Off to Wisconsin!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Wisconsin!  It was finally here...Mallory and Duy's wedding! 

We flew into Chicago and on our drive up to Milwaukee decided to stop at the Jelly Belly factory.  The kids loved it! We got to sample different flavors of jelly beans.  They had numerous horrible beans like booger, vomit, canned dog food and I was sure these didn't really taste like their name.  The jelly belly guy smiled and offered me one...rotten egg...and much to my surprise it DID taste like a rotten egg!  I spit it out quickly and provided quite a bit of entertainment to Doug, Uncle Jay, Matt and Marlie.  Doug tried the earthworm flavor and Matt tried the grass. 

We decided to stay at a Bed & Breakfast in Cedarburg.  The Inn was great, the breakfast was wonderful and we enjoyed wine and cheese in the evenings!  Nene and Uncle Jay stayed there too. 

We have always visited Cedarburg on our trips to Wisconsin to eat at my favorite place - Creme & Crepe.  The best soups and dessert crepes ever!  But I never truly realized how wonderful this little town was.  We spent a lot of time walking up and down main street, roaming in and out of shops and eating in little cafes and restaurants.  We had the best pizza at Tomasso's and the best hot chocolate at Fiddleheads.  The weather was about 70 degrees.  It couldn't have been nicer. 

The first day was very busy!  We got up early to take family pictures at the Covered Bridge Park.  After the photo shoot I took a few pictures of my own!

Then we went under the bridge and the kids said they were trolls like in the story Three Billy Goats Gruff!

They continued exploring with Doug leading the way. 

We took a few pictures with Nene.  Matt decided he wanted to be the photographer and started snapping photos like crazy.  He was bending down to get into position and directing us what to do.  He had so much fun and we went along with it.  He took this shot which I think turned out great...

Dad found a dandelion which also made for some cute and funny pictures.  It took the whole family to blow all the thingies off it!

Then we headed down to the creek.  I snapped a few cute pictures before the kids decided to get IN the creek.  They loved looking for things and found a snail and a crawdad.  When we asked the kids at the end of the trip what their favorite part was...they said getting in the creek!  Too funny!!

 It was a great day at the park!!

The fun didn't end there.  We met everyone at Creme & Crepe for lunch and the went on a Wilderness Adventure.  It was like a small zoo but all in the woods and you drove a golf cart through it.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect and the kids had fun with their grandpa and great grandpa. 

From here Great Grandpa scheduled a "tour" of his neighbors farm.  We got to go into the barn where they milk the cows and learn about the whole process.  It was really amazing and Matt asked a lot of questions.  Marlie loved the newborn calf.  I love these beautiful red barns that are all over the countryside.  Next time we will have to take family photos in front of one of these red barns!

What a great day!  The next morning the kids went to play putt-putt with Dad while I spent the morning walking along the street and shopping.  We met for lunch at the Chocolate Shop and then got some rest before the big wedding. 

The wedding was beautiful!  It was outside looking over Lake Michigan.  The weather was perfect except for the crazy wind! I got to dance with my Grandpa and got to take a picture with Marion, my Dad's Aunt.  She and her husband were snowbirds and would spend every January in Texas with us.  They were sort of another set of Grandparents to us and I was so happy to hug her.  She is 90 years old and told my brother she would be the flower girl at his wedding!

Marlie had a blast at the wedding.  At one point she was in the middle of a big circle on the dance floor trying to imitate whatever move was being shown to her.  I wish I had it on video!  She danced with the groom and even the groomsmen were asking her to dance.  She loved every minute of it.  Congratulations to Mallory and Duy.  Duy we are so excited that you are joining our crazy family! 

We couldn't leave without a trip to Miller Park to watch the Brewers.  The whole family came which was lots of fun! Dad and Uncle Jay wanted to get there early.  So we did and the kids got to talk to starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy because Uncle Jay coached him in college.  He signed Matt's ball and when he asked Marlie if he wanted him to sign her hat, she gave the cutest look and shook her head yes!  Pitcher Marco Estrada also signed Matt's ball and got a ball and signed it for Marlie.  The kids were so excited!! Lucroy hit 2 home runs so maybe we were his good luck charm!!

It was so nice to see all of our family and do so many fun things.  I really enjoyed spending time with Doug and the kids too. Can't wait to come back to Cedarburg and see everyone again soon!

Cheer Camp

Marlie's friend Katie asked if Marlie would go with her to a 2 day cheer camp led by the Kingwood High School varsity team.  I was excited because Marlie is typically too young for camps so this was perfect!

The girls were a bit nervous the first day but got right up in the mix.  They learned a few cheers and a dance.  I was surprised how well they were able to follow. 

The next day Marlie was excited to wear her KHS shirt so we took a few pics before the girls were off for day 2.

 They met a lot of new friends and enjoyed performing for everyone at the end of the day.  Marlie was excited to be a "flyer"!

I knew at the end that they were going to select a few girl's names from a hat and they would get to cheer at a game during the year.  I didn't mention it to Marlie but she came home the first day excited about it.  Her friend Katie was the first name they pulled out of the bag and I saw Marlie's face as she sat and waited.  She was not one of the names chosen and she cried hysterically.  Big tears, couldn't breathe, crying.  I had no idea she would even care and although I didn't really either, it completely broke my heart.  Marlie told me she was going to talk to the coach and ask him if she could cheer at the game.  I had to explain that she couldn't.  Finally these 2 girls came over to see what was wrong and told her they would take a picture with her.  She managed a sweet smile. 

This small and very insignificant incident scares the crap out of me.  What happens next time when she doesn't make a team or does poorly on a test.  Or a silly boy she's in love with breaks her heart? I guess this is God's way of preparing both of us.  I will have to keep praying lots that he will guide her and protect her.  

ATM Baseball Camp

I am still without a camera and thus the reason for not many posts this summer.  Although we have sub par pictures from baseball camp at ATM I have to publish them because the boys had so much fun...well eventually!

Matt and Caden couldn't wait for ATM baseball camp.  We got the schedule and when we told Matt it was going to be baseball from 8:00am until 9:00pm he screamed so loud and went crazy.  He counted down the days. 

Day 1 - we toured the new baseball facility which was just incredible.  As we were outside we realized how incredibly hot it was. 

So we went inside.  The boys got their gear and we got to see the locker room.  They thought it was pretty neat and so did we!

Then it was time for camp to start.  They huddled in the dugout first.  This is the calm before the storm.

At about 2:30pm all the campers then met in center field for introductions and their first lessons.  We watched the temperature on the score board climb from 99 degrees to 104 degrees.  The boys sat listening until 4:00 when they broke for dinner.  At that point Caden said, "this is the worst camp I've been to".  We couldn't help but laugh because it was so amazingly hot and these little men are not used to sitting for over an hour.  They just want to play!

But they came back from dinner and starting swinging bats.  They were happy again.  At the end of each day there was a wiffle ball game and that was the most exciting part for Matt.  He and Caden were on opposite teams so that made it interesting.  This was how each game ended.  Matt is at the bottom somewhere buried under his teammates. 

We were so impressed how well the camp was run and how great all the coaches and instructors were.  Despite the heat it went very well.  The head coach at ATM did a lot of the big group instruction and then threw live pitching to ALL the boys on the last day.  We all thought that was pretty neat.  You can see Matt's at bat in this video...

We will go back again and hopefully bring a few more friends.  We'll have to pray for cooler weather too.  Matt and Caden we are so glad you had fun and are proud of you for hanging in there! Since we've been home Matt hasn't taken off his ATM hat and has been playing "wall ball" inside the house nonstop.  I guess that's what touch-up paint is for!