Eagle River

We bravely tackled our first major vacation to Eagle River, Wisconsin this summer (w/o grandparents that is) and had a great time. We lucked out with a great week of weather with only one rainy day. We rented a cottage/cabin for a week and managed to pack in a ton of stuff : boating, fishing, endless hours of swimming & jumping off the raft, biking, eating, campfires, mini golf, go carting, etc... The boys had a blast and are already asking to go back next year. We took a ton of pictures but here are a few of my favorites.

Feel like this picture captures our week. Low key, relaxing, & warm weather of whole-some family fun :)

The best picture of the 3 of these kiddos after about 25 attempts

Catching some fish

Lindsey enjoying some tubbing

Everywhere we went we came across Green Bay Packer stuff. The boys thought it was pretty cool as did Mark too.

Containing Lindsey in the pack n play on the boat. She didn't seem to mind too much

Zachary spent hours perfecting his diving skills off the raft.

Capturing a beautiful sunset on our last night

2nd grade

Not too much to say about this one without sounding like a broken record.... But how can he in 2nd grade already?!

Cameron, Zachary & Lindsey capturing the moment

Heat Wave

Since we are currently enduring quite a lengthy heat wave, I might as well use my time wisely while we are spending some extra time indoors and update our blog.

July has been an absolute whirlwind for us. The kids, mainly Zachary, has been super busy with all kinds of activities and the younger two have had to go with the flow. We have finally finished our first Swim Team season, which was overall a great success although the commitment of it all about did me in. But most importantly Zach loved it and is asking to do it again next year. A decision that I'm not quite ready to make yet.

Cameron has also been doing some swim lessons, camps at his preschool & trying to tag along with Zach on his playdates.

Lindsey has kept me busy with weekly PT, OT & speech therapy sessions. She is doing great with her development and all of a sudden seems to turning into a little girl.

Zach wrapping up a fun summer baseball season

Lindsey quickly growing up. Sitting here on the couch looking at a book she just looks like a big kid now!

Zach finished up his 1st Swim Team season by competing in Naperville's Classic Swim Meet. The progress he made this season was just astounding. He ended on a high note by winning his event in the backstroke. He was so proud of himself!

The boys playing around in their new Manchester United outfits.

Lindsey swinging at the park. One of her new favorite hobbies.

4th of July

Another great Fourth of July weekend for us up in Sheboygan visiting Mark's parents. We were joined by Mark's brother, Chuck and his family.

We managed to pack in a lot of activities too, thanks to Nana & Grandpa Leys' babysitting the two babies in the evenings. We went out for ice cream, played mini golf, watched the Venetian Boat Parade, & had a fire down at the beach to watch the fireworks on the 4th.

The boys of course were thrilled to be back at the beach and Lindsey also enjoyed her inaugural beach visit. She loved playing with the sand which was a big relief as I remember the boys at her age didn't like it.

We are lucky to have a beach access place to visit and enjoy our time visiting with Mark's Mom & Dad. Thanks for having us!

The cousins hanging out at the beach

Cameron hanging out with his newest cousin, Allie

Lindsey loved walking in the lake and didn't seem to notice that the water was absolutely freezing. She seems to be following in her brothers footsteps with a love of water.

Kayaking with Dad

Enjoying many soaks in Grandpa Leys' hottub

4th of July Fireworks at the beach

New Buffalo, MI

We had another great week in New Buffalo, Michigan with my parents, my sister and her family. All my kids took turns with some sickness during the week and the weather was a bit dicey, but we made the most of it and had a great time. The kids love swimming at the pool all day & playing at the beach.

Thanks Mom & Dad for another great family vacation!

The boys loving the beach as normal

Lindsey's first trip to the beach

The family photo

Swim Team

We have started a new adventure this summer.... Swim Team!

Its a huge time commitment (daily practices & swim meets 2 to 3 times a week), but so far its paying off, as Zach has turned into quite the competitive swimmer. We are just so proud of him for trying this new adventure as it was scary in the beginning as we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into. He is working on mastering all 4 strokes but is really excelling at the freestyle & backstroke.

Its been fun to watch his skills improve & his confidence soar during this past month. We are trying to just make this a fun experience for him with less emphasis on the winning part of it.

Lined up with a buddy in the 'Bull Pen' as they call it, waiting for his event to be called.

Ready, Set, Go! Getting ready to dive in for the Butterfly!

Walking at 16 plus months!

I haven't blogged about Lindsey in a while because I was waiting for her to hit that next milestone of walking. And finally at 16 months we have hit it!!

Its been a long road but she finally has her stability and trunk strength to get her going. Now of course we have to watch her even closer as she is a safety hazard with bumping into things and taking numerous falls.

She continues to receive weekly PT sessions which help her with her stability and recently she also qualified to receive Occupational Therapy and Speech services. In the past few months her personality has really taken off and has been fun to watch. She continues to bring us much joy and is a blessing to our family.