Family Vacations

We were blessed and had both sides of the family get together at the same time. We had been wanting to go to Door County for several years now and decided what better way to spend time with your family then to take them to a cottage in Door County. It was just beautiful. We spent the days exploring the little nearby villages, going on picturesque row boat rides, playing in the sand on the beaches and ending the day with the entire family sitting around a bonfire roasting sausages and marshmallows. It truly was a great time, a time which I will never forget.

A bubble bath is an absolute necessity after a long day playing on the sandy beaches.

Down time... watching the morning PBS cartoons

Yummy

Mikey helping Dzia-Dzia keep the fire going and giving Mommy a heart attack. A little too close to the fire for Mommy's sanity.

Mikey and Chloe... reunited at last.

We're all turning into cheese heads!

Even the little one is a cheese head!

Airplane ride anyone?

Why is it boys can never keep their pants on?

Great-Grandma and Mikey... precious.

Some people enjoy going to a restaurant to eat...

others like to play with cho-choos.

Can you believe she's 91? She can run circles around all of us.

Good times.

My first attempt at making homemade bread. It was delicious... Mikey at 3 pieces. No more store bought bread for this family.

Can I bring Lion to church Mommy?

Our trip back to Madison

No trip to Madison is complete without a stop to visit Joe-Joe, Will, Danika and Lee. The boys had such a great time playing... it's so sad that we live 2 1/2 hrs away now.

Our good friends... can't wait to see you guys again. Soon, right?

Our Casa

I had to share this lovely picture of my poor baby boy. Apparently Mikey has developed and allergic reaction to mosquito's. To tell you that I was freaking out would put it lightly. I was so worried that I made Mike go the the ER with me to have Mikey's eye looked at. Mike was telling me the whole time that he would be fine, but I couldn't just sit there and do nothing, right? Well maybe I should have listened to my hubby as we were sent home from the ER with the exact same diagnoses my husband gave him... a bug bite. Hmmmm, now anytime the poor kid gets a mosquito bite it looks like he has a golf ball under his skin. Not a good thing for this hypochondriac Mom.

Our home...

This is Fishy... the best fed fish in all of Wisconsin.

Mikey insists that Fishy eats every time he eats... how can you argue with that logic?

Our new neighbor bought these for me at the farmer's market this weekend. I am so lucky to always seem to have the nicest neighbors. She is just as sweet as can be.

Our minimalist master suite...

ok so we are in the process of getting furniture for our house. It's a little empty.

However with a beautiful balcony and fireplace who needs furniture?

The family room

As of now the entire main floor is a great big open race track for Mikey and the dog.

The formal living room.

Mikey's room before

and after

he loves his trucks on the wall

The playroom

...and the basement.

So our place is a work in progress. Hopefully well get this place at least furnished by the holidays... that is my main goal. Besides that we will do it bit by bit and piece by peace. ;-)

Home... sweet... home?

So we have finally landed in Marshfield, WI. Mikey is fast asleep in his big boy- toddler bed. Daddy is off to work with actual patients to see today. The guest bedroom sits empty and quiet now that Grandma Robin has left. As for me... (besides enjoying the quiet house) I'm downloading the 386 pictures I've accumulated in the last 2 months and tackling getting the blog updated.

We have been through so much in the last few months... some of it has been very enjoyable the rest has been extremely tumultuous to say the least. Mike and I have purchased our first home together... the most miraculous thing about that is the fact that we are still married. Unfortunately for us we thought we were going with a good mortgage company only to find out that they are absolutely horrid and they don't ever seem to close a loan with out a gazillion f#%* ups! Ours was not excluded from that category and made for really stressful days... no weeks... no months!

That is past us now and we own a beautiful 23 year old english tudor, in a cul de sac, on a double lot with a tennis court (that needs repair). We chose this house because not only did I fall in love with it but, it is a very well constructed, solid house. The original owner that built this house owns one of the best, if not the best, construction companies in the area. He apparently was a stickler for quality and you can really see that in this house. That however does not make you exempt from dealing with old pipes and valves that just plain needed to be replaced. Lucky for us we had to deal with this when they came to deliver our beautiful new washer and dryer. I was so excited when delivery men pulled in the drive way... only to be told that, "hey lady, we can't get this hose off the valve here. Unless, that is you would like us to pull out a stick of dynamite. Your going to have to call a plumber". I'm thinking you mean the plumber that was just here two days ago fixing my kitchen sink that had been dripping so long that it actually started to flood the basement. The one that I just literally opened the bill up and owe him overtime because he stayed here after five? I think it's a moot point to say anymore... this is what we've been dealing with. I've been so exhausted by the time I get Mikey to bed in the evening I'm just plain done. I can't even keep my eyes open to watch 5 minutes of the news. Which I might add that the top stories the other night were the State Fair (which actually was pretty cool) and a tractor show (can't tell you if that was cool or not).

We are all slowly adjusting to our new life here. Mike's getting used to work and how things run there. Mikey is making friends in the two great playgroups we have been so blessed to find. Plus, after thinking about it for a very long time we have decided to put Mikey in day care two mornings a week for the socialization skills he will learn. We have found an excellent lady who runs it out of her house and the kids are all right around Mikey's age. Mikey is really having a great time. Any of you who know us well know that Mikey and I spend all our time together and he's very much a Mommy's boy. He wouldn't rather be anywhere but with me. However we noticed that anytime Mikey would see other kids his age he would look at them with such want and desire to play with them. Our kid NEEDED to do this. I still have mixed emotions. I stay home so I can raise him and I can't help but feel guilty when I pull out of the day care drive. I know I'm doing the right thing and he's having a great time. It's simply play time for him. It's a few hours where he gets to interact with other kids, do crafts, dance and play games without Mommy hovering over him. So enough with the update, let's show you a bit of what we've been up to.

The Zoo

The State Fair

This calf was not even a day old!

My 31st B-day

The Marshfield Clinic Vascular Surgeons

(Craig, Mike and Ronnie)

Our crew... what a great night!

Thanks everyone for helping make my b-day special.

Visiting Florida

Mikey and Grandpa jammin'

Mikey loves trying on Mommy & Daddy's shoes.

The way this kid is growing he'll actually be wearing these soon. ;-)

The Jacksonville Landing

Run boys, run!

Just plain tired from the Florida sun

A hard day at play...

Gotta love moments like this...

Good times with Grandpa

For as stressed as Mike was he sure didn't look it. ;-)

That's all for now... pic's of the house to come.