Awe'some Apples

We stopped at Awe's Apple Orchard in Franklin to pick a peck of apples.

There were Empire, Gala, and Ginger Gold

The girls are holding their favorite: Ginger Gold

It is an awe'some healthy snack!

1st Day of School

Another school year begins at Deerfield Elementary!

 Abigail is now a big Kindergartner in Mrs. Benz' class! I walked her in to her room. I helped her hang up her stuff, put her lunch in the basket, and played a bit at a table before kissing 5 times and leaving her for the whole day! She's just a bit nervous about eating lunch there, but no tears!

Lydia was quite excited. She numbered and checked off each item on the morning checklist so that she was ready, prepared, and not late for her first day of 2nd Grade with Mrs. Tarnowski!

Now that they are both at school all day, the dreaded question comes, "What are you going to do all day?" Ahh, it's reminiscent and just as bad as when the question comes when you are a new stay-at-home mom. I hate how it suggests my value and worth is based on what I do rather than who I am, or whose I am. Of course the days get filled with shopping, errands, household tasks and cleaning, and endless laundry.  I appreciate how accomplishing these things during the day frees up our family time at night. I also like being able to help out in the Kindergarten classroom and chaperone field trips. With my time at home, I like to try out new recipes, read blogs, books, or magazines, take Rio for walks, maybe catch one of my favorite daytime shows: Today with Kathie Lee & Hoda, The Chew, Ellen.  I am most excited to be able to work out at Planet Fitness with no rush and hang out with my MOPS group again. I will continue volunteering at church: counting on Mondays, being co-superintendent of Sunday School, attending Board of Ed meetings, play in the SMMB, and work my new partnership role with Pulley Properties. ;) Now, I have been looking for a paying job to go to while the kids are in school. What I found is a home care nursing position every other Sunday. It's the only daytime hours available now, but we think it will work for our family, and I'm excited to get back into nursing! I am excited to see what amazing things God is going to accomplish through our family this year at school and work. We are blessed!

Ready for School?

In just 5 days, these girls are going to be trading in days of this:

limitless sister play time

Oh, had to include this: viewing the 80% totality solar eclipse 7/21/17 at 1:18pm with dot method during play date

 here, there, and everywhere

Aw...

 For days of this:

Mrs. Benz-Kindergarten

 Time in the classroom with teachers and friends

Mrs. Tarnowski-2nd Grade
She get a locker this year!

Abby's Kindergarten Cruiser. We made it together at orientation night.

Well, ready or not, it's time to continue on in this journey through school!

Devils Lake Camping

We did a camping vacation of 4 Nights at Quartzite Campsite at Devils Lake State Park!

 We enjoyed all of our dinners over and around the campfire!

The girls worked on their marshmallow roasting technique.

HAPPY CAMPER

 The nature center was a short uphill stroll. Lydia & Abigail took a moment to pose in front of it as happy camper and flamingo.

FLAMINGO

We caught craft time on one of the days... They made leaf prints by pounding the juices or chlorophyll out and onto fabric!

 

We took 2 big hikes. The girls did great the whole way on the steep rocky climb on the West Bluff Trail reminiscent of Colorado mountain trails, with just a few breaks.

 The view and sense of accomplishment was so worth it.

 Prospect Point has an amazing view over the lake and we could also see the beach.

 They were proud and Lydia said, "We're not too little to do big things!" Yes, remember that, Girl!

 These goof balls had a good time,

 and an extra good time with Grandpa and Grandma camped out near us the first 2 nights!

 The second hike we did was in Parfrey's Glen Natural Area, which is 5 miles from the campsite.

 Peaceful and challenging with 4 wet creek crossings. The girls ended loving this hike because it was like a jungle gym or obstacle course!

The girls went through this tight space. Adults opted to climb around.

 We helped each other out and all made it to the waterfall!

The beach had a very nice large shallow swimming area. The girls swam off and played and played...

Catching minnows,

 building sand castles.

We had beautiful weather those first 2 days, and then it was rainy. So spending a day in the Dells worked out perfectly. 

To be true to the touristy Dells, it was a bit gimmicky, but really a lot of fun!  

The girls got to drive the Duck (DUKW) in Lake Delton

and be co-pilots on the Lower Dells of the Wisconsin River!

2 amphibious landings,

 

Some army history, and a guided tour of the natural wonders of the Dells.

After that fun morning, we ate lunch at Buffalo Phil's and went shoe shopping at the nice Outlet Mall.

No pictures to expose our geocache, but here's one of the girls sister chatting on "nature's couch."

Glad we got in a family camping trip this summer!

Jellystone Park

As one of Abigail's classmate's family is part owners of this park, we have been seeing their billboard van (you know, when people have their vehicle completely painted-windows and all-with advertisement) all year, and it finally wore us down to visit-and we're happy we did! The girls never even watched a Yogi Bear show before, but that didn't matter.

First-timers to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park!

"Hey there, Lydia!"

The jumping pillow was super fun. The kids were coming up with all sorts of games to play on it, like flip the pancake and line tag.

We had Donuts with Cindy Bear :)

They came around with donuts, frosting (3 choices) and sprinkles-a clear hit with these girls!

"My tongue is my napkin"~Abby

We played 6 holes of mini golf.

And then finally got in the water!

Going on a Wednesday, we were busy with the activity pool, water zone, and water wars,  but the whole facility was not...just right!

Whee!

We had a "pic-a-nic" lunch and then discovered this separate area with inflatables, a remote control car race track, and archery!

The balls hovered in an air stream and the arrows had rubber ends...ingenious!

 We took showers and ended our day on a 'hey'ride with Yogi

Singing C-I-N-D-Y to the tune of BINGO on the ride through the campgrounds.

"WE HAD A BEARY GOOD TIME AT JELLYSTONE PARK IN CALEDONIA, WI"
To wind down at night, we found and watched some YouTube cartoons of Yogi and his sidekick Boo Boo.