Grandma Camp 2009 Part 4

This year Grandma camp included a couple of special treats...

Grandma and Grandpa's neighbors across the street have horses and this year she gave them golf cart rides around the field.

We also took the time to tour a dairy farm just outside of Wausau where 3,000 cows are milked 3 times per day!
Zeke thought the whole operation was rather smelly.
Grandpa Jake was our tour guide for the afternoon!

Grandma Camp 2009 Part 5

Mostly we just have a great time hanging out...
From meals together...
Taking a few minutes to enjoy the company of the little girls in our family...


Having fun in between the fun...And even cramming several little boys into one sleeping space!
What a great memory Grandma Camp turns out to be!

Happy 4th Birthday Seth!

While we have decided to put off Seth's Birthday celebration until Chad returns (August 14) we couldn't let the day go by without a little cake and fun at Grandma Camp!
All the cousins (minus Ali who arrived later in the week).
Back row: JJ, Samuel, Carter, Zeke
Front Row: Grace, Seth, Noah, Isaak

Happy Birthday Sethy!

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jess...

On our way to Grandma camp we stopped in to spend a couple of days with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jess. They just bought a new home and we enjoyed a couple of days of seeing the new place and playing with cousins, Carter and Ali.

On Friday we took off for the Minnesota Zoo.

On Saturday we enjoyed a new playground called "Chutes and Ladders". Very fun!

In between time we entertained the kids with toys and puzzles at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jess' home!

Sunday we left Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jess' house for Wisconsin. Carter joined our family for the van ride and the first few days of Grandma Camp and Jess met us at Grandma camp on Wednesday!

On the road...

After picking Zeke up from Camp we hit the road for beautiful Wisconsin. We have a couple of stops to make before our final destination of Grandma Camp.

First stop... A visit with Michelle's cousin Liz and her family...

We arrived on Tuesday night just in time to get her kids, Abby and Ben, out of bed for a few minutes.

On Wednesday we let the kids have fun running around and playing before heading to the playground. After playing for a bit we went to McDonald's for ice cream and more playtime.

We had such a good time catching up. Our trips to visit Liz, Aaron, Ben and Abby are usually pretty short as we stop in for a couple of hours on our way through Rockford. It was great fun spending a whole day with them.

On Thursday morning we got up and hit the road for Minnesota!

Zeke goes to camp...

It really is hard for me to believe that my oldest boy is old enough for a couple of days away from home by himself, but this year we packed him up for 3 days at Camp Lutherhaven. (What kind of mother forgets her camera for such an important event... oh yeah, that would be me!)

Zeke started asking us at the beginning of summer if this was the week that he was going to camp! He was so excited about his time away. I don't think he slept much on Saturday night and by 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning he was up and ready to go... We left and attended the worship service at camp. In the middle of the service he asked if I was leaving yet.

After church we had lunch and then checked in for camp. Zeke's counselor was Zach (who had served as Papa Polar Bear during family camp). Zeke was thrilled. We put his things in Cabin 4 and went to hang out at the beach for a little bit. That afternoon we joined the opening service of camp and then said "Good bye". No tears on either Zeke's part or mine.

On Tuesday afternoon we picked him up and listened to stories of games and swimming and cabin mates. He had such a great time and amazed me at his maturity. I gave him $20 for canteen and to buy a t-shirt. When I got there he told me he only had $10 left, but when we went to empty his camper bank so he could buy his t-shirt, he had $17 left. He told me he only had one treat at each canteen time and wouldn't drink the soda because it all had caffiene in it (his mother could take some notes here). He was excited to purchase the summer theme shirt "Seasons of Life" and had over the three days memorized the verse from John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly."

Now we are on the road for a couple of weeks.

Kids Bowl Free...

Earlier this summer a friend posted a link to Facebook for http://www.kidsbowlfree.com. I signed up the boys and then our summer got busy and we were spending more time outside than inside. Today we went to check it out. The kids get coupons for 2 free games of bowling everyday all summer long. We didn't even have to pay for shoes and they had a great time!
Zeke scored a 106 in his first game... JJ then came back and scored a 109 in the second game! It was a lot of fun for all of us and a great way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy summer afternoon!