Rock on

By Saturday we had the entire family there as Great Grandma Elaine and Great Grandpa Bill drove up from Iowa to see everyone. We had a wonderful lunch and then had someone come to get pictures of the entire group together. It was the first time all grandkids had been together so it was a momentous occasion. We made the most of it and got a ton of great family pics!

The kids also had a great time painting rocks with these awesome chalk markers that Aunt Carrie brought. They spent so many hours working on their rocks that by the end there were enough rocks for Grandma to make a rock garden in the backyard. It was such a fun project. Addy especially liked making the "rock face" and the pizza rocks. I think they would have painted every single rock in the backyard if we stayed there long enough. 

Heat Dome!

The next day it was to be a 4 year record high and we were driving to Brian's parents house. We drove through two standards for summer in the Midwest: road construction and a lightening storm. It made for a slow drive but the rain helped keep the temperatures from getting too high. The kids were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa that I don't think they stopped talking (or yelling) for one minute on the last hour of the drive. Grandma had everything all set up for them when we got there, presents waiting in their room, all of their favorite toys out, tons of books and the beloved lego table stocked with legos. The kids were in heaven. That night Brian and I got to sneak out to see my friend Megan and the kids got to spend some quality time with Scott & Wendy. On the way home I saw a lightening storm that must have had over 100 flashes of lightening, it was my favorite!
The day after we stayed cool by heading to the children's museum and out to eat & to Cameron Park. That afternoon we kept cool in the local pool and Addy had a blast going down the big slide. Later that day both Heather & Andrew and Dennis, Carrie & Etta all came as well and the kids were so excited to see everyone. It was adorable watching Cameron meet Etta for the first time. Heather & I got to show Addy the classic Barbie's from our childhood (Barbie & the Rockers!) and Cameron got to show Etta all of Grandma's toys.

Ski Star

The next day was truly a quiet day at the lake as it was just us with my Dad and Kathy. The kids woke up and wanted to go fishing off the dock. Brian and I were still sleeping and when we came out my dad was keeping very busy by prepping and removing the fish they were catching. I swear they would catch one about every 30 seconds. They loved it! We threw them all back but they had a great time. After breakfast it was back into the lake and we were able to get Addy out on the EZ-SKI now that there weren't so many people there to see her. Cameron let Papa pull him (barely) but had no interested going behind the boat. Addy was super brave and went out several times around the whole lake. She loved it and did a great job. We also went tubing and then we all hung out on the pontoon and went swimming. There was a lot of screaming (by me- lakes are cold!) but it was great and was the only way to stay cool. We had a lazy afternoon before enjoying a delicious fish dinner.

Lake Life Animals

On Tuesday it was my Dad's turn to host a family party at his cabin (because you need to have 3 days in a row of this!). We were able to see more cousins and they picked up my Grandma on the way so she could hang out with us too. The kids had fun playing on the slide and the kayaks and they loved jumping off the swimming dock. We enjoyed a pontoon ride (both kids drove) and saw lots of ducks and eagles. It was a beautiful full moon so we enjoyed another fire pit that night. After the kids had gone to bed, it was just my Dad, Kathy, Brian and I outside around the fire. It was getting really dark and we couldn't see much but earlier my Dad had told the story about how his neighbors saw a black bear and 3 cubs just a couple of weeks before. I saw something moving and of course it was a cat! They swear they never see cats at their cabin, but I think every time I come I get a special appearance! We scared the cat away and then a few minutes later we all saw a much bigger, much blacker large animal moving. We were totally convinced it was a bear so we all ran into the cabin, I ran to the screen door which was locked and started screaming. Once we were all in safely with the lights on we realized it was just a HUGE dog, (I called it a wolf dog). We laughed hysterically and compared our story of the bear with the legend of the river shark.

Love Lake Life

The next leg of our trip was spent at the lake and we were happy to have the water to keep us cool. Before arriving we stopped to visit my Grandma at her new place. She looks great at 98 and we had a wonderful time catching up. The kids were spoiled with the toy basket and it was a lot of fun chatting with her. Since Sydney recently got her license (gasp!) my Grandma told the story about how her father had her start driving at 13 and when it was time for her to get her license she mailed 25 cents to Madison, WI and received a license in the mail! Things have changed just a bit since then.

After that we headed to my sister's and watched the Jack, Syd and Papa water ski, rode the jet ski's and Cameron & Addy jumped off the dock about a million times. It was a perfectly relaxing afternoon, minus the run-in with the "river shark." The kids had finally come in from the lake and were eating dinner when I noticed that Cameron had blood on his foot and leg. I was looking for the scratch when on the bottom of his foot I saw something I knew I didn't want to be the one to deal with. So I called my brother over and he pulled a leech off of Cameron's foot. But since it is my brother he had to embellish a bit so he made up a story about Cameron getting bit by a river shark. I don't think Cameron really knew what to think of it (although he was very brave during the whole ordeal) and after Tad telling his hundredth story about river sharks Cameron finally asked "are river sharks real?" We assured him they were not but the legacy stuck and the rest of the trip had a lot of references to Cameron's incredibly brave encounter with the rare river shark and Izzy yelling "Daddy, the bleech got me, the bleech got me!"