Milwaukee Trip

The Friday after VBS, we loaded up the van and headed to Milwaukee for the weekend.  We left shortly after lunch on Friday, and arrived just outside Milwaukee in time for dinner at a mall.  My parents, aunt and uncle, and cousin's family also went with us to Milwaukee for the weekend.  My cousin had taken her kids the previous year and said that we would really enjoy the zoo.  So we ended up planning a weekend away with them and then included the grandparents. :)  Since there also happens to be a MLB team in Milwaukee, we got tickets to the Brewers game too.  My cousin's family had left about the same time we did, so we met up with them for dinner at Five Guys.  As we were leaving, the grandparents were just getting there, but we headed on to our hotel.  We got checked in, and settled in for the night.  Saturday morning we got up and got moving so we could get to the zoo first thing when it opened.  The kids were so excited to go to the zoo and see all the animals.  It was really nice that you could get close up and see the animals and they weren't too far away, especially with little kids.  They also had lots of "big" animals that we hadn't seen before on our other zoo trips.  Here are some pictures from our time at the zoo.  

Penguins!

The kids checking out the penguins.

Kyler in front of the hyena.

There he goes…..

Mr. Lion taking a little nap….

The cheetahs were cool.

BIG kitty :)

Norah thought it was too bright for her picture :)

Zebras

Camels

Love the giraffes!

Attempt and a photo by the giraffes

Elephants

Deb, Norah, and Aunt Mimi checking out something

The "crew" :)

These peacocks were everywhere walking around

Mr. Bear relaxing in his hammock :)

The grandparents :)

After the zoo, we headed back to our hotel so the kids could nap.  The other part of our crew went to the mall for a while.  Then, we all met back up to head to dinner.  Erik had found this one-of-a-kind restaurant for us to try out and we all enjoyed it.  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed.

Grace waiting for her food :)

On Sunday we got up, got everything loaded, checked out of our hotel, and then headed to the stadium.    It was raining on the way in, so we were a bit wet when we got there, but the stadium has a roof, so that was nice!  However, before the game started, the skies cleared off, and they were able to open the roof, which was really cool.  The game was pretty good, Grace wasn't a happy camper during it, so it was hard to wrangle her for most of the game. :)  Other than that, I think we all had a nice time.  After the game, we all headed back to our vehicles to head home.  We pulled in right about 10:00, and everyone was ready to crash!  It was fun to be able to do this trip with my parents, aunt and uncle, and cousin's family.  We all had a great time together!  Here are some pictures from the game.

Kyler and Norah with Mickey when you come into the stadium

Kyler with this guy :)

The kids with these sausage people :)

Down by the field

Before the game with the roof closed

During the game with roof open

More of the stadium with roof open

The sausage guys that race between innings

Us at the game :)

Kyler and Grace at the game

More stadium (that slide is for the mascot to slide down if there's a home run) :)

VBS 2015

Kyler was really excited to go to VBS this year with his buddy, Ayden.  He had been talking about it for weeks and was looking forward to a fun week.  He also got to have Grandma Deb as one of his teachers!  Norah wasn't so sure about VBS, one day she would tell me she wanted to go, the next day she didn't.  She was going to be in the same class as her friend Ahnie, but still wasn't so sure.  The first night Norah got all worked up and was crying and couldn't settle down, so she headed home.  The second night, she was still nervous, but was able to settle down and have a great time.  She then enjoyed the rest of the week!  (Which I knew she would if she would just give it a chance.) :)  One of my good friends, Kim, is in charge of VBS, so I always enjoy helping her out with rec for the week.  It's so fun to watch all the kids come out and burn off some of their energy!  I only snapped a couple pictures at VBS this year and they were only of Kyler. :)  He had come out to rec and was doing a relay with ice cubes. :)  We already can't wait for VBS next year!!

Random April and May Memroies

Here are some random pictures I had from the months of April and May…..kind of a lot of pictures but wanted to make some notes of the different memories. :)

As I was attempting to pack our house and clean out, Kyler and I went through some of his artwork.  I convinced him to let me throw some of it away if I took a picture of it first. :)  So here are some of his pictures I took pictures of. :)  (Trust me, each one of these had about 3-5 others that were very similar!) :)

Miss Norah just hanging out looking at the rocks. :)

I just have to laugh at this picture, here is our living room, decorated still from Kyler's birthday party and two days before we move, with boxes everywhere!

I usually try to visit Henry and Geneva once a month with the kids.  This was the day before we moved, and it was so nice we decided to have a picnic outside for lunch.  Henry is trying to shade Grace from the sun with his hat. :)

This is obviously "post move" because it's in my parent's house. :)  They have one bar stool at their island in the kitchen and the kids love to sit under it and hang out. :)

Kyler got this cool volcano experiment kit from his buddy Ayden for his birthday.  He was so excited to try it out, so my mom helped them get all the supplies ready and then took it outside to watch it erupt!

These two girls and their swings…..I think they could do this most of the day if we let them. :)

I think I was taking a picture of Grace and Norah said, "Take a picture of me too!" so, I did!  She is looking so big!

This is how Kyler has spent most of his time outside, playing baseball!  He either gets someone to pitch to him or he throws the ball up to himself and hits it across the yard.  I caught him in action this day!

Story time with Grandma!  They were reading a couple books before bed when Grandpa called, so everyone had to say "hi"! :)

We didn't get into our new house early enough to have a garden this year, so instead we had fun planting one at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

I think it must have been raining this day as I was trying to find something for everyone to do. :)  Group coloring time!

While living at my parent's house, Norah became quite interested in watching my mom put on her make-up every morning.  (I usually just don't take time to do this) :)  One day after my mom had left for work, I realized Norah had been "missing" for a little while, so I went calling for her, and here she came, out of the bathroom looking like this!  I asked her what she had done, and she said she was just putting on some of Grandma's make-up. :)