A mid summer visit from Grandpa Ken and Grandma Nola

We had a wonderful mid-July visit from Grandpa Ken and Grandma Nola! They even brought their boat all the way from North Dakota which allowed us to have a lot of fun on the water as a family!

 

I had to work on Friday while Dan and the kids went boating and lazed in the sun with Grandma and Grandpa! Not fair! :) It did end up being an eventful day for me at the clinic - one of my tasks on that Friday was to give Senator Russ Feingold a tour of the facility! It was a great opportunity to showcase some of the awesome things that we are working on and it was fun to see Russ in action - lots hand shaking and chatting along the way. Dan asked me to put in a quick plug to get decent broadband connections up North! Haha.  

 

Our weekend was filled with family time, boating adventures, Lucy's first fishing experience (coming soon in a separate post!), and outdoor play. All of the best things about summer in the Northwoods!

 

Roman isn't quite ready for fishing yet but he sure enjoys a good boat ride!

 

Daddy and Roman at the boat launch

How sweet is this picture? Grandpa Ken navigating the boat launch parking lot with the kids.

We grilled out on Friday night and headed to Pioneer Park for some fun on Saturday morning.

Here is Grandpa buckling Lucy Goose in the swing.

If you are wondering whether Lucy got her ears pierced based on this photo - she did not. She earns Frozen sticker earrings if she spends the entire night in her bed. What you see below is a rare occasion. Haha! I got a 20 pack of these things from the dollar spot at Target last April and we still have some left...

As a side note Lucy often tells me that she can't wait to get her nose pierced, just like Mama. Love it!

Here is Romy on the play equipment.

We stopped by the farmers market for a quick visit and headed to the Museum Complex.

 

Ringing the bell on the train never gets old!! :)

 

The women and children headed home for naps while the guys continued on to the Minocqua chain of lakes for some fishing. After rest, Grandma Nola, the kiddos and I headed up to Minocqua to hit the beach.

Lucy enjoys swimming with her kickboard these days.

The beach was packed! It was a very popular place on this hot July day. It took Grandpa and Dan a little bit of time to find a parking spot near the swim area so that we could hop in the boat and join them.

 

Roman preferred the sand to water play for the first half of the summer this year. Things seemed to change at the very end of July/early August and then he became a water baby! :)

On Sunday morning we went to Hodag Park for church in the park. I was worried that the kids would be a hot mess and not sit still during services - it is hard to listen with play equipment in view. They did a great job though!

We did get to the park early so the kids had a chance to play before church.

I love this picture - Roman really wanted to try the balance beam. He was able to hop on with a little help from Grandma Nola and his church friend Tatiana.

It was a beautiful day, a perfect morning for church in the park and a great day for going on walks after lunch.

Grandpa Ken, Grandma Nola, Lucy and Roman enjoyed their hikes on our road.

Both of the kids love picking wildflowers during our walks.

Finally - we had to play some dress up on Sunday evening after bath. Lucy loves to show off her glamorous side by dressing up and she enjoys entertaining, especially singing for an audience. Roman loves and dutifully copies everything that she does. A stellar performance was held for Grandma and Grandpa. Haha!

 

Thanks again for visiting us Ken and Nola! We love you!

CLC Summer Picnic

Each summer Roman and Lucy's daycare - the Children's Learning Center - hosts a family picnic at Pioneer Park. The weather was beautiful this year and the kids had lots of fun playing with their little friends outside of school. One of families at day care owns the Culvers in town so they always provide treats! Lucy l-o-v-e-d it. Here she is feasting on frozen custard with her buddy Blake. 

 

Happy 7th Anniversary!

We spent our 7th Anniversary in Copper Harbor this year which was actually perfect because, when I came home and googled 7th anniversary traditional gifts, I found that year seven was actually Copper!

 

We spent the morning on the road back to Wisconsin and stopped to look at a few waterfalls along the way. We also stopped at a convenience store to pick up a few drinks and snacks and, no joke, right next to each other in the cooler were Daniel and Andrea Diet Cokes. We had to get them. :)

 

 

This year had its blessings and its challenges - we are so fortunate to have each other, to be parents to our two healthy and amazing children, we have a wonderful and supportive family, we live in such a beautiful place, we are blessed to have our home and our jobs. Unfortunately, we did spend a lot of time this year worrying and wondering about the stability of Daniel's job in the face of all of the state budget cuts. While it turned out that Dan was able to keep his position, it was a stressful 5 months as we waited! So lucky to have such a great hubby and such a good partner during the good times and the difficult ones too! Love you, Dan!   

 

As noted earlier, we were able to drive by some beautiful waterfalls on the way home.

 

 

Roman  checked out the view.

 

Lucy looking at the scenery.

 

 

I just love this bridge.

 

Our children are pretty terrible sleepers when we go camping. They are just so excited to be in the tent and have a very hard time settling in for the night. When we headed for home they finally crashed!!

 

 

It was a hot day so while Dad unloaded the truck, Lucy and Roman sat in the kiddie pool and cooled off. :)

 

The kids went to bed early on our anniversary - thanks to several nights of camping-induced sleep deprivation! Yay! Dan grilled a bunch of shrimp and made a fantastic homemade spicy alfredo sauce with sausage shrimp and peppers. Delicious! Cheers to 7 wonderful years and many more to come!

Happy 4th of July!

We started off Independence Day with our tradition of eating donuts! Yay America! Haha!

 

This year we happened to find donuts with thimbleberry frosting on top. What a treat! We had a little breakfast picnic at the harbor.

 

 

 

On the 4th, we did some sightseeing - checking out the waterfalls and scenery around Copper Harbor.

 

 

The waterfalls that we visited did not always have the best guardrails...it made this Mama kind of nervous!

 

One of our highlights of the day was visiting the Estivant Pines wilderness area. This sanctuary has trees that have been standing there since before Columbus came to the New World. It was beautiful!

 

Dan and the kiddos at Estivant Pines

 

Lucy and Roman had a great afternoon running through the forest.

 

 

Roman was getting tired of walking toward the end of our hike so Mama needed to carry him.

 

 

I just love this picture of my kids in the woods!

 

 

We went out for ice cream as a pre-fireworks treat! Vanilla ice cream with a little thimbleberry sauce. Delicious. :) 

 

 

This was the first year that we took our kids out to see fireworks. They were sooo excited. They clutched their glow sticks and ran laps in anticipation of the big event. Because we were so far north and because the Upper Peninsula is right on the edge of the Eastern time zone, the fire works literally did not start until 1100 at night. Wow! The kids were troopers and made it about half way through the show. We spent the last half of the fireworks display carrying the kids and walking back to our campsite at Lake Fanny Hooe. :) It was an awesome and memorable 4th of July!

 

 

 

 

Beautiful UP

We love heading up to the Upper Peninsula! It is so beautiful and there a lots of opportunities for hiking and beach time.

 

We had to make a stop on a sandy shore of Lake Superior. Roman loves to explore and on this day he found a hiking stick! Love it.

 

 

 

Dan schooled Lucy on how to skip rocks.

 

 

Lucy selected the best and flattest stones.

 

 

And then the kids threw fistfuls of rocks into the water!

 

 

 

 

While we were in Copper Harbor, we went on a scenic drive to see Lake Superior from above. Here is a picture where you can see both Lake Superior on the left and, everyone's favorite, Lake Fanny Hooe on the right. :)

 

 

Fanny Hooe from the hilltop. I am sure that this place is just breathtaking in the fall with all of the foliage.

 

Mama and Lucy at a scenic overlook.

 

Roman was asleep in the back seat so, while the boys rested, Lucy and Mama hopped out for a quick hike.

 

 

We had a nice walk along a narrow bike path. There are lots of mountain biking trails in the area.

 

While we were walking, Lucy happened to find a slug. This girl loves all insects so she was happy to pick up this slimy slug and place him on a flower for the rest of our hike. What a kid!

 

Speaking of flowers - we saw tons of wild flowers! Here are a few pics from our hikes / scenic overlooks. They were beautiful and Lucy sure wanted to pick them all.

 

One of the coolest spots on our scenic drive was a Catholic Monastery run by Byzantine monks. In addition to praying, singing, and other monk activities, these guys run a store called the Jam Pot with some a-m-a-z-i-n-g jams and desserts. Wow! They also sell some jams that I have never seen anywhere else. The climate and location on Lake Superior allow the monks to harvest dew berries and thimble berries (berries in the raspberry and blackberry families). Talk about some incredible jams! We bought a few jars of this delicious treat.

 

If you are ever visiting the Keweenaw Peninsula - you definitely need to stop at the Jam Pot!

 

 

In addition to jams, we also bought a peanut butter and jam brownie to share. Best treat ever!! :)

 

 

We drove over some beautiful bridges and saw some small waterfalls as we headed over to Fort Wilkins Historic state park for some afternoon fun.

 

 

We spent an afternoon visiting the Fort Wilkins complex - it is a restored military outpost from the 1840's. When the copper rushes were happening in the peninsula, the US government was afraid that there may be skirmishes with native peoples in the area. No fighting ever occurred but the fort was built. Many of the buildings were restored and today some people in period costume provide stories about life in a military outpost during the 1800's. The kids loved running in and out of all of the buildings. :)

 

 

Roman and Lucy checked out the big brick oven where they baked bread for the soldiers. 

 

This little guy loved running around the fort.

 

After visiting several buildings the kids were getting restless! They were ready to hit the playground and have a picnic. 

 

What a beautiful day to explore Fort Wilkins!