Lazy Vacation Days

Most years, winter break seems to be over with very quickly--too quickly. But this year the kids had two FULL weeks off of school and G. had over a MONTH off of school. In addition, Grandma K. came and stayed with us for over two weeks.

It was so nice to not be rushed to get things done in a few days. We had lots of time to just relax and play with our new gifts.

Here's G. and M. I think he was holding her because he wasn't sure he'd be able to pick her up after she turned five..Here's T, probably watching "Myth Busters" on TV--giving his hands a rest from playing Guitar Hero III:

And here's Grandma K., begging me NOT to take a picture of her (I always was a lousy listener...):

G's Birthday

My husband is now 39. That is all :)

Christmas Day

The "it's too early in the morning" photo:
Actually, the kids were the LAST ones up this morning! I got out of bed around 7:00, and the kids got up between 7:30 and 8:00.

Here's M., building a tower with all of her unwrapped gifts:
G., modeling the hands-free flashlight he got:
And the BIG hit of the day: Guitar Hero III for wii:
C. also got Dancing with the Stars for wii, and M. got Big Brain Academy--all three are really fun!

I got some cool laptop accessories, Uncle S. got a remote starter for his truck, and Grandma K. got an iPod!

Best of all, we have nowhere to go on Christmas day. :)

More Halloween Pictures

T. and M. had their school Halloween parties on Wednesday.

M. was a bunny:
And T. was Harry Potter (I didn't get pictures since, in 4th grade, they only change into costumes at school, so these are from his teacher's website):



On Saturday, our village "downtown" had Trick or Treating with the businesses. One of the businesses had a stand offering free airbrushed tattoos.

C. got a skull on her face:

M. got a sparkly butterfly on her hand:

And T. got a snake on his pipes:

(supposedly they last for up to 3 weeks!)


Saturday night was a costume party at the home of some dear friends of ours. T. was again a mad scientist:
M. was a bunny (minus the makeup nose and whiskers)
C.'s getting into the goth thing:

And G. and I were Mario and Princess Peach:

The party (as always) was a blast!

Sunday was trick-or-treating, so we had to carve pumpkins:
Unfortunately the pumpkin M. picked out on her field trip rotted in back (and it was REALLY tiny) so she decorated it with stickers and marker):


And then it was TOT time. T. finally got to wear the Darth Vader costume:

C. and M. were goth and bunny again:
And this is C. with two of her best friends. M1 is Frida Kahlo (check out this picture and this picture, if you don't know who she is--the costume is fantastic) E. is a fairy:
It was a great Halloween season (and it's not even October 31 yet...)!

Vacation, Day Five (August 13)

We left my mom's early on Monday to head back home. Since it had been raining on the way up, we didn't get to take a picture with the World's Biggest Loon (in Mercer) on Thursday, so we stopped on Monday.

I guess she's actually named Claire de Loon!

Then we did our annual stop at Bay Beach in Green Bay. Pics of the kids (and G.) on rides:









And then we came home, unpacked, and crashed!

Vacation, Day Four (August 12)

We started the day with a real "country" breakfast:

That's bacon from a local butcher; the tomato we got from the neighbor's (with basil from Mom's plant), and zucchini pancakes, made from the neighbor's zucchini. YUM!

Our luck held out and the rain held off for our trip to Lake Superior. We live right near Lake Michigan, but Lake Michigan is SO much more dirty/polluted that I worry about letting the kids swim in it. So every summer when we're at Grandma's, we have a day at the "beach". Lake Superior is VERY cold (it's very deep and never really warms up), but that doesn't stop the kids! Here's some pics:
Everyone, packed in for the trip

There were HUGE waves and they kept tipping the kids off their raft and innertube.


One of the most fun things to do at Lake Superior is pick rocks. Somehow, the prettiest rocks in the world (IMO) wash up on the shore of Lake Superior!

After a trip back to my mom's for showers (those waves really carry sand into...uh...certain parts of your body), we headed back into town for supper at Mom's friend's restaurant, Pizza King Joe's.

Camping!

G's department organized a camping outing to Jellystone in the Dells. We had not been camping since C. was about a year and a half old, and we were excited to see how the other two enjoyed it.

We arrived Friday night and had a nice, leisurely supper with colleagues. Here's M, trying out the Dora sleeping bag with a friend: The kids enjoyed making s'mores over the campfire, even though T's first one caught on fire, causing him to run like a madman all around that wide-open field you see behind the van: I taught him the slow, gentle way to toast marshmallows and he got it right. :)

Though it took a long time for the kids to settle down, everyone eventually fell asleep in the tent. I wouldn't recommend this campground--it was right off the freeway and right near two county roads where noisy trucks seemed to drag race all night! No one slept very well.

We got up early on Saturday and headed to Devil's Lake State park for a hike. We took a two-hour hike that was almost all up or down the cliffs! yowch! Beautiful views, though!

If we didn't look so grungy, this one would be a good Xmas card photo:

Check out the walking stick on T's hat:
And here's the whole crew--except the organizer, who had gone on ahead with her son:

As soon as we finished the hike, it started raining, and did not let up. We had promised the kids a visit to the "water park" on the grounds, so we went swimming (and did the water slides) in the rain. We then tried to wait it out by visiting the outlet mall near the campground, but eventually gave up and drove home.

It really felt nice to shower and sleep in our own beds last night! I think we might try camping again, but in a more secluded place, and with friends of all the kids (T. was a bit bored at the campground).