Weekend (Aug. 8-10, 2008)

On Friday Aug. 8, Ron took the day off so we could head south to see my brother and sister-in-law. We decided to take the whole day to get there. A drive that should take somewhere close to 5 hours took us 10. It was a beautiful day and Hope did great. Dad and Ron rode their motorcycles while Mom, Hope, and I followed in the car.

Here is where I should tell you about the scheming. Originally Mark and I had planned for sort of a sibling weekend. We were going to get together and do some hiking, geocaching, and some fun stuff with Hope. Then, the email messages started. Mark started talking about inviting Mom and Dad to join us for the weekend. Sure! Great! Funny though, he all of a sudden needed help with some deck planning, and maybe some landscaping suggestions. Among other things, he had plans for us to go geocaching, take Hope to a local hobby farm/market, and amazingly he got his motorcycle running so the guys could ride. Hmmm....what's up?!

So, we all went. We packed our picnic and snacks for our day on the road and got going at 8:00 that morning. I'd like to call this day our western Wisconsin tour of city parks. :) Like I said earlier, Hope did great! It was just a long day to be in the car...especially for a 2 yr. old. She napped for quite a long time in the morning which helped a lot.

Here are a couple of photos from one of our a.m. stops. Dad led us south along the Mississippi River. We made a quick stop here at the Mindoro Cut which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It is a favorite stop among motorcyclists.


By this time Hope was awake. The goal was to give her a snack and keep her awake, but not to spoil her appetite for lunch. Dad had a park picked out in West Salem for our lunch stop.

We made it! We were ready to get out of the car and Hope was ready for a good play.


Notice that there is no hairbow in the above photos. When we left home that morning, Hope had a cute pink one in her hair. When we arrived at the park though, she made a couple of deposits in the pit toilets there...one that was wonderful and appropriate, and one that wasn't either. :)

After a great picnic we were back on the road for the next short leg of our trip.

Here are a couple shots of the riders leading the way.



This is Hope playing at our next stop. We had a DQ treat in Boscobel and then found another great park to stretch our legs.


We had a good day of travel. There were a few more intermittent gas stops and also a quick dinner, but nothing super blogworthy. :)

Final stop, Uncle Mark and Aunt Andria's house!!! Hope was so excited to spend the weekend with them. We all were! We pulled up in front of their house about 6:00 or so and waited just a few minutes for them to bet home from work. I was anxious because I wanted to see the Olympic opening ceremony. Luckily Mom and Dad had set the DVR to record it because we had too much other excitement going on to focus on the the TV. Here is where the scheming I spoke of comes in to play.

Hope got a present! We all did. :) Here is Hope modeling her gift. I'll let you figure out the rest.




CONGRATULATIONS MARK AND ANDRIA!!! To say we're all very excited is a complete understatement! We love you guys!

BTW - Hope is still saying she's going to have a boy cousin named Hope. :)

Morning Groceries

Well, I don't know what your living rooms look like in the morning, but here is the start of a typical day at our house.

She picked up all the food by herself...not right away of course, but she did it eventually.

Here she is in mid-toss. Her eyes are closed, but she's still so cute. :)

(7/30/08)

Smile

A Photo Tonight to Make You Smile

This picture was taken at the park earlier this week. Hope was kicking her legs like crazy here. She's trying to swing by herself and is learning that she needs to move her legs to make it happen. She puts on quite a show. :)

Night all - Beth

Get the Girls Together

Last month we had the chance to meet a couple of families at our favorite park. It was SO HOT that day...as you'll see. The girls had a great time though and it was fun to see them play together.

Olivia was so excited and came running to see Hope when we arrived. I LOVE that they are such good friends!

Hope was going through this thing where she wanted to push everybody rather than swing herself. So, here she is with Maddy.

Peek-a-Boo

Water Break - Yes, Hope had some, too. :)

"OK Mom, here's a smile."

Olivia's Beautiful Smile

Not even the heat could slow this girl down!

Friends

A/C Finally! (& One Last Pose)

(7/20/08)

Summer Band

Yes, 'tis true. I dusted off my clarinet this summer and joined the St. Croix Valley Community Band. It was a blast to be playing again. There are some very talented musicians in this group and it was fun to play along side them. We practiced once a week in June and twice a week in July. Then, at the end of July we had a week of performances.

7/22/08 was my final concert of the summer. We decided to have a family day. We started off the morning with a yummy Bruegger's stop.

Don't come between this girl and her bagel...

...her chocolate milk...

...and her Daddy! :)

We spent the day just taking care of some running around before we picked up Great-Grandma and headed out the Valley View Farm for the concert. The local FFA alumni sponsored a cookout beforehand that was delicious: brats, BBQs, chips, baked beans, pie and ice cream. Great-Grandma even had ice cream with her pie and in a cone. :)

Playing in this beautiful place pre-concert






It was so fun to have Grandma, Grandpa, and Great-Grandma there for the evening.


All done and time to go - Notice the flag? They planned for a kids parade during the final march on the program. American flags were passed out and all the kids marched around the grounds. Too Cute!

PIZZA!

One of Hope's new favorite activities is making homemade pizzas with Mom. Here she is showing off our dinner.



She loves choosing her apron, pushing over the chair to stand on, and getting her hands in the mushrooms and cheese. :) Maybe she'll be a chef?

(7/21/08)

Vacation Saturday & Sunday

At long last...here is my final vacation post. I can't believe how time has gotten away from me. We are always so busy, but eventually I get around to things I guess.

Our Saturday was great. Mom and I got to head to town for a little shopping while Hope stayed with her Grandpa and Daddy. While we were out hunting for some goodies, the guys took her out to play and then watched some of the "Howard" airplanes landing (Telemark was hosting a fly-in weekend).


Naptime 500 Game

Saturday night the lodge hosted a bonfire. Hope enjoyed her first s'more and one of the other guests brought out a guitar so we sang some good ol'fashioned camp songs. It was a beautiful night. Family, yummy snacks, no bugs, comfortable temperature, peaceful surroundings, music and dancing...it was great!

Early Evening Picture Opportunities


Choosing the Right Roasting Stick

Captivating

Daddy Time

MMMMM - Sticky!


Mommy Time

Sunday morning we just got up, packed, and got on the road toward home. We had such a fun weekend out of town. For Hope, it was a weekend of firsts...1st swimming at Telemark, 1st time in Grandpa's woods, 1st fishing/fish/worms, and 1st Washburn fireman's dance complete with skinned up knees. On the way home we passed a sweetcorn truck so we thought we'd add one more 1st to the weekend.

Shucking Fun - She had a fun time pulling on the husk and helping Ron prepare the corn. She even tried to just take a bite off the raw cob. :)


Eating Fun - I'd say the corn was a hit!


Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for inviting us to spend the time with them up in the great north woods. We had a fun time as always. I'll sign off this post with one of my favorite new pictures of Hope. This was taken when we got home on Sunday. The hastas were blooming and she was so happy to be out of the car and wanted nothing more than to "pay ousigh!"

Precious Daughter