Thursday, September 29, 2016

Fall Fun

Our September has been a busy one, but really fun. Here is what we have been up to lately.

We went to Elle's 1st birthday and had some fun with the under the sea theme

We just can't get enough of McKenna. They sure do love their cousin!

Nicks pizza makes these two very happy

We went to the Crystal Lake Johnny Appleseed Fest for a bit with Wendy and Adelyn. 
 

 Apple Cider Donuts for the win

You would never know they love each other! Haha. 


Monday, September 26, 2016

Mancina's Visit

Every fall Melanie (and now Adam) make the trek out to Illinois for her annual visit. Maddie and Blake are little besties so it is really fun for them to play together, and to have Brooke try and keep up.

They got into town late Thursday night so Friday morning we were up and ready to have some fun. We headed over to Richardson Farm for the kids.

Fun on the big slide!

Train Ride 

Pretty soon a little boy will fill in that last spot!!

 This girl can always be entertained with swings


Here is the caption for this picture "hey, we are starving and sweaty and waiting for this wagon ride to start, why do you need to take my picture?"

She was all smiles and so tired that she fell asleep on the wagon ride

Saturday morning

I rented a bounce house for the day to let the kids play and just had an open house for people to come visit and see Melanie. 

He was a sweaty mess within minutes so the shirt had to come off...


 Nancy was a BIG fan of the bounce house

When Blake's shirt comes off, so does Brooke's

We are just missing Katie in this IWU picture

Bouncing is hard work....

The slide was the best part!!

It was a great and relaxing weekend. It is so much fun to see them and hang out. Too bad we live so far away! Already looking forward to March when we get to cuddle with the newest addition to this crew!! 

P.S. Shame on me for only getting one picture with Melanie....note to self for next time.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

A Random View


Here is a random dump of photos from the last few weeks. 

Last year we took Blake to the high school football game and he loved it. This year we decided to head back and bring Brooke along as well. It is surreal every time I go back to remember that I used to be a student there and now I have my own kids at the games!


Brooke getting in on the action

Happy day for this kid when Costco starts selling Halloween costumes. He picked Batman!

The kids love going to the park and riding down the slide together

I never drive the kids to school and they always ask me to, so I decided Country Donuts were the perfect way to drive them to school. 

On Labor Day we hit up Three Oaks beach with my parents


It's hard to see but Blake and my Dad went out to the slide and had some fun. 

At my parents house playing some soccer


Blake insisted on a family picture!

Monday, September 12, 2016

Malic Vacation: Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin

For our Malic vacation we all packed up and headed north into Wisconsin. We left on Sunday before Louis and James' birthday. Since we knew we couldn't check into the room until later afternoon we packed up the car and headed to Kohler, Wisconsin to check out the American Club and Kohler Village first. 

He found a ship wheel and was driving

Little sister wanted in on the steering action

The landscaping all around was so pretty!!


After eating lunch at The Horse and Plow (AMAZING cheese curds by the way!) we walked over to the Kohler Design Center/Museum. The kids LOVED this. So many fun things to look at. Plus it made me totally want to gut my bathrooms!!

The museum had an old wagon/fire hose that was used

Practicing some golf...

After our fun little Kohler adventure we drove the 20 minutes over to the Osthoff Resort. It was SO PRETTY. The lake, the landscaping, everything was very nice. 



After unpacking the first thing the kids wanted to do was swim. When Blake did this (he was doing the same thing as Louis!) I almost died laughing....he is truly a mini Louis. 


Blake was very excited he could touch in the shallow end of the pool. 


On Monday it was Louis and James' birthday so of course we had cake to celebrate. 

McKenna getting in on this whole birthday/cake fun!

Later that night Kathy and Bill watched the three little crazies and we enjoyed a nice meal out. I think it was our FIRST EVER double date, um how the heck did it take us so long to do that??

The next morning while everyone else slept Blake and I took a walk out to the pier. Nothing better than early morning lake view with my little man

I have mentioned it before but McKenna LOVES Blake. She is so entertained by him. Blake also just loves to play with her and do silly things with her. Brooke on the other hand, was VERY jealous of McKenna. I couldn't hold McKenna or be near her. If I was by her, Brooke had to be on my lap, essentially blocking McKenna from me. I know in a few short years Brooke and McKenna will be besties but right now it is all Blake and McKenna. 

Hi, my name is Brooke. I refuse to wear swim suits and am only happy if I am wearing swim bottoms like Blake......

This diva refused to touch the sand so instead she ate chips on the beach chair

Being "worker men"

This is what happens when you don't nap....

I ordered the smallest cone they had....turns out that meant double scoop in a waffle cone!



Getting them to both look and smile at the same time should be an Olympic event!

Best family picture we got!

 Getting in one last swim before we had to leave! (see what I mean about no swim suit!!)

Thanks again Kathy and Bill for a great time and great memories!!