A day at the Fair

On Saturday we went to the County Fair. The boys loved it. There were lots of different animals to look at, as well as exhibits, and of course people. They each got the get a balloon animal made, a giraffe for Will and a Monkey for Jake, they ate some honey ice cream and shared a kabob with Jonah. It rained on us twice times while we were there, but that was OK because there are tents and building that you can hide out in until the storm passes, which was quickly anyway. It stared to rain a third time and we decided to call it a day. We had packed a lunch just in case we didn't want fair food or if it rained, etc. So we headed for the car as it really started to down pour, we had parked a couple of blocks away so we did get wet but it was still pretty warm so no one really seemed to bothered by the rain. We ate our picnic lunch in the car and then drove a short way to check out Glen hills park a beautiful county park in the area that has a lot of trail and what looks like great camping, defiantly a place to check out later.

Rainy Morning

Yesterday was a rainy morning. This was great because we have not had rain in a while so the ground is really dry and we have been trying to work on getting our grass to grow, which is hard without rain. But is was also a bit frustrating because we had scheduled to meet some friends at the park to play. So instead of playing at the park we were stuck inside. So I had to come up with some things to keep the boys busy. Since I already had my camera out trying to get a shot of raindrops on the window (I think the boys are a little tired of having a camera in their face all the time so I have been trying to come up with some other things at least a few days a week) Will asked if he could take a picture, sure! So we spent the next little while taking pictures. It was fun to watch them Will can hold the camera on his own and can look into the viewfinder and press the shutter button by himself. So he was able to get a few good shots.

Jake photo taking approach can only be described as point and shot, literally. He points the camera in the general direction and presses the button- no looking through the viewfinder no lining up the shot just point your camera in an area and shoot!

Maybe because he was in a good mood after playing with my camera Will even let me take this one and he looked at the camera, which is something he has been unwilling to do lately, as I said I think they maybe getting a little over photographed :)

When you have little boys . . .

Mommies sometimes do things they wouldn't ordinary do, like play in the dirt or look for bugs. Or go to an antique tractor pull, like we did last weekend, just because the boys might like it. They did, like it Jake was fascinated with all of the tractors as he is with most anything that goes. Will liked for a while and then was more interested it running around and pretending a feather he found was a sword and then he wanted to go because he was hungry. It was actually really fun it was neat to see all of the antique tractors and all of the mix of people driving them, young and old, men and women all sharing the common bond of being able to drive these old tractors. It is really fun to live in a community where there are opportunities to do these things that we have never done before. I was a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday morning.

Little boys have a knack for getting dirty

don't you think? I don't what it is about little boys and dirt but they really seem to attract it. . .

I do find this one a bit disgusting but couldn't help showing you. He seems so proud of himself!

Fabulous Fourth

We started the 4th out with a Bagel Adventure, this is just a fun way to describe a bagel run. We get the boys up and then do any errands that we need to do. The boys love it, maybe because we call it an adventure! We went to Hudson Bagel. The boys each had a chocolate chip bagel and juice boxes. I had a french toast bagel and Jonah had Cinnamon sugar bagel. Yummy we all love bagels as you can probably tell.


Then we went to Menards to get some yard supplies. We are currently fighting with the weeds and they are winning, but we will get the upper hand! After the boys took their nap I attempted to get some cute patriotic shots of the boys. I was feeling a bit cranky and they weren't all that into taking photos so I got a few ok ones but nothing that I love. I might try later in the week, but here are a few that I liked.
This is the first year that we have been in this house so we decided to stay home and see whatever fireworks we could from the yard, figuring we could at least see New Richmond's display. We decided to let the boys take a nap and then get them back up when the fireworks were about start. Will was so excited he could not sleep at all but Jake was asleep quickly and did get a good nap before we got him up. So we had one very excited little boy and one half asleep little boy out on a blanket as the fireworks began. Will was so excited that he was literally jumping up and down and clapping, Jake was content to sit in my lap and point out the "far way" ones that he could see. This is the first time that we let them get up to see the fireworks, so it was exciting for all of us. I have to tell you that they really know how to do fireworks here. Fireworks are legal in WI so anyone can get them and set them off. Our show started around 9:45 with several neighbors lighting off really great displays followed but the New Richmond display. It was really great we literally had a 365° view of fireworks. Our biggest problem was trying to decide which direction to look! We didn't come inside until about 10:30 when they were mostly winding down, although I still heard some until much later in the evening. It was a fun evening and the boys were still very excited to talk about the fireworks this morning, tired but very excited!

Zoo Today. . .

We went to the zoo today. We love the zoo and it was a very nice day for a trip, apparently many other people thought so as well as it was very busy but we still had a lovely time. We usually split the zoo into two section, the warm weather section and the cold weather section. So in the Spring, Summer, and Fall we see all of the things outside and in the Winter we see all of the things inside. It works out well and since it is a big zoo and we only have a few hours each time to go this is the best way we have found to see it. We actually haven't been to the zoo since February I think, so the outdoor part was calling our names. Not to mention the fact that they have a new Africa Exhibit in which they have borrowed some Giraffes from our other favorite zoo. So we had to go and check it out. Unfortunately they line was really long and we didn't get the feed the giraffes this time, but we will try again next time. I got some shots that I was pleased with, for adding to the boys animal book and just because the animals are beautiful :)

Brown Bear (AKAGrizzly) look at those claws!

Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs

This one looks like I surprised him!

Gemsbok (aren't they magnificent!)

Zebra (don't you just want to hug them I do!)

And of course the star of the exhibit the Giraffes, it is easy to see why!

Lastly I will leave you with this moose. I just kept wishing I could pet his antlers!

Friends and Family

For those of you who don't know, my in-laws love riding motorcycles. Here they are last year before leaving on a motorcycle/camping trip.Last night they had a big group of their friends (and family) over and asked us to join them for dinner. They were all camping at K & D's so K thought that they boys would enjoy seeing the motorcycles and watching them put up the tents. So we ate hot dogs and cake I had made that afternoon. Here is Jake digging into the cake, as you know he loves sweets ( love the crossed fingers he likes to do that) Oh and I am actually in the photo! Will got a chance to act silly in front of the grown-ups, which he loves ~ no idea what he is doing here :)

They played a little hoop-a-loop (aka hula hoop). They really can't quite get it going yet but just kind of throw it around them~ so cute to watch.

Roasted some marshmallows. This one is Strawberry, I was told it was very good :)

And enjoyed good company. This is MA who the boys just love ( I think the feeling may be mutual)

It was a lovely way to spend a summer evening!