Happy Birthday Callie!

Happy birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Callie! Happy Birthday to You!

I Hate Mondays

There was something in the air! The kids must have sensed my frustration. Callie gave me these in the morning....

After spilling water all over my bed, Trent made me this in the afternoon. He said, "Sorry for all the bother Mom." Poor guy. No sense crying over "Spilled Water" right?

Kinda makes it all better!

Tourists!

Last weekend we were tourist's in our own town. Went to the Lake Geneva Museum and the beach. With our fancy resident parking pass we got the very first spot! We'll see how lucky we get this weekend at Art By the Bay.


This is an old wooden Cub Boat. The type of boat I used to sail, only mine was a fancy new one! B-30 Jenneratrix



Yuck! I do not care for sand! Too scratchy and sticky. My swim bag is full of it! Then my car and of course the house. Nothing new there though, the kids track it in from the park every day.

Messy Meal

It's a rainy morning, not too hot compared to the 90 degrees we've been having. I was in the mood for some Malt-o-Meal for breakfast. We like the stuff, but I hate making it because it is always such a mess. The powder flys out of the box all over the counter, I have to use two measuring cups to prepare it and it sticks to the pot after it cools. I use half milk/half water to cook it, makes it taste oh so creamy. But the milk always causes it to boil over. This is the messy-ist part of all!
I was standing by today, to make sure it would not happen. I may have mentioned in the past I am an energy nazi, so of course even though its kinda dark and rainy, I don't have any of the lights on. I couldn't really see if the liquid was getting close to the boiling point or not, so I went to turn on the light. I am also easily distracted and started going though my mail. Not more than 3 pieces in I hear the sizzling and look over to see the bubbling foam spilling all over! Malt-o-Meal, my cooking nemesis! You're lucky you taste so good!
The milk even gets down under the cook top! I guess it gives me a reason to get under there and clean! (I'm such an optimist!)

Girly Girl

I wear my Teva flip flops daily. They are about 12 years old. I got them when Marshall, my family and I went to the Key's. They are starting to wear down in the toes, but still holding strong. I have considered new ones, but these are just too great to give up. Callie really likes to wear them around the house. I casually mentioned we should look for a pair for her. Every day since then she has asked to go to the store and "look for a pair". When we finally did, they didn't have any flip flops small enough. I literally had to talk her down from the brink of total melt down!
On a recent shopping trip with Gran, Callie came home with her very own pair of $1 Target Flip Flops. Two sizes too big! She walks like she's wearing flippers instead of flip flops. She might as well still be wearing mine!
One day she wanted to wear them out to play. Gran suggested she wear her other shoes. Callie immediately told her she HAD to wear her flip flops because, "ALL the girls are wearing them!"
She is gonna be such a girly girl! I'm gonna have to learn how to put on make-up aren't I? Maybe she'll teach me!

4th of July Fun

Fireworks on the Lake

Aunt Mitz' Wild Ride!

Sunset Campfire

Relaxing in the Hamock

The Flying Smith's


Gonna Catch a Wopper!

Maybe he'll turn into a Prince!

Peaceful Paddling

The 4th of July

The 4th of July isn't so much a day for us, it's more like a whole week. For some it was 10 days! The entire week has been done for so many years now, we've got it down to a science. Though next years revisions call for an "adult" summer bathroom.
To sum it up, we sit around in the sun all day while the kids, swim, fish, jump on the trampoline, go for paddleboat rides and go tubing. Cocktail hour starts at 5 o'clock "somewhere". Meals are carefully planned out and served at the well stocked and organized boat house buffet with Uncle Butch as the grill master and each family contributing their signature dish.

Fireworks are a major part and take up at least two evenings. The lake fireworks and our family fireworks. The lake fireworks are special to me because of their history, but have lost a little of the nostalgia replaced by our family fireworks.
Back in the day, my Dad was in charge of the lake fireworks. Every year my Mom, Sister and I would put the donation flyers in all the mailboxes. Riding our bikes to close places, driving the van to the rest. We would road trip it up to Green Bay to pick up the fireworks. I was so proud of the show every year because it was my Dad doing it. Now that he is retired from his duties, it's not as special, but still a nice evening.
Our family fireworks are the best. My cousins are awesome. They took over the tradition on scale for the bay. We must have had at least 50 people around the fire and 15 boats parked ourside the bay. The show lasts a good hour with a spectacular finale. Top it off with B.T.S. roasted marshallows and you've got my favorite night of the year.
Happy Birthday to Molly, Mike and Eric!
12 adults, 17 kids, 4 grandparents, 1 great grandma and daily pop-over friends all having the time of their lives creating memories to last forever that is the 4th of July for us.
(I'll post pictures soon. I was just shy of filling up my 2 GIG card. Love the new camera!)