Wisconsin

And yet another lake.  Apparently that's the theme for summer 2011.  Looking back, that was three different lakes in three different states in the span of about five weeks.  Not bad for a young couple toting around a baby!      

Mid-July we spent a long weekend at the Lauderdale Lakes in Wisconsin.  One of Paul's buddies from college orchestrated a group trip to his parents' lake house near Lake Geneva; about 20 "adults" (depending on how you define that...) and 4 kiddos hightailed it to the Badger State for what we hope becomes an annual trip.  I've gotten to know this group of Drake grads throughout the years and it is a really great group of people; unique, fun, and always down for a good party.  The weddings are becoming fewer and further between and the babies are aplenty so we have to come up with new excuses to see everyone more regularly.  The lake in July sounds pretty good to me! 

Oh and these pictures are just a drop in the bucket of all the ones we took - there were HUNDREDS, but this kind of shows the fun that we had.  Also, some of these pictures warrant an explanation, but some of these pictures just cannot be explained.  You'll see.  You 'll know what I mean when you get to David and the sword.  There just aren't words...

Eating puffs on the plane!  We spent about 70 minutes of that 80 minute flight shoveling puffs in Lucy's mouth.  It kept her happy and occupied the whole time.  Also,  at one point Paul leaned over and said, "I can't believe that WE are actually a family of three, taking up an entire row on an airplane."  I stopped to watch him shove those puffs in Lucy's mouth and could hardly believe it either.

This picture makes me laugh because Paul looks superimposed and SO happy about it. 

You thought I was kidding, right?

The nail game.  If you know it, YES it was as fun as expected and if you don't, then you haven't attended enough tailgates with a bunch of men wanting to prove their manliness.

I'm not going to explain what this spreadsheet is that Kristen is updating, but everyone who was there knows and yes it was really, really funny.  Every time. 

My Cup Runneth Over

The other night Paul was getting Lucy ready for bed and I peeked my head around the corner to see what they were up to when I found this scene: 

I know they are grainy, poor iPhone quality photos but, oh.  Oh, oh, oh.  Love.  More than either of them know. 

Me, Tarzan.

Lucy, Jane.

This is what Lucy was wearing when she returned home from school on Friday.  Every year the classrooms have a friendly competition to see who can take a theme and run with it; classrooms are decorated, activities are planned and kids are decked out in costume.  This year's jungle theme was a hit!  The infant room was full of Tarzans and Janes and this is about the cutest vine swinger I believe I have ever seen. 

The Fourth

Ahhh, the Fourth. I love it. It’s my favorite holiday.  Now it might be surpassed by a true white Christmas with snowflakes, George Winston’s December, and a warm fire, but a balmy December 25 takes an easy backseat to Independence Day in my eyes. I love sunny skies, juicy watermelon, corn on the cob, sweaty headed babies and the crackle & smell of fireworks. 

This year we had the best of both worlds: we spent the beginning of the extended weekend with our friends at the lake in Nebraska and the latter portion of the weekend with family at both my parents' and grandparents' houses.  Below are just a few of my favorite shots from the weekend.

Nebraska: At the lake we grilled out, drank summer brew, skied, tubed, fished, played polish horse shoes, lit fireworks, and just generally laughed a lot and relaxed in the sun.   And I should mention that Molly went and bought a brand spankin' new camera that puts my Nikon to shame so the really beautiful pictures are hers.



Turtle Time! in the baby pool at the Larsen's cabin. Lucy had a hayday in it; splashing around and DUNKING HER FACE.  She has no fear of the water. It's both great and a little scary at the same time.

Don't worry.  It was only her second beer. 

Chris, Lucy and Kiki.

 Dang!  She blinked.

It's a pretty special thing to watch a friend you've known your whole life love on your baby.  And trust me when I say Al does it well.

Ha!  This picture is a bit of a re-do.

 

Larry: Once back home we had a last minute visitor in town – Tyson was home from Phoenix for a few days!  So the end of the weekend proved to be as busy as the beginning.  More fun!  My parents host a breakfast at their house the morning of the 4th and everyone usually jogs/bikes over, eats too much and then jumps in the pool.  Later in the afternoon we migrate to my grandparents house for an art project created by my grandma paired with more food and more kaboom.

365 Days...

...that this here dude in the middle has been cancer free.  This news makes for a very happy family.  Go Paul. 

We love you!

Minnesota, Part III: The Creme de la Creme

The end of the week reminded us why we put up with bouts of rain and clouds.  It was beautiful!  We were back to lounging on the dock, golfing, fishing, riding the hydro-bikes, the paddle boards, jogging in the morning and playing washers in the evening; we were more than thrilled to swap sweatshirts for sunscreen. 

The Wellborn cup presentation.

Lucy loves Jack.  And his glasses.

Glendalough State Park

LOVES being on those feet!

Hiking

Helping Dad fish

I FINALLY caught one!

It wasn't a great year for fishing, but I usually catch one BEFORE THE LAST DAY.

It must have been thanks to my helper!

Touching her first fish!

Yep.  It got away.  But you can't say he didn't give it his best effort!  The funny part is that Annie Battle (which it fell into) flows into Blanche (where we vacation) so that bottle could have potentially made it right back where it started!  I'm assuming it sank before it reached Blanche so we will choose to believe a fish made a nice little home out of that Dr. Brown's bottle.

Competitive Dillon Bros. playing washers.

The Pontoon Ride.

First year as our little family in Minnesota!

The Bob & Lois Dillon clan.  A great bunch.

Already looking forward to next year...