Water Day

While I enjoyed every day of our vacation, Tuesday was probably my favorite day. We spent the rain-free morning on the beach with our boys. It was quiet and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We spent time on the lake in the rowboat and then by kayak. I spent lots of time sitting on the dock taking it all in. If I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds on the water, it took me back in time. Watching all 3 boys plus Derek paddle around in those kayaks was entertaining for sure. :)

Kaleb is rowing our boat :)

A view of our resort from the water

Derek gives the boys kayak lessons, while Braylen reminds us he's done this in California before. :)

There they go!

Crashing with Daddy! :)

Aaron smiled so big in his kayak.

One of my favorite pictures of Kaleb and Braylen

When we were done at the lake, we came back to our room and the boys wanted to play in the small splash pad below our balcony. I realized it was a perfect place to wash off all the sand. :) They played out there for a long time, and I fixed lunch while listening to their laughter. It was really great.

Then I looked outside and saw what they were planning to do--send Aaron down the little water slide on the rocking horse. Yikes!

Derek and I did not allow that to happen. We wanted everyone in one piece so we could go to the water park after lunch!

We splurged on tickets to Kalahari's indoor water park and I am so glad we did. We met the rest of our family there for a fun-filled day in the water. By now it was raining outside, so this was the perfect day to spend at a huge indoor water park. We paired up and attacked the water slides, wave pool, lazy river, and indoor/outdoor hot springs. For most of the afternoon it was Derek & Aaron, Braylen & Kaleb, Eric & me, and Mom & Dad. (Amber and Will were taking naps.) Some of my favorite parts of this day were spent with my brother and my parents. For a while the 4 of us went on water slides together, and it was like old times. :) I loved it. Later on in the day I think I paired up with just about everyone in our group. Mom and I really liked relaxing in the hot springs outside. It felt so good!

My favorite water slide looked like a huge toilet bowl. The first part of the slide was an enclosed tube, and then it dumped me into a big funnel-shaped "bowl" where I swirled around a few times and then dropped down the middle into a deep pool. Derek liked one of the slides where you ride on a boat with 1 or 2 other people. It's like a water-propelled roller coaster. Kaleb and Braylen were the first ones to brave the speed slides. You stand up in a small capsule, put your hands behind your head, and after a countdown the floor drops out from beneath your feet! You plunge into a crazy-fast drop slide and it is freaky!!! I went with Kaleb on his second time and the attendant pulled me aside and told me, "He's doing much better this time. Last time he came up for this ride he was shaking from being so scared." Yay, Kaleb!!! I'm so proud of him for conquering his fear and having fun!!! Braylen was a great encourager. :)

By supper time we were all starved, so we went back to our resort for pizza from Pizza Pub. I think there was 1 piece left when we were done. Yum! Since Kalahari was open until 9:00, we went back for more fun in the water. Kaleb wanted to play on some of the kiddie slides with Will. Eric took this great picture of the two of them having fun together.

Cousins

One of Aaron's favorite things to do at Kalahari was go surfing. He is fearless! The water pressure for this surfing "ride" was off-the-charts-high. If he turned just a bit sideways, the water shot him up to the top of the hill as if he was an empty pop can. And it wasn't just Aaron--big people were flung up the hill like they were light as a feather, also. But our little Aaron loved it. He got better and better each time he tried it. Braylen took some pictures for me and I'm so thankful he did.

Aaron the body surfer

Wheee!!!

We all went to bed that night exhausted, but happy. I think the boys slept until 10:15 the next morning. Good thing vacations are made for fun and sleeping in. :)

Since today is June 21st, Derek and I are celebrating our 16th anniversary. Sweet 16 years with Derek as my husband. :) The best gift we received came yesterday, with a report from Aaron's neurologist. At this appointment we learned his 24 hour EEG in April showed absolutely no seizure activity--active or suppressed--and as the doctor said, "Aaron is completely normal." Wow!!! We give God all the praise and glory!!! We decided to decrease his Depakote dose and check his blood levels in a month. I am thankful for many, many things on this day. Pam sent me this verse in a text last night and I think it's a perfect way to wrap up this post.

Psalm 9:1 "I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders."

All Together in Wisconsin Dells

When my brother suggested we meet in the Dells this summer to celebrate our parents' 40th wedding anniversary, I thought, "Why didn't I think of that?" :) Although we took other vacations as kids, Wisconsin Dells was the only place we returned to year after year. What a perfect place to return to as a family--a much larger family than our original family of 4.

All Together :)

When Eric and I were kids, we stayed at Sandy Beach Resort in the Dells every year for 10 years or so. In many ways, we grew up there. Our grandma came with us too, which I thought was really fun. To this day if I leave a wet towel on my bed I can hear her tell me, "Sarah, don't leave your wet towel on the bed!" I did that to her (not on purpose) all the time. I'm pretty sure that was a pet peeve of hers. :) We made so many memories there throughout the years. But most of all, to me it was a place to play in the water for an entire week. Swimming, diving, paddle boats, canoes...I loved it all. I had a vacation friend who came with her family the same week we did every year. Her name was Kate. We lost touch after our weeks together in the Dells. I have no idea where she is today.

My dad and me in a canoe in 1984. I turned 8 years old that summer.

Sarah & Kate, 1987 (I am the tan one on the left :)

As I write this post I am having a hard time deciding whether to write about the past or the present. Can you tell? :) We took our time driving there last week, stopping at a restaurant for dinner and not fast food in the car. That never happens--ever. Usually we are all about getting to where we are going. But this time it just felt right. Pizza Ranch in Stewartsville, Minnesota had great food.

Our kids added two new states to their lists of states they've visited, putting all of them in double digits now. :) We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Onalaska, WI our first night. That way we could wake up and arrive in the Dells mid-morning. I am so glad we did, because our first day there was the only day we had really nice weather. We made the most of it and went mini-golfing, rode on a Duck, and drove some go-karts. We planned to meet up with the rest of my family later in the day.

We let them out to play golf, don't worry. :)

I think we all got at least one hole-in-one at Pirate's Cove!

This is a Duck. It travels on land and on water. Like a duck. Ha!

From the Duck we saw the sights.

Kaleb sat with me.

This is a view of Sandy Beach from the Duck. Not much has changed. :)

See the roller coaster and gaudy gigantic horse behind us? Those things were not there the last time I was there! I also didn't have a husband and 3 kids--one being taller than me--so I guess it's okay that some things have changed. :)

The go-karts the kids and Derek rode were pretty lame. If I could do it over again, we would have gone to Big Chief Go Karts for sure. But since our kids drove some go-karts at an indoor amusement park later in the week, it made up for this experience. :)

At least they are smiling!

We checked into Sunset Bay Resort and met up with everyone else. Yay! We had dinner at Buffalo Phil's, where the food is delivered on a train. You can't tell from the pictures, but we had some over-tired kids by this time. Let's just say we got our temper tantrums out of the way early in our trip. :)

Thank you Uncle Eric for these pictures. Aaron and Kaleb, cutest buffalo I've ever seen.

My happy dad and my Braylen

After dinner we decided to walk around downtown. One thing my mom wanted to do was take an Old Time photograph. Everyone was in good spirits, including my 2 year old nephew, so we did it! We had so much fun trying on clothes and hats. We chose the Classic Western theme, so the boys held pistols and rifles while the ladies held a parasol, fan, or flowers. I wish I could post the picture, but I'm pretty sure it's copyrighted and that would not be right. We took a photo similar to this one when I was about 10 years old and my mom held a parasol. I thought it would be fitting if I held the parasol this time. The kids all did great and looked like little western studs.

At the corner of Superior and Broadway downtown. Aaron is behind Derek. Eric is behind the camera!

We treated Mom and Dad to some ice cream before turning in for the night. We all had ice cream with them of course. :) Back at our resort we had plenty of room in our suite. Aaron was thrilled to get a top bunk bed, Braylen got his own queen bed in his own room, and Kaleb settled for a bottom bunk without any complaints. I went to bed with a happy heart, knowing we had several more days together in this fun place called Wisconsin Dells. More to come next time. :)

Fun With Family & Friends

Before getting into our vacation pictures and stories, I don't want to forget about the fun Memorial Day weekend we had! (Even though our vacation was really fun and I can't wait to highlight it!)

Derek and the boys wanted me to go 4-wheeling with them, and since I like being included in their fun, we loaded up on Friday to ride some trails. It was windy and warm and the trails were dusty! But we had a great time. :) Kaleb rode with me, Aaron rode with Derek, and Braylen rode by himself. Our time on the trails was just perfect for me, although my boys (all 4 of them) would tell you they wanted to stay out longer!

This is our "before" picture. Afterwards we were covered in dust!

See?

Aaron took a turn driving when we were done with the trails. I love the photo-bomber (Braylen) in this picture, tee hee. :)

We spent the night at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa, which is always a fun time. :) Being there allows Derek to truly relax, and that is worth so much to us. I don't think he does much relaxing there, though. He's always tinkering with something outside. So when I asked him to sit down with me for a bit and watch our boys skid their bike tires in the gravel street, guess what happened to him? After sitting still for a minute or so, a bird flew over and pooped on his hand! I guess he's just not meant to sit still!

On Saturday we spent the day on the boat. The water temp was 65 degrees, so we did not get in. The kids caught some fish--2 for Braylen, 2 for Kaleb, and 3 for Aaron. I read a book. If I can't be in the water, you will find me reading. :)

Kaleb is my lounging buddy.

Aaron and his drum fish

Aaron caught this small walleye. Smallest one I've ever seen.

Kaleb doesn't like to fish. He only likes to catch. :)

Braylen's turn!

More family joined us for supper on Saturday, and it felt good to be getting into the summer swing of things at the cabin. Braylen stayed there the rest of the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, but the rest of us went home Saturday night. We had a fun day planned for Sunday, but I am glad Braylen got to stay behind. He caught lots of fish the next day, including the biggest bass he's ever caught! We saw the most beautiful sunset on our way home. Pictures don't do it justice, but thanks to my SIL Pam, I have a few anyway!

On Sunday we met some friends at their farm for a fun afternoon and evening. It was a fun gathering, made extra special because our friends K and C are brothers, and their wives K and A are such good friends to Pam and me. The 8 of us understand what it's like to be family and friends, all in the same town. :) So, what fun things did we do that day? The kids played in the water, we took turns with the jet skis, and after a delicious meal the dads drove the kids around in go-karts. I think my boys want to live on a farm when they grow up. ;)

Derek gave Kaleb a lesson, and then Kaleb went out alone.

I think Kaleb would drive a jet ski every day, all day, if we would allow it!

Derek and I took turns driving Aaron around. I love how the boys' hair gets spiked while riding a jet ski.

One thing I'm doing this summer is staying up too late...and it looks like I'm doing it again tonight. Agh, it's so hard to get the boys in bed before 10. Tonight I left Kaleb and Aaron's room at 9:40 and when I checked on them at 10:45 they were still awake. What's a girl to do? Stay up late anyway and work on her blog. :) It's summer, after all!

More May Days & 40 Years!!!

Finishing up May on the 2nd day of June means I get to wish my mom and dad a Happy 40th Anniversary today!!! We have a special celebration planned, and our part begins today. More on that another time. :)

Our boy flying a kite

One May evening we had the perfect kite flying weather. We are blessed with plenty of open space to fly kites. As we stood at the edge of the corn field I noticed the corn was as tall as the length of my hand. Before we know it the corn will be way taller than me. Flying kites with our boys that night was like holding on to one more day of their childhood. And of course I kept singing to myself, "Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height..."

Kaleb, Daddy, and Aaron

One of my favorite pictures :)

Kaleb didn't need any help!

Aaron was awarded the medal around his neck at school that day and he wore it until bed time. His teacher presented 2nd grade awards, complete with a red carpet, and his was "Best Behaved." I remind him of that at home, tee hee! The medal was for the 100 book club.

Since Mother's Day was filled with lots of other things going on, I didn't get a chance to plant my flowers. So this year, Kaleb and I worked together the following weekend and got it all done in one afternoon. It was a warm sunny day, so we worked in the shade of the front porch. Braylen and Aaron spent the afternoon playing with water balloons, squirt guns, the hose, and buckets of water. It was fun to see those two play together for a change!

My helper!

Aaron played the piano in the school talent show and did an AWESOME job! Really, I was surprised. He had been playing that song at home and most times it didn't sound all that great. As he waited in a loooong line for his turn to perform, I prayed for him! I also remembered at last year's talent show I was worried he would have a blank-out seizure during his performance. This year that worry never entered my mind, PTL. Wouldn't you know, he stood up there and introduced himself and his song like a little pro. And he played his song perfectly. Thank you, Lord! :)

Telling the school he was going to play "Boom Boom" on the piano.

Derek and the boys are working on building a new garden for me. So far it looks like this. :) My little bitty garden behind our swing set is getting smaller every year--since our blue spruce trees keep getting bigger.

Speaking of our swing set...
We agreed, as a family, that it was time to give it to someone who would use it. (Our next door neighbors!) I tried not to dwell on the whole "end of an era" feeling, but there were a few of those feelings that snuck through anyway. The morning of the big move next door, Aaron helped Daddy mow the lawn. I captured one last picture of our swing set in our yard. We can still look out our windows and see it--in the yard next door. Our plan is to put a bigger swimming pool where the swing set used to be, and that helps bring us into a new era. :)

So now it's time for JUNE! Let the celebration with my family begin! :)

This picture is from Derek's birthday, but Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! :)