll expand on it a bit more next year.

A Walk in the Park

The kids and I went over to Wirth Park to play for a while this morning. I didn't want to waste the sunny, mild morning indoors. They took off running once we got there. It's fun to see Joe with her on the equipment, he watches out for her...hangs onto her. I had to drag them away when it was time to go..a happy morning.

Tree Huggers

Who doesn't like to climb a tree?

Wild Things

Joe had his last zoo class for the summer this past Tuesday; tigers. We dropped him off, and Kate, Michael, Nathan, Lauren and I went to walk around the zoo for a couple of hours until he finished. It's always a fun time. We go pretty often, but there's always something different going on.
By the way, did you know not to approach a tiger if it's tail is down? Joe tells me that means danger. Although, I'm pretty sure I won't be approaching a tiger if it's tail is up, down, or somewhere in the middle.

St. Dominic's Festival

We had promised Joe all week that we'd take him to the festival last weekend. We finally made it over there on Sunday afternoon. It was a nice time...the car show, the games, the rides...and yes, the grape sno-cones.

Baby On Board

We got some pretty great news last Saturday. I mean some really great news. Jason's sister Julie and her husband Jerry are expecting in January. They were married last Labor Day weekend, and everyone has been waiting for this news ever since the "I Do-s". Julie had planned a get together for lunch at the park. Once we all got there, she asked us to all come together for a quick picture (yes, I know that I'm the only one not paying attention during the photo op). Instead of yelling "say cheese", Jerry yelled "Julie's pregnant". Very fun.

Something not so very fun from last Saturday, that would be my incident during the kickball game. I played barefoot because playing in flip-flops would be dangerous, right? Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what happened, but there were stones and dirt everywhere...and I ended up with one bad scrape. I was actually limping a bit until yesterday. When I told one of my co-workers what happened, I was reminded that maybe I'm not as young as I used to be...right.

But enough of all that...we're so excited for Julie and Jerry, and big brother James!

We can't wait to meet our new niece or nephew!

Welcome To The Lake

My Auntie Florence turned 81 last week. Such a fun spirit. She has five sons, and God bless her for raising them to be such wonderful people. My godparents, Jeff (her second oldest) and Kathy, live two doors down from her on Okauchee Lake. They invited us out to celebrate last Friday night. The weather forecast was for thunderstorms most of the day, and we pretty much thought we'd be inside for the night. But not a drop fell, not all day, not all night. And it was the most beautiful sunset out on the boat. Jeff let each of the kids take a turn driving, we all had such a nice time. The kids loved the trampoline out in the lake! And I could listen to my grandpa and Auntie Florence tell stories all night. Great food, hospitality, and such wonderful family.

Thanks for the invite and fun Jeff and Kathy!

Swimming With The Cousins

Last week I took the kids out to my grandparent's house for a little dip in the pool. It was supposed to be a cool day, but it turned out to be a beautiful one. The water was a bit chilly since they haven't been putting the cover on at night, but you got used to it after a few minutes. Seemed to take me a few minutes longer than it took the kids...

My grandma came up with a new version to a game my sister and I used to play when we were young. Each kid had to find, dive, and pick up four quarters and one gold dollar in the shallow end. They could keep it if they could get it. Somehow we used to have to dive for quarters in the deep end...

They had a blast!

Kate got a consolation dollar too, we might have to wait until next year before she's diving.

And the Rocket's Red Glare

Another Fourth of July is here...it seems to sneak up on me now. When I was younger, I used to think of it as the middle of summer. But the time does fly. We went to the Brookfield parade this morning, and the ify weather held out for a great time. We were with my sister and her family, her inlaws, and my brother in law's sister and her family. His sister lives out east, but they're usually here for the week of the fourth and are so fun to be around. This is the first year that Kate got into running out for candy, and she just may have gotten more than Joe. He's always been a bit timid about running out there, but not our Kate. I might have seen her throw a few elbows for a tootsie roll or two. The UW band was there again, they're always a blast to watch...and Joe was so excited to see Brett Favre's 1997 Porsche.

After the parade, we headed over to my sister's house for lunch. Always great food and company. And great fun for the kids thanks to the water balloons that my mom brought...

Did I mention that I hid behind Kate during part of the parade because all of the cub scouts were armed with super soakers? Still got it right in the face...I think I'll have to re-think my wreath buying this year...