Wisconsin July 10-15, 2009

Well, we've made it back to New Jersey from our whirlwind Midwest Tour. We drove almost 3300 miles in 3 weeks and passed through 8 states! It was a great trip but we are exhausted. Thanks to all of you for making the trip so much fun.



Here are the pictures from our first destination....Manitowish Waters Wisconsin. Thanks Uncle Den & Aunt MaryJo for once again sharing your home and having us up for a visit. Amy, Mike & Riley joined us and it was a blast watching the cousins play together. We spent lots of time in the boat tubing and touring the chain of lakes. On a few occasions Uncle Den was even brave enough to let the kids all try to drive his boat. We ate at all the favorite northwoods restauraunts...Paul Bunyan's, Aberdeen, Little Bohemia, The Pea Patch & Culver's (we don't have them in NJ yet!). We saw the Min-aqua-bats water ski show and even got Nick on a horse for a trail ride! One day we were also able to head over to St Germain for a visit with our friends Louise & Ray. Rob and the kids caught several fish and we saw bald eagles, loons & deer close up. Uncle Den even headed up to the house roof after Nick launched his rocket towards the house. Kelsey had a blast swimming with Cosby & Charlie and Mike's arm is probably still sore from so much frisbee throwing for Charlie. We had a very fun and relaxing time! Hope you enjoy the pics. There were so many I had to set up two slide shows. There will be more to come from all the other destinations soon!

Happy 8th Birthday Nick!

Hapy 8th Birthday Nick! I can't believe my baby is so big. To celebrate he is having ice cream for breakfast and talking on the phone with his best friend Jake! What a great way to start his day!

Kelsey's Riding Lesson with Ty

Kelsey is once again taking riding lessons this summer. Here are a few pics from her recent lessons with Ty.

The Grande Luau June 20, 2009

Our neighborhood had a big Luau party of June 20th. Of course it rained almost the entire day. We had games for the kids, a dj and tons of food and fun. I think even with all the planning I did for the games, the favorite activity was dancing in the rain and puddle jumping! Kelsey even learned how to make balloon dogs for her friends. I think Rob's favorite part was the coconuts. Nick just loved being silly and wet and muddy for a whole day. What a fun day!

Sorry I have gotten so behind with blogging. Here are a few pictures of the kids end of the year school activities. Nick was in a program at school with his class. Kelsey had a science day complete with her own scientist Dad who came to class and did cool experiments with the kids.

Tony & Tammy & Nathan's visit

Tony & Tammy & Nathan came to New Jersey for a visit the first weekend of June. We traveled to Maryland for our cousin Meredith's high school graduation. While we were there Tony, Tammy, Rob & I were able to spend a day sight seeing in Washington DC and the cousins went to see the Disney movie "Up". Thanks for babysitting Grammy Gloria & Aunt Glenda. Thanks to Uncle Tom for doing the chauffeuring!!! Then we all joined up for dinner at Bucca di Beppo. The following day we were back in Jersey and the kids enjoyed playing in the pool and sprinkler. The kids can't wait to see Nathan again in Iowa in 2 weeks!

Spring Break 2009

Sorry for the delay in posting these pictures. Spring is such a crazy busy time with kids activities and Rob's travel schedule.

Here are some pictures from Grammy Pat & Papa Bruce's recent visit. It was a busy week. The kids had karate classes including Kelsey advancing to her brown/black belt (check out the video post), we visited historical sites in Philadelphia, Kelsey had a chorus concert, Nick had a flag football game, Mom assembled a quilt for Kelsey's honors class and of course a few trips to the ice cream store too. My parents dog Mac came along on the trip to NJ so Kelsey was in heaven trying to play with 2 dogs. We all had a great time and now we are looking forward to a busy weekend with Rob's family the beginning of June.