Boat Ride

Last weekend we got to celebrate Aubrey's 1st birthday, visit Grandma with Aunt Lisa & Diane, and go on a Mississippi boat ride with Grandpa!

 This is Lydia driving the boat!

 This is Abigail enjoying the ride, haha!

 

Carefree on the river! 😄

SLIME

We're in on the slime craze.

It's fun and easy to make;

and it makes funny faces!

http://www.whatsupmoms.com/diy/best-kid-friendly-slime-no-borax/

Discovery World

 Playing tic tac toe against a robot is a daring choice.

 Automation

 How are the balls floating? This air stream demo captivated the girls for a long time.

While I successfully landed a plane!

 Bed of Nails! Lydia laid on it too!

 Racing sail boats.

 Virtual Reality exhibit was new. They both explored a coral reef!

Can you lift your own weight?

 The changing exhibit was all about the human microbiome.

The basement aquarium held the best part:

TOUCH TANK!!

 

Lake Sturgeon were spiny.

Cortez Round Stingrays were velvety and and squishy.

Now I invite you to drift away with the jellyfish...

Bay Beach

The 3 of us, Grandma and kids spent a mid-week day and Bay Beach for a fun time!

helicopters

Pull bar to increase elevation.

Tilt-a-Whirl was a favorite! Go Grandma!

Baby Boats (That new drop in the back was a fun screamer for most of us!)

Carousal

 Hot summer days require ice cream!

While cooling off and enjoying the sweet treat, we discussed best parts of day.

Past favorite Giant Slide was knocked to the bottom of the list while Tilt-a-whirl and bumper cars rose to the top.

The kids didn't mind squeezing in for the miniature train ride.

Fourth of July Parade

Lydia was excited to walk in her first parade with Girl Scouts

 They tossed candy, walked, and got an occasional ride on a wagon.

When she saw us, she ran over with her water spray bottle.

Afterwards, we played games and then went home to rest. I played with the South Milwaukee Municipal Band for a concert in the park at 7 and then stayed for the fireworks show.

Happy Independence Day!

John's Lake

We camped out at John's Lake the weekend before the Fourth. 

The girls had a lot of fun swimming to the raft and back.

Co-tubing was also fun. Maybe next year they'll go by themselves.

Violet following safety rules and looking cute

3 Happy Grandmas with

the new little ones this year: Levi, Paisley, Cruz

 Aaron took all the kids out

 Dinner time

Abigail, Lydia, Carly, Nora, Ava, Aaliyah, Violet, Quincy, Natalie

Just one rainy morning this year. Lots of fun in and out of the water and always good to see everyone in the Schmidt family who can make it!

Breakfast on the Farm

saying hello to the Guernseys

check out the scale of this tire

calf only a week old

vintage tractor

and then there's this picture, just for giggles