Girls' Day and Boys' Day

As kindergarten is approaching at an alarming rate we have been itching to devote a day where we each focused on ONE kid for the entire day as something special to do before school starts for the year. It never happens with twins that they have the sole attention of one parent so both of them were pumped to plan out their day. I took B Bop out for a girls adventure, and Jay and Henry did the guy thing all day and in the next week or so we are switching it up with each kiddo. When I asked Bryn what she wanted to do her answer was simple and didn't take much thought.... "I want to bike around Lake Mendota and take a ride in Rhino" That was it, nothing more. Rhino is our VW golf that is usually J's car and it rarely holds their monstrous car seats, although we can squeeze them in. For whatever reason, Bryn adores rides in the silver Rhino and just wanted me to drive her around to no specific destination. Our day started out by jumping on my bike with her tag a long attached and we biked to the the Aveda beauty salon/school, so she could get a little pre-KG trim. And how could I pass up the $6 haircut? She couldn't keep her eyes off her mirror or the girl next to her that was "getting her hair painted".

Next we rolled to the Union Terrace for a little chocolate peanut butter ice cream for a mid morning snack and telling each other stories on the pier. I do have to say that I did see an even more hyped up version of herself when it was just the two of us. She was beyond giddy and almost a little obnoxious at first and kept running ahead of me through the Rathskeller just grinning, jumping and full of energy. Luckily that didn't last all day!

She had her sights set to bike around the entire lake but I talked her into a shorter route that took us to the end of Picnic Point and then back down to State St. for lunch. I was so wishing for a "cart lunch" from all the ethnic food carts but Bryn wanted to "sit down at a restaurant where you wait for your food."


We didn't make it back home until early afternoon after stopping by Sam and Abbey's for a little fun on the driveway. The whole way home she warned me that I shouldn't dally around because we needed to get in Rhino for our ride as soon as our bikes were stowed back in the garage. We headed to Vilas Beach and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, burying each other in sand and relaxing.



Every so often Bryn would tell me that we had to remember to tell Henry or Daddy about the two helicopters that were on the roof of UW Hospital or other random things that she thought they would appreciate.

Jay and Henry of course took the guy approach, and headed for the woods. They visited Pickhardt's cabin, and Henry got to do all sorts of boy stuff. Here he is sitting on the tractor. When I asked him what his favorite parts of the day were he said "Walking in the woods and seeing deer with daddy and watching people play baseball during lunch."

They didn't take many pictures because they were working on various projects out there (and because Jay took the camera with the huge lens that doesn't lend itself to self portraits well), but they did come across some turkeys and got this action shot.

Here's Henry on a STATIONARY four-wheeler. He did get to ride on it, but only with dad at the controls. Every time I see this pic, I see the teenager version of him. Yikes!



As most of you know, Henry is an extremely thoughtful kid and has been that way since he was a baby. It was no surprise but still got me choked up to see that he picked things,not for himself, but for Bryn and me on their special day. He came back with an acorn for each of us, a turkey feather for Bryn and when he got his haircut and picked out a prize he picked out a bracelet to give his sister. Nothing for himself but he was happy that he made the two of us smile. God, I love that kid!

The lack of photos from their day prompted this shot, to capture my two guys when they got home, taken by B-bop.

Summer fun in full swing

The four cousins right after lunch at the 90th annual St. Philip's Picnic / Chicken Dinner / Polka Fest. I think this was our 4th annual.

Eagerly waiting to see if Bryn's tootsie roll was a winner....... nope not this year.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of such colorful family.

Pampering the nails with Grandma.

Mia and Allison modeling the new preschool backpacks!!

Packing up the car for a trip these days usually means the soccer ball and soccer shoes are going in as well. Grandma and the kids get their soccer on when we head up to my parents.

Laughing so hard while chasing down the ball gives Grandma an easy shot on goal.

Building an airplane with Grandpa.

I can personally attest that we have gotten at least $5 of fun from that airplane.

No question as to the kind of cake to get for my dad's birthday. Ice cream of course.

Here's the whole gang at Packer Family Fun Night. Peter and Andy found the perfect tailgating spot...a park within view of the stadium and jumbotron, with all kiddo park amenities. Awesome.

Some pregame cheering instructions from Grandma. Go Pack Go.

Bryn and Henry pretty much came unglued when the fireworks started. After the game they launch a full array from the top of the stadium, and they've never been that close to the action. As you will hear, Bryn was yelling something about the Emerald City among other things.

Believe it or not this is cousin Liam holding a very tiny water balloon at the tail end of the battle.

And for some reason, we decided to spend Wednesday at the State Fair, in the 90 something degree heat. And my good friend Amanda with Cooper and Liam even braved the nasty weather and joined us. We made multiple trips to the beverage stands. Flavored milk below. Also, thanks to Aunt Jen and fam for the tie dye kit. H and B dyed up gear and then decided to test em out at the fair.

Summer's not over yet.

Almanzo and Laura

This past weekend we drove up to Green Bay to take part in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Days at Heritage Hill. They love her Little House books and are totally interested in the pioneer days of Laura, Mary, Carrie and Almanzo. I was a total fan of the Little House television series back in the day and her books so it's been fun seeing their wheels turn as they realize how hard life was back then and do I dare say maybe they can appreciate what we are so lucky to have? It has also sparked some serious conversations about our government and what was done to the native Americans and such so it's been interesting. We did try renting a couple Little House shows but Bryn is not a fan of anything "scary" and I am pretty sure every episode had some life threatening event take place so they were quickly returned to the library.

When Karyl heard that we were going and learned that kids dress up for the event, she hand made Bryn a perfect pioneer dress, complete with petticoat and bonnet in Bryn's favorite two colors. She even brought over Henry suspenders, a straw hat and a plaid shirt. They couldn't wait to don their new duds for the noon promenade at Heritage Hill.

We got their early enough to be able to listen to the actors who played Almanzo and Mary talk about their days on the show and meet an author who has researched and written several books about Laura.

Manly, 20 years later!!

Mary, who hasn't changed a bit.....

As is the case their is TONS to do at Heritage Hill to acquaint it's guest's with life on the prairie. Above Bryn was grinding coffee.

Henry was able to help make a "calling card" of Laura's.

They kept asking when the parade (promenade) was going to start since they were so proud of their outfits. They waited patiently with a large group of Lauras and a smattering of Almanzos and then lined up to march behind a fiddle player, waved to the crowd and then headed to the gazebo for the picking of the Almanzo and Laura look alike winners.

Bryn has her little bonnet up and is the third from the right.

Henry ready to head up to the gazebo.

Miss Green Bay, who was master of ceremonies for the contest, looked at each little girl and boy and then made her announcements for the first and second place Laura and Almanzo look alike winners.

We couldn't believe it when she pointed to Henry as the first place winner and then he was given a tin cup full of goodies and got to announce on the loudspeaker his name and that he was from Madison Wisconsin.

Of course we quickly realized that although we were thrilled for Henry and his good luck, Bryn was heartbroken. She held it together and watched her brother get his picture taken with Miss Green Bay and the other winners but as soon as she got to us she cried in our arms. My mom and I watched as my dad rubbed Bryn's back and said to her "You're a winner, you're a winner sweetie".

Luckily daddy figured out what would make our little Laura happy...... the world biggest pickle. All was good in the world again and leave it to Henry to quickly offer to give his first place prizes to Bryn.

Below is my favorite picture with the littlest Laura we saw at the event..... A true half pint for sure!

Birthday Extravaganza

The big 5 started out with a birthday lunch with their great buds, Abbey and Sam at Ella's Deli with a ride on the carousel afterward. Miss Kristi figured out how to get around the "no presents" rule and the kids love the idea of spending a meal with their friends over gifts any day. Can you believe they all agreed on Superman ice cream for dessert?


As the days counted down it was so fun to see how psyched they were, announcing every morning how many more days until they turned 5. They were so excited when cousin Liam arrived the day before their birthday and it was nonstop action! Henry loves having a cousin who loves to dress up as much as he does! Bryn is not as tall as she looks. She got a pair (2 pairs actually) of high heel shoes from Liam and wore them all day until she climbed into bed. It should be told that even after she changed into her pajamas she quickly got the heels back on to say goodnight to all. Then it was sleepover time in their playroom downstairs.

A birthday just isn't a birthday, according to B and H, if their isn't a pinata. And this year, they had TWO of them. Theresa, a buddy of mine at work, heard that I had bought them a burro pinata and it was obvious she wasn't impressed with one pinata for two kids, so at work on Friday she arrived with a huge star pinata already filled with lollipops and other goodies. The kids hit away at the star(which seemed indestructible for some time) and once the grass was clean of treats the adults took some swings at the little burro while the kids cheered us on hollering for us to hit it harder!

Love this pic of Maxine chillin on the pinata before we smashed it to bits!

Sophia playing stick guard and making sure that no one in line gets passed her!

Go mom go! Yes, I was monkeying around with the rope.....

I was rather lame with the camera and didn't even take a pic with the kids and their cupcake cakes, although I did get some video footage of them singing! We had a backyard full of friends, family and food, what else could they ask for?

Our two new 5 year olds!!!