Friday, June 24, 2016

Family Jones trip to Elkhart Lake

Last week we got to enjoy our first Edward Jones getaway in beautiful Elkhart Lake! It was a long weekend filled with family time, activities, delicious food and fun friends, and a little bit of work too! 


We stayed at the Osthoff Resort and it was wonderful! 
The boys settled right in and were thrilled to discover that they had their own TV and a fancy bed that came out of the couch :)  "Momma - how did you do that?!?" 


I was nervous about keeping the boys in check - but we quickly learned that everyone was there to help and have fun together! 
 

Running up and down the paths around the lake was a great activity. 
 

A quick rest before heading off to play games 
 

Jimmy was tired too! 
 

Awesome activities / games and prizes! 
 

First night in a bed together - so cute! 
 

The boys and I had some downtime on Friday so we went to Bookworm Gardens. 
It is a beautiful park with story book themed stuff to look at and interact with. 
 

James loved the HUGE "Jerome" 
 

And of course the "Nemo" fish were a big hit! 
 

Trying to get a cute picture --- I asked them to sit on the rocks... should have been more clear! 
 

That's better! 
We plan to go back with another adult next time... they were hard to keep together and at one point I lost them completely as they ducked into a gate that ultimately lead to a gift shop filled with breakable stuff! I ditched the stroller and ran after them only later realizing we had all trampled through a big area that was clearly marked - no guests allowed :) 
 

Afternoon snack (and pina colada) selfie! 
 


Friday night's dinner included a private bonfire and more activities for the kids. 
 

I was thankful Isaac indulged my use of the napkin as a bib. 
 

What a mess! 
 

The boys loved the beach playground --- Jimmy has lots of imagination games these days where we all are a character from a Disney show --- this play set had a pirate ship theme - so we were Jake, Cubby and Izzie for much of the weekend! 
 

Face painting --- the kids got to do the dad's for father's day. 
 

It was pretty great! 
 

Love this one of Isaac getting in there too. 
 

Just a little more... 
 

James and his buddy Isabelle from pre-school. 
 

Group photo! 
 

Silly faces! 
 

the boys by the lake :) 


Another fun-filled day gave us a full night's rest! 
 

Saturday we spent some time in Fond du Lac with Grandma and Grandpa. 
Jimmy and Grandpa worked hard to fix Lightning McQueen 
 

Isaac was happy to swing with Grandma after another LONG nap!  


Grandpa found some feathers in the yard and the boys were happy to tickle everyone! 
 

Later that night Patrick and I went back for the final dinner - adults only. 
It was a fantastic night! 
Happy to spend time with many of our new and old Edward Jones friends, especially the "other" Pat and Jen :) 
Thanks Edward Jones --- see ya next year!

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Catlike reflexes!

Last week I mentioned the importance of our kids wearing life jackets ALL the TIME... here is the story! 
We were on a pontoon boat ride and I was sitting in the back holding onto Isaac's life vest strap as he looked over the side of the boat. 
I heard Patrick gasp from the front of the boat and I instinctively knew to tighten my grip. 
Sure enough - Isaac sent himself overboard!!!! 
Miraculously I was able to hang on and Isaac was just hanging on the side of the boat like a buoy! 

I yanked him back up and he was fine - didn't even cry! 

We were all so surprised by the whole thing and I was curious to see what it looked like, so we reenacted the whole thing this weekend on shore for a photo. :) 





His toes almost touched the water! 
And again, grateful we always put the between the legs strap on as well :) 


Saturday, June 4, 2016

Memorial Day 2016 #2

So I took A LOT of pictures this weekend. 
I took a ton the first day in case it was the only nice day --- I figured years from now we would look back and say " wow, that was a beautiful weather weekend" and not know the difference, but then Sunday was mostly gorgeous as well and Monday was totally gorgeous --- so 300+ photos later... :) 



Mom and Dad went home for a wedding Saturday night so it was just the big big kids and the kid kids.  A booze cruise is a must on the first Saturday of summer! 

We had some great Eagle sightings... just wish I had brought my zoom! 

How close can we get to Aunt Lisa/Mommy?!? 

Isaac riding the blow up jet ski --- he is happy to sit and squirt anyone that gets in his path. 

Sunday morning snuggles and smothering of Buppa --- can you spot him under all those boys? 

Close up! 

 Jimmy was excited to go for a ride with daddy. 


Buppa took Grammy out for the first fast boat ride of the season! 

Jimmy is getting pretty good at the squirt guns --- here he is happily retaliating on Isaac.

These kids played hard all weekend --- many times you could catch someone snuggling in for a rest/ snooze on the boat. Buppa was happy to accommodate! 

I think this is my favorite photo of the weekend --- looking at the eagle. 
So adorable! 

Family photo on the pier. 

Jimmy was a gamer this weekend --- first kid to do the tube ski for the season!! 


A quiet moment with Ikey 


Family paddle boat ride


James I took the paddle board out for a quick ride. He mostly sat - but we tried out our joint balancing skills on the way back in. 


Pretty great, right?!? 


This was maybe the highlight of our weekend. The minnow catching caught on with the littles too --- once TJ caught minnows, they went into the bucket --- Isaac and Ben taught themselves how to catch them with their hands (in the bucket --- still a hard feat for anyone let alone a toddler) and then would walk down the pier, go over to the shore and release the fish one at a time! 


Isaac was so joyful about the whole thing - it was adorable - except when this little hulk didn't understand his own strength and squeezed the guts out of a fish or two  :)


Good thing he didn't notice if they didn't always swim away!  


Sunday evening I some how had Isaac and Ben on the way up the stairs - I decided it would be good for all of us if they walked! Ben took WAAAAY to long so I scooped him up and we followed Isaac. 
Fast forward to Monday --- "I got it" and refused to be carried. As you can imagine, going down is much scarier than going up. Almost fell off the stairs multiple times and head first into the grill. 


But then there are moments like these :)
Happy summer everyone!