It's Been a loonnnnnnnng time!

So it's been a really, REALLY long time since we updated this blog.

Life has really gotten in the way. We've been very busy. Thankfully, we've been very healthy and very happy but very busy.

Since our last post (September 2013), we did a lot of stuff. We went to the Wisconsin Dels, celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas with family. Spent New Years with our fabulous friends, the Frasers (last minute trip). Spring Break, also with the Fabulous Frasers.  Then we decided we would move to a new house.  That has kept us EXTREMELY busy.

So in the next few posts, we'll try and bring you all up to speed on our happenings.

We hope you all are well too!

Mike and Karen

First Day of School

The kids were eager to go back to school. Well maybe not eager. But they were ready.

Cailin started 3rd grade and Andrew started 2nd grade.

Cheeeeeeesssseeeeeee!!!

 

Park Point Week

We spent the second part of August on a wonderful trip to Duluth. We rented a house on Park Point, if you don't know, this is a sandy peninsula just across the Duluth Lift Bridge from Canal Park.  The bonus of this area is the sandy dunes,which remind me of the east coast beaches, specifically Cape Cod. 

We also got to spend time with our DC family, Uncle John, Auntie Melissa and Cousin Michael all came for the visit.  We all stayed in the same house with Oma as well.

Uncle Chris and Auntie Jennifer came too, although they were smart and decided to stay nearby at a quiet, calm hotel.

Much of the time that week was spent visiting the beach, which was just a short walk outside of our back door. Awesome!  The weather was unseasonably hot (by Duluth standards), breaking heat records the days we were there.  So with the heat, the cold of Lake Superior (which we did swim in) didn't seem AS bad.  We spent a lot of time playing at the beach, running in and out of the water, making sand castles and playing Frisbee and catch.

We also did a few day trips. We visited Gooseberry Falls.

We visited the Duluth Aquarium and walked the harbor to look at the ships.

And of course, our favorite, the Train Museum.  Always a hit.

But the best part was spending time together. The cousins LOVED all being together!

 

Kamp Dels 2013

We did our annual trip to Kamp Dels again this year with our friends, the Frasers. We had great weather, although a little cooler than usual, but it was dry. And that was appreciated!  We have trips in the past where it was very wet, so this year being dry and relatively warm was fantastic!

The majority of the trip was planned around playing in the pool and the waterpark. Cailin and Andrew have now become much more comfortable in the 'big' pool, since they are much better swimmers.  So we spent a lot of time there.

The kids also got to participate in the many activities at the campground, scavenger hunts and games.

The kids also rode their bikes a lot and checked out the different playgrounds.

Madeline was able to enjoy it more this year as well.  She liked visiting the animals at the animal barns, and many times would fall asleep in the stroller while hiking about.

We were busy the entire time. The kids had a blast and were already talking about next year's trip!

Beach Day in Ham Lake

In July, we spent the day with Uncle Gary and Aunt Rhonda at their Ham Lake home. We got to spend the day playing in the lake, an awesome bbq picnic lunch and an evening ride on the pontoon.

Everyone loved to play in the lake and couldn't get enough of it.

It was a beautiful day with wonderful company!

Swim, swim, swim....

Goofing Off!

Andrew and Madeline are two peas in a pod. They love to play and they love to get into mischief.

On this particular day, I heard some gigling from the hallway and found the two peas in the hall linen closet. The linens had been removed and replaced with two children.

4th of July

This year, we spent the 4th of July at a new spot. It's actually an old spot for us, we've camped there many times, but not ever over the 4th of July.

We made a trip to Willow River State Park. It was wonderful!  The weather was great for most of the trip and got really, really hot only on the last day or so. 

On the hot days, we stayed cool with water guns and everyone enjoyed that. And we all got wet.

We hiked down to the falls. The water was really high, so we didn't get to climb on the rocks as much but the view was spectacular!

We were able to watch fireworks right from our campsite and we saw at least three different shows (from different towns). We found a great playground in Hudson and even bumped into a friend we had met while camping at another campground. Small world!

All in all, it was a great long weekend, filled with lots of family time and play!

Andrew's 7th Birthday

Andrew turned 7 this June. This was an off-friend party year (we do the big friend birthday party every other year, so this year was a quiet year), so we had a couple of family parties to make up for it.

Andrew loved his cake and loved his brithday present, this electric scooter.  He even lets his sister ride it occasionally.

 

Happy Birthday Andrew!!! We love you!!!

Tractors and Cheese Festivals

Yes, these two things actually do go together.  Mike is from a small town north of Rochester, MN and every year, Pine Island has a their annual "Cheese Festival" (apparently having some connection to Land O'Lakes having a plant there or something).

So we try and make it to the annual Cheese Fest each year.  The highlight of this year (which was held this past weekend) was the riding of the tractors. At least for the big kids.

They even got to DRIVE the big tractors along with Grandma and Grandpa.  Which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Maddy got to ride on the rides at Cheese Fest - which she thoroughly enjoyed!

 

The train was her favorite. She had a look of terror as the ride began, which then quickly shifted to excited bliss.

 

 

 

Maddy also really, REALLY liked sitting in Grandma's old highchair. Like the one Grandma used when she was a baby.  Maddy thought that was pretty fun.