Wisconsin 2014- Part 2

On Saturday morning we packed some lunches and headed up to the Wisconsin Dells to use some fun passes Brian & Lexie won from the radio station. First we went on a cool boat tour of the Wisconsin Dells.  It was beautiful.  

For part of the tour we stopped and walked up a canyon called Witches Gulch with rock walls and a narrow path going through it. 

The other stop on our tour was at a place called Stand Rock where the photographer, HH Bennett, took a picture of his son jumping in midair to show that his invention of a new shutter could take pictures of moving things without being blurry.  

Then we went to Mt Olympus water park.  It was huge.  Lexie & I stayed with the littler kids while Matt & Brian went on bigger tube rides and wave pools.  The kids had a blast.  

 As we were walking out we passed this ride called The Catapult and Matt & Sophie were both talking how much they would love to do this ride.  So... they lived their dreams and did it.  They loved it. 

Then we drove to the best pizza buffet place I've ever been to called Pizza Ranch and ate so much food.  The kids were exhausted after playing so hard all day and zonked out quickly for sleep that night. 

Sunday was Father's Day.  I am so lucky to have such a great Dad for our kids.  He's so understanding, caring, patient, and spoils us with yummy food.  For dinner he grilled steak, with mashed red potatoes, green beans and molten chocolate lava cakes for dessert.  After the kids were in bed we played a fun game called Deer in Headlights.  Good times. 

For Monday we packed stuff for lunch and took of for a town called Sheboygan.  First we went to a Storybook Gardens that my friend who's from there told us about. It had lots of books and different gardens inspired by books like a cabin from Little House on the Prairie, a Magic Treehouse, and lots more. 

Then we drove to Kohler-Andre State Park on Lake Michigan. We were planning on camping but with and 80% chance of rain that night we decided we'd just go for the day.  We had lunch and headed to the beach on a trail from our campsite.  It was beautiful.  It was kind of cold but the kids still loved playing in the water and digging in the sand.  

After the beach, we changed our clothes and went for a walk on a nature trail with boardwalks by some sand dunes.  It was gorgeous!  It was so fun to run, slide, jump and lay in the sand.  

On the way home we stopped at Wendy's for some dinner.  It was a great day.  

Wisconsin 2014- Part 1 & Isaac's Birthday!

With all of the traveling that Matthew has done for work he is a smart traveler so when we are planning the trip with little kids we try and pick times that are convenient with the goal of enjoying the day of traveling.  On Wednesday we took off from Salt Lake at 11:00 am.  The kids were so excited.  Ava was very insistent on getting a password journal to take on the trip so early that morning we ran to Walmart and she found the journal she "always wanted!"  Owen found some Pokemon cards.  

On the flight, Matthew & Owen sat next to a big, gruff-looking trucker.  Isaac has a gift and quickly melted this big guys heart.  The man gave Isaac his Biscoff cookies and although Isaac doesn't really like the cookies he was excited and signed to him thank you.  One of the flight attendants couldn't get over how cute Isaac was. A little while later as she walked by she gave Isaac 2 packs of cookies. When she handed the packs to Isaac he was so excited with a big grin and quickly gave one of them to his trucker friend.  It was pretty cute.  For the rest of the 3 hour flight Isaac colored with and talked to his new friend that loved doting on Isaac.  

We made it to Madison around 6:00!

Brian picked us up and took us to their home where the kids were waiting!  It was fun to be in the same place!  The kids warmed up so fast and felt right at home.  We had a yummy dinner and then Ava slept with Sophie & Nora and Owen slept with Miles & Wesley.  

On Thursday Matthew & Brian went to work and the rest of us enjoyed a day at home playing.  

Nora has been growing her hair out to donate it and Ava has wanted to cut her hair for a while so later that afternoon Lexie & I took these girls to chop some hair! they both look adorable!

After a yummy baked potato dinner we walked to a nearby park.

Lily is a pretty cute little runner.

Friday was Isaac's 4th birthday!  

We went to the awesome free zoo that morning and Isaac got spoiled by Sophie holding him & playing with him most of the time!  The lion was walking around in his cage and totally clawed at the kids through the glass!

Isaac loved the little train ride too!

For lunch we had pizza with a candle for Isaac!

 Pretty Ava! 

(if you look close you can see how her hair is an inch or two longer on one side that we evened up the next day :)

That evening we had a hot dog roast in the backyard and ice cream cake that the girls helped me decorate with animals.  

Isaac is still figuring out to blowout his candles so each one took some effort which is pretty adorable- when he finally got it he was so excited!

Opening presents of little animals- which he loved!

It was a great day to celebrate the happiness and love that Isaac brings with him wherever he goes!  We love our Isaac boy!