Conquering Cameron

On Wednesday of last week Cameron had a major milestone- two in fact. It's as if he has moved into a new stage and is no longer our little boy. First, Brian took the kids swimming and Cameron decided to take the swim test. It was something we were hoping to he could do by the end of summer and he surprised us by trying it early. It required swimming further than we've ever seen him go AND HE DID IT!! He passed the swim test and was able to go in the deep end by himself and jump off the diving board. Conquer #1.

At the beginning of the same week I told Cameron that he had to work on tying his shoes because he was not going to start 1st grade without knowing how. We told him he had to work on it every day of the summer. Brian found some videos online and by Wednesday Cameron was tying his own shoes. Conquer #2. 

We are so proud of him and he learned an important lesson- a little hard work goes a long way! He was determined to do these things and he did them both on the same day. Congrats to Cameron!

Picture Perfect

Too many good photos not too share (thanks Papa!) These all make me smile and remind me of what an incredible trip we had. Lucky to have had the time to fully relax and recharge with our families.

Happy 4th!

This was our first time celebrating the 4th of July back in the midwest. We got plenty of nights of fireworks and lots of family. My sister hosted a day with tons of my relatives and then we got to see my Grandma Ruby and Aunt Sally at my dad's. There were plenty of games, tons of food and plenty of cool fireworks. Special thanks to Uncle Brian for the spectacular fireworks- we all LOVED the Showstopper. I snuck out one night to see some college friends and on my drive home I saw about 10 different town's fireworks shows. We also enjoyed another "light show" from all of the fireflies. Brian pulled over to a field one night and we were all mezmorized by the fireflies.

Lake Time!

After Holmen it was time to head to Papa's cabin for some lake time. The forecast looked like there would be rain every day but it was great weather and only rained a bit. That left plenty of time for fishing, boating, tubing, kayaking and swimming. One day we rented kayaks and a canoe and went 11 miles down the Upper St. Croix River. The water level was pretty high which meant a few of the sections of rapids were quite high. We went through one section which was Class 3 rapids and all of the boats took in a ton of water. The kids were all in the front and Cameron was with my dad and he was not pleased with the rapids. He screamed the entire time and when we were done said "I will never do that again." But after he calmed down, we were able to explain to him how brave he was and then he was pretty excited to tell his buddies about his adventure. 

Cute Cousins!

This was an important trip for the kids because it was the first time Addy and Cam got to meet their new baby cousin Ellis. They were very excited to meet her and loved being the big cousins to her and her sister Etta. They kids got to spend tons of time together and got along great. I unfortunately missed them but the kids couldn't stop telling me about their little cousins and telling funny stories about what they did. Scott and Wendy did an amazing job hosting all of the families and kids!

Hot in Holmen!

Brian and the kids were in Holmen for 5 days before I arrived and it was HOT! Luckily there is an amazing pool nearby and Cameron conquered the big water slide. He said he went down it 29 times (but who's counting). It was the first place I went when I arrived and they were having a blast. They also went to a Loggers baseball game, a jumping gym, hung out with Great Grandma and Grandpa and their aunts and uncles and cousins and enjoyed all that is summer in Wisconsin. They loved the thunderstorms, hated the mosquitos and made the most by staying up late every night.

Summer Trip!

We're back from our summer midwest trip and we did things a little differently this time. First, it started in June instead of August like our normal trip. Also, we extended it a bit and Brian started the trip without me. Some of my HS friends had planned a trip to visit me, so we timed it so I could have the house with the girls and Brian flew back with the kids to see his family. I stayed for a few days with my girlfriends and then flew back and met Brian and the kids. It worked out perfectly and we had an awesome time in Wisconsin and great celebrations for the 4th of July. We saw tons of family, ate too much food and were eaten alive by mosquitos (especially poor Addy!) More posts to come but it was a trip to remember with lots of fun memories. Hard to believe July is about half over when it feels like it just started!