Our Two-Week Vacation with Gramie & Bapa

While Will was working 15+ hour days during much of June, I escaped with the kids to spend two fabulous weeks with Gramie and Bapa.

We arrived on Tuesday 6-15 into Milwaukee, WI, as the flights to O'Hare and Midway were booked solid. This afforded us the opportunity to visit Mars Cheese Castle, and what a treat: cheese-head hats, Kringle, cheese curds, sausages... all things delicious, really.... even chocolate cheese (which tastes like the richest fudge you've ever had). We even squeezed in haircuts for the boys at Kid-snips.Wednesday was a fun day in Downtown Chicago, including a morning trip to the Aquarium, lunch at my favorite restaurant, Cafe Iberico, and a tour of Bapa's new lakefront office (see below, where the kids are showing off their new lizards from the aquarium).


Below are a few picutres from the first few days of the trip, including pictures of the Brazil Soccer Uniforms that Aunt Emmy brought back to the boys from her travels!






Thursday was another travel day. Our weekend destination was Northfield, MN, the site of my 15th college reunion at Carleton. We broke the trip into two travel days, stopping the first night in the Wisconsin Dells. "The Dells" is the self-proclaimed water-park-capitol-of-the-world and for good reason. We found a hotel that was perfect, with three pools and an inside kiddie water "park."

Wisconsin Dells Hotel / Indoor-Outdoor Water Park



Friday morning, Bapa returned to Evanston while Gramie, the kids and I continued to MN. I reconnected with some great college friends and I'm already looking forward to the 20th. Evan and Alex are excited that they can participate in "Camp Carleton" next time around, too! The parade of classes was a highlight, as was seeing my old dance studio. The Class of '95 Arena Theater Dance Party was great, too! I spent many many hours in that theater rehearsing, dancing, and enjoying the after-show dance parties! It was fun to return.



On Saturday afternoon, we drove up to Rosemount to visit my Great Aunt Fran, my Mom's mom's sister. Aunt Franny and Uncle Bob were wonderful to me when I lived in MN and it was super to see Aunt Fran again -- and to introduce her to Alex! It has been five years since she saw Evan, so it was a really special day all around. Mom's cousin Barb & her husband Steve joined us for dinner, too.




Sunday June 20th was Fathers Day and Bapa's Birthday! While Emmy was in Chicago with Dad at the Cubs Game...



... we drove from MN to Waterloo, IA to see my Grampa. We spent several days with Gramp and my cousins Sarah, Erinn (who was in from DC). We played at the park, ate good food, and enjoyed special time together.




Tuesday was another travel day back to IL. The week that followed held super-fun activities each day. (I'm so behind on posting to the blog, the rest of this post is pics without much story-telling.)

Wednesday: The Museum of Science and Industry


Thursday: Childrens Museum on Navy Pier



Friday: Mini-Golfing & Batting Cages


Saturday: Taste of Chicago and Backyard Water-slide Fun







Sunday: The Field Museum of Natural History



Monday: Lincoln Park Zoo and Homer's Homemade Ice Cream!

Several of my close friends from college were not at reunion. Luckily, they live within an hour of mom & dad, so we met them on Monday! Lenore and her 6-week old son Joseph met us at the Zoo, while Rosa and her husband Bernhard continued our tradition of meeting for homemade ice cream at Homers later that night.



It was extremely difficult for me to return to Macon after this wonderful vacation. Although it is never easy to say goodbye to my folks, having seen so many good friends and my sister on this trip made it even more difficult to return "home." We really missed Will, though, and it was wonderful to see him at the top of the escalator at the airport in Atlanta!

Thank you, Mom and Dad (Gramie & Bapa!), for vacation memories to last a lifetime. Love you. xo

A Fish Called Alex

We've been to the Mercer pool four times this summer. On trip one, Alex didn't want to get in the water. By trip four, would couldn't get him out. He was exhausted, but he would have jumped off that wall and paddled to Daddy for hours if we'd let him. When it comes to learning something new, Alex is unstoppable.

Evan enjoys the water but he has no interest in swimming. For now, the "water cannon" floaty-thing he created is more his speed (see third video).

Camp Mini-Bears Soccer

Evan participated in a week of soccer camp at Mercer University from June 7-11th. Camp "Mini-Bears" was from 9-11 am each day and Evan loved the camp and his coaches! He worked hard, he learned some new soccer drills and skills, and he was wiped-out the rest of each day. The temperatures were in the mid-90s and Evan told me that it was the "most sweatiest" he had ever been. He was right.

Although Alex will be just under the age-limit next summer, we already have the nod to allow him to participate. (The coach saw him practicing on the side) Next summer, we'll have two Mini-Bears!

Summer Sun

Flowers.

Eight feet tall.
Grown from seeds.
I love 'um.

The Sultan

Evan's first-ever day-camp experience was at the Macon Little Theater Kids Camp last week. He spent 2.5 hours each day learning about the theater, playing "theater games," and learning his part for the play Aladdin! He loved every minute!

There were 19 girls and 4 boys in the show, 2 directors, and two high-school aged helpers. On Monday, the kids played improv-games, received a tour of the theater, and watched a mini-show performed by some high school students of selections from Free To Be You and Me. (This was a Marlo Thomas & Friends record that my sister and I LOVED as kids; it was really awesome to hear Evan singing the songs!) Here are some of the most memorable things Evan told us after his first day of camp:

"Dress rehearsal is not when you wear a dress. It is when you get the opportunity to wear your costumes on stage before the show."

"The house can hold 40,000 people, Daddy." (Obviously, this is not true, but I liked that he knew the word "House")

"Want to hear a funny joke? The box office actually has a box in it! A box of TICKETS!"


On Tuesday, he received his part: The Sultan. I later heard from one of the helpers that when Evan's part was announced, he put his hands on his chest and humbly said, "You want me to be the Sultan?" By the time I picked him up at noon, he could not contain his excitement and all modesty was out the window: "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy (dancing back and forth) I need white pants. White pants and a white shirt. Do I have white pants, Mommy? I get to open the show!!! I am the Sultan!"

Soooooo, Alex and I spent the better part of two days trying to find white pants to fit Evan. We ended up with white ladies capris. Thursday night, Will helped me set up my sewing machine for the first time ever (yes. you read that correctly. I used a sewing machine). We hemmed Evan's pants and they didnt look half-bad! Friday morning Evan announced, "Thank you for my costume, Mommy. You are the best Mommy is the whole world." (hug) Yay!

The show was about 15 minutes long and Evan did a super job. He remembered all his lines and ques. We were especially proud of him for projecting his lines and remembering all of his stage directions and body language! That little guy really looked great up there on stage: white costume against the black curtains, feet spread apart, hands on hips, fancy fluffy black hat with yellow feather... very Sultan-ie, indeed!

Evan the Sultan

Top: Abu the Monkey, Jasmine, Aladdin
Bottom: Iago the bird, Jafar, Sultan Evan

Evan and Jasmine

Above: Evan with Bailey and Matt, two helpers for the week. Also pics with the directors.

After the show, we celebrated with ice cream from Dairy Queen and homemade brownies at the house. Great job, Evan! (And great job to Alex, who sat quietly and still through the whole show!)

Our Trip to Colorado

Evan's last day of school was Friday May 21st and we were on the 8:00 am flight to Denver on Saturday morning! It was a week packed with fun events. My pictures and narrative won't do the week justice, but I'll try!

Sunday, Megan threw an early anniversary party for Dan & Susan at her home in Loveland. Over thirty family and friends helped the anniversary couple celebrate 40 years of marriage! There was delicious barbecue from Nordy's and a super-pretty cake from Schmidts, too! A wonderful event!! More pictures here

Greg, Megan, Tanner, Dan Susan, Alex (hiding his sun-sensitive ears) Ani, Will and Evan

Great Granny (Dan's mom) with the boys (Evan, Tanner, Danny, Stanley, and Alex)

The Wedding Party (Betty, Susan, Dan & Ed)

We spent Monday at Rocky Mountain National Park. The boys dipped their toes in an icy river running through Estes Park, we hiked around Lily Lake, and as we ate lunch, we were surprised to look out the window and see SNOW!






Tuesday morning started at the library for story hour, followed by a trip to see Great Grandma Brown (Susan's mom). We even found time to eat ice cream at the dairy. Delish!














Wednesday we visited Dinosaur Ridge and walked along Triceratops Trail! The first stegosaurus bones were found here, and we were able to touch a stegosaurus fossil ourselves! There were also over 300 iguanadon & ornithomimus footprints to see, triceratops prints, and a place for kids to dig their own "fossils." We ate lunch at one of my favorite places ever, Woody's, and then we toured the Celestial Seasonings Plant in Boulder. What a fun day!





Thursday was a FULL day of car travel. Tanner joined us for the day and the boys had a lot of fun goofing around as Davy, Davy, and Davy Crocketts. At Scotts Bluff, Will and Evan took the hike down while the rest of us rode in the air-conditioned car! It was a 1.6 mile hike and Evan skipped much of the way!

Oregon Trail Wheel Ruts

Fort Laramie: Alex, Tanner and Evan

Scotts Bluff

While we were at Scott's Bluff, the kids earned Junior Ranger Badges.
Would you trust this one?

Evan hydrates mid-hike

On Friday, Megan and Greg took time off work to join us for a day at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Following the museum, we took the Hammond Candy Factory Tour.









Saturday was the return trip home! What a week! Here are a few more misc. pics:

Thanks to Nana and Gramps for a wonderful Colorado vacation!
And Happy 40th Anniversary!

Mercer Baseball

Our friend JB James threw out the first pitch at the last Mercer Bears baseball game. JB is home from St. Jude's and doing well. In June, JB will return for a week of tests to see if he is officially in "remission." Just before this game, JB went with his mom and sister to San Francisco to shoot a St. Jude's commercial with Robin Williams! This Nov/Dec, JB and two of his friends from St. Jude's will be in a fund-raising commercial with the funny man himself. According to Candi (JB's mom & my friend), Robin Williams is as nice a person as you could possible imagine. He did all his voices for the kids -- from Aladdin to Mrs Doubtfire. So cool.

Mercer went on to win the conference and advance to the top 48 teams in the country. They lost to Georgia Tech, beat Elon, and ultimately lost to Alabama. It was a good run! Go Bears!

Evan's last day of PreK at Springdale

Evan and his assistant teacher, Mrs. Jones.

Kindergarten, here we come. Evan is ready!