Wisconsin, here we come!

We headed to WI earlier this summer to visit our awesome friends Ryan & Danette. We get to see them once a year so we really look forward to our visit. The kids (big and little) had so much fun playing with each other.
Sawyer, Riley, Sydney, Aidyn & Nolan

The kids enjoyed s'mores. "Um Nolan? Are you going to eat ALL of that?"

3 beautiful girls...

Jeff & Ryan with their lovely ladies.

Apparently in WI, when you plant like 1 raspberry bush, it turns into 20. They have more raspberries than you can shake a stick at! Well the kids thought picking raspberries was a fabulous activity.

Notice the similar expression on Sawyer & Nolan's faces? The boys ate more than they picked, but hey that's part of the fun of picking! We toured a gorgeous brewery near their home. Here is our attempt at a family picture.

Thank you so much Ryan, Danette & kiddos. We had a great time (as we always do)! Even the pinochle wasn't too bad. (I can't believe I just said that.)

Camping!!

We went camping this summer with our friends the Petersons.
Aidyn and Julia had their very own tent which they thought was VERY cool! Redneck senior picture...

Our campfire entertainment was provided by Jeff.

Here are all the kids in our group enjoying their breakfast.
Ashlyn, Julia, Aidyn, Megan & Nolan (That Nolan is quite the ladies man.)

We had time to hang out and relax...

Time for swimming (and jumping like maniacs)...

Some baseball...

And 'tennis'!

After all of that activity, everyone was very tired. And had really dirty feet.

4th of July

Over the 4th of July we took in some of the local festivities. The kiddos got to ride a camel! Not an everyday occurrence.

They went on a few rides. This mini roller coaster was their favorite.

The also participated in the kiddie parade. They both decorated their bikes in red, white & blue and rode the parade route.

Here they are lining up for the parade. Nolan is with his friend Hudson.

Here are Aidyn & Hadley after the parade.

On the 4th, Aidyn requested a special patriotic hairdo. This is what we came up with.

They got to spend some quality time with their cousin Brodie.

We took in the local parade. Where we got way more candy then we needed, so being the good mother I am, I helped them get rid of it. :)

Lisa, Cody & Brodie hanging out watching our amazing fireworks show.

Which pretty much consisted of sparklers and snakes. Ahhhh, the thrill of MN fireworks!

Brenne Family

I know this picture is a bit on the late side so please excuse me. But our friends the Brenne's were in our area in June and we were fortunate enough to get to spend a day with them. The kids had such a fun time playing together, it's amazing how well they get along only seeing each other once a year,!
Here is Campbelle, Beckett, Aidyn, Nolan & Christian. Cute, cute!

T-ball

Both kids played t-ball this summer. They were on a team with lots of their friends so they had a fabulous time!
Nolan getting some batting instruction.

Waiting for the ball...

The whole team! (coaches included)
Brand new t-ball medals. How awesome is that?!?! They both did a great job and had so much fun.

A closer look

Just in case anyone is interested, here is a closer look at some of the pretty blooms in front of the house.
Here is the Phlox.
My Mandevilla that is growing up the fishing line I strategically placed on the front of the house.

Here is the Clematis and the new trellis it is clinging to.

The Double Pink Delight Echinacea.

Zinnias...I'm sensing a pink pattern here...hmmmmm. I guess I like pink!

Physostegia (strange name huh?)

And the pretty little Coreopsis.

All together it makes this lovely little garden!

Update

Remember this?
This was our front door with that giant lilac bush in front of it.

Then we pulled it out and it looked so much better. Last fall I planted some perennials to fill in the area. And now the flowers are in bloom! It's quite the nice little flower garden if I do say so myself!

It's always interesting when he dresses himself

Visiting Kaitlyn & Sean (oh yeah...and Troy & Shirley)

First things first, I can't get this darn post organized and formatted correctly, so you're just going to have to deal with jumbled pictures. At least they're new pictures!!
We spent a weekend in June visiting Troy, Shirley, Kaitlyn & Sean. The kids had a blast skating, jumping, biking and playing with their cousins. We adults had fun sitting on our butts relaxing.

We took Aidyn & Nolan rollerskating for the first time. It went alright, they had fun which is all that matters!
The trampoline was set up with the sprinkler underneath which is always a hit! I'm not sure what is happening in this picture though. It appears as though Sean is supervising Nolan, but I'm not sure what it is he has taught him. Hmmmm???

What a bunch of cute kids!!!