Vacation

We have enjoyed a fun week together as a family. A week ago Friday, we had fun in Elkhorn as this town celebrated the Fourth of July at one of their local parks. Nate and Natalie had the chance to watch the fireworks that evening from the comfort of the hotel bed.

Saturday, we had a chance to catch up with family from my dad's side. The younger cousins were fun to watch in action - eating, swimming, and playing. The "older" cousins had a lot of fun too. Cousins football is still a fun competition...although without Scott, a little less trash talking goes on.

Natalie had fun playing with Uncle Steve, Auntie Barbie, and Great-Grandma Bowers on Sunday. Thanks to them, Nate and I had a chance to see a movie on our Anniversary.

We ventured out for Children's Day at Summerfest on my birthday. It was a perfect day to be down by the lake front with our friends. Natalie had a good time - painting, playing musical instruments, testing her strength on the chin up bars, dancing to the music, riding the sky ride, and taking part in a karate demonstration. Later on Monday, we had a family picnic along the Menomonee Falls parade route. Nate wanted to stake out some good seats for the parade on July 3 so we decided to make an evening of it. We had a fun time triking up and down the sidewalk waiting for the time we could lay claim to "our land". Afterward, we all enjoyed birthday cake at our friend's house.

Tuesday evening we cooked out with some good friends before the parade. The parade was even more enjoyable this year with good seats, and the kids being a year older and more patient waiting for the parade to begin. Natalie had a great time getting candy, standing every time she saw the American flag, laughing at all the fun things in a parade, and singing "On Wisconsin" as we were leaving while lightning lit up the sky. Unfortunately, the great seats that we had "reserved" for the fireworks was not to be this year.

Uncle Gary and Auntie Theresa's annual Fourth of July gathering was another great success. Everyone enjoyed the good food, boat rides, ladder golf, and we cannot forget the spectacular fireworks production Nate puts on every year. I am sure Natalie will enjoy setting these off with Nate when she is older... if Nate lets her. :)

Thursday, we took another trip to the Dells. This time we met our good friends from Texas. We had a great time at the Wilderness with them. I was quite surprised at how much sleep we were able to get with two 3-year-olds and a 3 month old all rooming together. Natalie was even more adventurous this time. She enjoyed the smaller wave pool and many of the water slides. I had a good time going down as many water slides as I could too. The "Hurricane" was a lot of fun...especially riding down it with Nate and Josh.