Brewer's Game

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Going to a Brewer's game is just one of those must do things every year. This year we went with our good friends Adam and KC,

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and Mike and Cindy.

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For us girls the fun is really all in the tailgaiting and chatting it up.

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Since KC is prego right now, and Cindy is still nursing we didn't consume as much alcohol as we may have otherwise, but we still had a great time. Now the boys enjoy the tailgaiting too,

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and consumed plenty of alcohol. But the difference comes when we actually head into the game.....See the boys actually watch the game and care what is happening.

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Don't get me wrong they still manage to continue consuming more alcohol, but as for us girls it is all about the chatting at this point.

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I have to be honest here and say that if I could I would do the tailgaiting and then just go home! I am just not a baseball kinda girl. But this year we did get to see them open AND close the roof so that was pretty cool.

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It was a great night and we all had a great time. It was so nice to be with friends and have a night out without the kids.

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Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting! And thanks Mike and Cindy, and Adam and KC for hanging out with us!

A lovely day

Grandma and Grandpa had all kinds of fun things planned for the kids and this trip to the park was just one of them. We even brought the kids bikes with us so they could ride on all the paths.

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Or maybe off the paths?? Either way, my kids favorite thing to do was swing. Big Surprise!

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I think Grandpa pushed Alayna until his arms about fell off.

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Thankfully they did take a break for a little snack and something to drink.

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It was such a lovely day to be at the park.

Little Red Corvette

Grandpa has 2 red corvettes and took the kids for a quick spin in the ZR1.

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As you might imagine Mommy was not aware of this or there would have been car seats involved! But in Grandpa's defense he did only take them down to the end of their dead end street and back.

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Alayna LOVED her ride! Watch out Danika Patrick....Alayna has a need for speed!

In a little side story... when we were all in Grandma's Cadillac, Grandpa was driving and took off quickly from a stop sign. Well a Caddy really has a good kick and kinda sits you back in your seat a bit. Alayna is in the backseat in her car seat and says "Mommy, how did Grandpa pick up the car? Can he do it again?" I had to think for a few seconds to figure out what the heck she was talking about. Well I realized she was talking about going fast and told Grandpa to gun it again and see if that was it. Sure enough, she giggled and said "YAY, Grandpa picked up the car again! Do it again! Do it again!" She was just giggling the whole time. I think she made Grandpa proud.

2 - 4!

After our time at the cottage it was back to Milwaukee to Gramma and Grandpa's house. One morning they had a playdate planned with their neighbors who also had their grandkids over. We set up the little pool for the kids to play in, but they quickly discovered the water squirters and began having a water fight. The kids were all having fun with it, but before you knew it they were shooting water at the adults! That's when things got really fun, and Grandpa got right in the act.

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Grandpa kept calling all the kids "ya little 2-footers" and then squirting them.
Alayna thought Grandpa was saying 2 - 4 and called the game that for the rest of our time there.

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She just loved teasing the boys "You can't get me!" and then running off.

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Here is a little video of the 2 - 4 game!

They had a blast with this! Thanks Grandpa for being such a good sport.

Tubing!

I couldn't believe it but both kids wanted to go Tubing this year. We had tried to get Calvin to go last year, but he just wasn't ready. This year he was going to be brave! They went in the tube with Daddy and had to have Papa promise not to go too fast! It was a little cold yet so you will see they have their sweatshirts on under their life vests.

Calvin went first:

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As you can see Daddy was pretty proud of Calvin for being so brave.

Then it was Alayna's turn:

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She even went NO hands! My little daredevil. When we stopped the boat after taking Alayna around the lake a few times she immediately said "I wanna go again!" It was so cute.

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But it was a bit cold so we headed in for the day.

When my sister came to the cottage a couple weeks later, the kids wanted to go tubing with her. They had been told that Auntie is the best tuber ever!
Calvin went first again:

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Alayna went next:

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Then Brooke and I thought it would be fun for the 2 of us to go tubing again like we used to when we were kids. We went and picked up the 2nd tube and we were off!

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I don't think I have been tubing in at least 6 years, and let's just say I am NOT 15 anymore. I couldn't raise my arms over my head for over a week after that little stunt! But it really was worth it. Brooke and I had such a blast doing it.

Then we got the kids out there again.

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I know it's hard to see, but Alayna is in the tube with Brooke and I have Calvin with me. Two generations of tubers all out there at the same time. A memory to last a lifetime!

One of the Highlights!

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Every summer since Mike and Cindy have been married we have spent some time with them at the cottage. I think it is a highlight for all of us. This year was extra special because it was Baby Jake's first time up there and our first time seeing him since he was only 4 days old! We were all so excited to see him and play with him.

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How cute is this little guy?!

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And he was such a good baby. But he has a great Mommy and Daddy so that sure helps!

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Alayna loves her Uncle Mike (her Godfather) very much.

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I think it might have something to do with the fact that he does what ever she wants him to! Like color...

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Or build her a sand castle to her exact specifications!

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Did you see him back there working hard? And it looks like Calvin is getting into the act as well!

Calvin loved playing with Uncle Mike too, especially baseball.

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What a good Uncle to play with them so well! Hopefully in a few years Jake will be out there too.

Jake had a lot of firsts this year. First time swimming in the lake.

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First boat ride.

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As always we had a great time with them and it was so nice to get to know little Jacob.

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Beach Bums

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A short walk down the hill from my parents cottage and you are at a private beach. The kids love to play in the sand; building castles...

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and digging holes to turn into little lakes.

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And of course swimming!

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And like I said in a previous post it was a little cold our first week up there, so the water was pretty cold too. But the kids really wanted to go out to the raft and Papa and Daddy were brave enough to take them out there. But I am pretty sure Papa was questioning that decision!

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And once they were on the raft and out of the water they were even colder!

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The swimming part didn't last long on this day and soon the sun had come out a bit and they were back to playing in the sand.

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Soon they were cold enough to want to head back home. So we loaded them and all the beach toys up,

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and the little beach bums hitched a ride back home.

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Alayna: "Papa, are you pulling with all your might?"

S'Mores!

While the kids napped one day, Papa made a fire in the fire pit. We got to relax and enjoy the nice fresh, clean, cool air. For Ryan and I this was so nice.....no dust in the air, no oppressive heat and green all around us, not to mention drinks in our hands!

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Papa had a cigar, Nana had a beer, I had a Margarita and Ryan had a beer and laid in the hammock. Bliss!

And when the kids woke up, the fire was all ready for some roasting!

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We roasted the mallows and made some s'mores.

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The kids LOVED them!

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And went back for s'more. (sorry, couldn't resist that one)

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See that chocolate mouth?

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Just one of the many reasons we love being at the cottage.