Summer Fun: Three Weekends

Hi guys!!  

How are ya?  Enjoying your summer?

We have been living it up around these parts on the weekends. We've been enjoying visits from our families these last three weekends. 

The first weekend Grandpa Ken and Dianne drove up from down south for a visit.  We had a lovely long weekend together. It was nice just to sit back and visit together. Grandpa Ken took us out to our favorite restaurant, we went to a drive-in movie, and we had a nice relaxing couple hours at the lake. It had been a while since we've seen these two, so it was great to connect again face to face!  

The second weekend my sister from Minnesota and her family drove over for a long weekend (sans their eldest daughter).  More great memory-making bonding time with family.  We love getting the cousins together! We renting some kayaks for a couple hours, we went to the Madison zoo, took the free ferry to Lodi to go hiking, and bummed around the Wisconsin Dells before watching fireworks up there. Good times!

street magician

Today was Doug and my anniversary. This weekend was a surprise for Doug! My eldest niece graciously drove down to care for our children while Doug and I spent 24 hours away.  Aaaahhh, so very nice!  

Saturday morning my niece was set to arrive at 11am. My plan was for Doug not to have any idea of the plans until she walked in the house. But around 10am Doug informed me that he was headed to Menards and then was going to sand and stain the deck. Umm? I tried to convince him to wait until after lunch but he insisted that it was a nice day and he needed to get moving. So I told him, "No, you aren't going to do that. Our babysitter for our "dinner date" is not arriving at 5pm, she will be here in a hour and we are leaving overnight. You better go pack."  He was shocked!  Score! 

I rented a room for $55 at Durwards Glen, only minutes from our house. Saturday night Durward's Glen was hosting "Bagpipes in the Glen," so we had our entertainment for the evening all set. So after settling the kids, we left to go hiking at Devil's Lake. After hiking we checked in at the glen, showered, and went out to dinner at The Blue Spoon. We came back to the glen for the concert, walked around, and talked to friends a bit. Sunday we went to church by ourselves and went out to lunch at The Barn.  It was a refreshing weekend. Thanks so much Nicole for loving on our kiddos and making the drive! 

**warning:  "selfies" ahead.