Grandpa Bob and the Wild Bunch

Dress Up Fun!!

All the girls love to be princesses!

Bay Beach Green Bay

 For the last 3 years, we have been taking the kids to Bay Beach for some fun!  It is a terrific amusement park for the little ones and they have been getting better rides for the older ones as well.  The best part is that most of the rides only cost 50 cents!!  Crazy I know!  Here we are in the train station waiting to take the train ride. 

 The girls totally remind me of Charlie's Angels in this picture!!  They are posing so cute with their fighter plane. 

 The whole gang during a break for lunch!

 They have swings for bigger kids and these swings for littler kids.  Joelle saw them and wanted to go on them, but once she saw them swing she decided NOT.  We were walking past the line and I saw Travis and Brooke in line so I told Joelle, then she decided she wanted to do it.  Well, Brooke got out of line and Joelle was a little scared when the ride first took off, but she really liked the swings.  I was very proud of her!  I LOVE amusement parks and I am so glad that she likes the rides and that they don't really scare her. 

We ended the day with a pony ride.  

Fireworks

 Grandpa Bob really likes fireworks.  And the kids really liked the snappers that Grandpa Bob got.  The kids were tossing them down 3 and 4 at a time.  I had to start giving them only one at a time so they would last a little longer. 

 And here come fireworks that really make some noise.  The kids were so excited to get started that Grandpa set off some smoke bombs and some smaller toys. 

 Joelle really liked the sparklers. 

The kids had a great time watching the fireworks.  What could be better-bright lights and noises that light up the dark!

4th of July Parade

 Every year we hit the parade in downtown Stevens Point.  The kids love it.  The adults wish that they were able to play the music a little louder!  Tracy's family always gets a terrific spot right at the beginning of the route and they always save space for us!!  

 Joelle was so excited whenever she got more candy in her bag.  At times she was rather pathetic because if the kids around her got candy and she didn't , she would turn around and look at me with such a sad face and then she would look in her bag.  She didn't understand that she had to kind of "fight" for her candy.  She'll do better next year. 

Hess Family Reunion!

 We celebrated my Grandmother Hess's birthday while we were in Ohio.  We rented a shelter at Coldwater park for the party.  It was a wonderful day.  My children were able to play with my cousin's children.  It was great to see everyone and have a chance to catch up.  I haven't been able to see my aunts and uncles for 3 years!! 

Tyler and Danielle's Wedding

 My cousin Tyler got married this summer.  I was very excited to be in Ohio and see my extended family.  You can imagine how wonderful it was to grow up in a family where I had cousins galore!   Some of my fondest memories are of times that I was able to spend with aunts and uncles and cousins.  It is great to see all of their children and how everyone has grown!!  That is a large part of the reason that our family trips to Wisconsin are so important.  I want my children experience the large family get together.  Lucky for us, Steve also has a very large family so all of our get togethers are usually big affairs.  The kids had so much fun at the wedding.  Joelle was hilarious.  She would tell me she was going to go dance and moments later I would see her on the dance floor- dancing with some women we did not even know!!  I wish I could have seen if from the beginning.  Did she just walk up and grab someones hand or did she stare at them until they realized she wanted to dance with them!  I would walk over and apologize for her intrusion and they would just gush about how cute she was and that she was just fine.  She was really working the crowd! 

I was so happy to get a photo of Joelle with her Great Grandpa Niekamp at the church. 

Tyler and Danielle looked wonderful and the wedding was a good time! 

Joelle and Brooke were very busy.  After the cake was served, some munchies were put out in large bowls with cardboard boats to put the snacks into.  Joelle and Brooke very diligently "worked" as they put it to fill as many boats as they could and place them on the head table.  When I would try to get Joelle to come with me, she would tell me that she had work to with Brooke!!  They were hysterical. 

Joelle and the girls had so much fun.  When we left the reception to drive 45 minutes to our hotel, we were positive that Katey, Joelle, and Makenna were going to be fast asleep before long.  Apparently they were so excited they couldn't sleep! 

Ohio here we come!

 Here is the gang.  We got to Ohio and the kids had a blast in the pool.  I can't believe I got them to all sit still long enough to take the picture. 

 We visited Grandma Hess in the assisted living facility.  It is a really nice place and she has a clean cute little apartment.  We lucked out and there was a little boy who making balloon animals and things like that.  All the kids got something and they were very patient while they waited.  There were several swords in the group and by the time we got back to Grandma's apartment, a good balloon fight was in full swing. 

 The kids had a blast in the pool at the hotel.  It was really nice to be able to let them get out some of their energy.  We were in the hotel for 3 nights and with all those kids, there really isn't a lot of room to play! 

Me and my girl!

Sprinkler Fun

Watching the girls play in the sprinkler reminded me about how much fun it used to be.  You would wait for the sprinkler to pass you so you could jump or run through without getting wet-all the while hoping you got wet!  Running in the sprinkler is such a simple pleasure that no matter how advanced our society gets or what kind of toys the kids have access to, they will always like running through a sprinkler.  Thank goodness for the little joys in life.

Hanging with More Cousins!

 When Joelle and I got back to Grandpa Bob's and Grandma Ginny's, Travis, Tracy and the kids were there.  And that meant fishing time!!  The kids really like to get out on the boat and fish.  Joelle and Brooke don't use real poles yet, but the boys do and are they serious about fishing.  It was nice for Joelle and Brooke to have some "alone" time to get to know each other again and play.  They got along so well. 

 Joelle had been practicing her casting with Grandpa Bob.  She is actually quite good.  All of the kids have their own fishing poles to use. 

By the end of the boat trip, Joelle was a little concerned that her fishing pole wasn't catching any fish.  I am pretty sure that by next year she will need to have a pole with a hook!

Aunt Emily's House

 Joelle is at the age where she thinks she can do it all and she has to try.  She also LOVES to be a helper.  She couldn't wait to help Grandpa Bob with the bird feeders.  Earlier in the day they took them all down and gave them a good washing.  Then it was time to fill them back up again!  After they had filled all the bird feeders, we were off to Eau Claire.

 We went to Aunt Emily's house for the weekend.  Joelle was amazed by the toy room her cousins have.  The girls played so well together.  Katie loved being the big cousin.  The girls would be outside and Katie would do a trick on the play set and you guessed it, Joelle had to try as well.  It was a great weekend.  We also went to Grant's 2nd birthday party.  Joelle had such a good time.

One of the things that Joelle does not like about Wisconsin is the bugs!!  The girls all went to play in the sandbox and Joelle freaked out and would not sit down until Katie got ride of an ant.  Yes, one ant!!  You would have thought it was an alligator by the way she acted!!

Feel Good Moments

Today I was at the Dollar Store picking up some last minute items for my classroom.  Since I am changing grades, I needed some more mature items!!  As I was checking out a woman behind me in the line asked if I was a teacher.  I explained that I was and I was getting a few last minute things for my classroom.  She then blew me away.  She asked me if she could PAY for my school supplies!!  Huh, I was dumbfounded.  Here was a perfect stranger who does not have a child in my classroom offering to pay for my supplies.  She said her children had a great experience at school and with everything that has happened to the school budgets, she felt that teachers deserved it.  I have been very lucky in my last 3 years of teaching to have wonderful parents in my class who have been SO generous and always willing to purchase things for the classroom or offer their time.  This woman had no relationship to me and her children were out of school!  This type of kindness just doesn't happen anymore.  I literally got goosebumps and gave the woman a hug.  I tried to thank her for her kindness, but there is no way I could adequately explain what her generosity meant to me.  I always try to follow the golden rule and live by what comes around goes around, but today I have decided to make an effort to pay it forward as well. 

Children's Museum

Steven's Point recently relocated their Children's Museum and added activities.  It was great.  There were a lot more things for Joelle to do and more space for all the kids to play in.  Joelle was really digging being a dentist- can you tell!!

 If only she knew she would be sitting in a dentist office for several hours waiting for her mom to get a new crown!

Joelle LOVED the art area.  She made 4 different paintings and a couple of chalk drawings.  This was a perfect thing to do on a rainy day.  We were able to get out of the house and Joelle was able to burn some energy.