Door County Vacation

Marc, the kids, my parents, and I had the privilege of visiting Peninsula State Park in Door County and camping there for 5 days. We were blessed with gorgeous weather the entire time!!!
We all had a great time! The kids loved sleeping in the camper with Grandma and Papa, and Marc and I enjoyed an extra hour of sleep each morning in the tent. (The only down side to the tent were the raccoons we could hear rustling around each night.) We drove up on Labor Day, stopped at Bay Beach on the way, and arrived to our campsite around dinner time. We quickly set up camp before the sun went down.

We enjoyed many activities during the week including biking, hiking, eating ice cream, driving around watching a sunset, playing at different parks, walking in the sand along the beach, reading (I even finished the book Hiding Place - a great read!), cooking dinner over the campfire, roasting marshmallows, star and moongazing, and even more! Joe had lots of opportunity to practice his walking on all different kinds of terrain, which he loved! Marc and my dad even went into town one night to catch the Packer's opening game! Because the kids were off schedule, but still needed sleep, we took a longer car ride each day, and they were able to get their zzzzzzz's. We thoroughly enjoyed Peninsula State Park, and will most likely return there sometime in the future.

Stopped at Bay Beach on the way, the kids loved the lady bug ride!

Empty campsite!

Look at all that stuff.

Kids having fun so far!

Walking along shore - Lydia's favorite pasttime!

Beautiful vista we saw while on a hike!

Self-taken of course.

Yogurt - num num num!

A bunch of pictures from Door County Bluff Headlands Park - we saw many interesting rock formations that reminded us of Stonehenge.

Lydia loved pretending she was an explorer on a one mile hike we took in the woods.

Beautiful sunset on our last night there.

SMORES!

August Happenings Continued......

Camping and short visit to Port

Ate lunch and ice cream downtown by the marina. Here's a cute pic of Marc and Joe, and Grandma Ellen with the kids.



Our first time ever camping with the kiddos, and it had it's highs and lows. More highs though. :) We joined my cousin Jenny, her husband Jon, and their little boy, Tryston, who is just a few months younger than Joe. We camped out at Kohler - Andrae State Park near Sheboygan, WI. Considering I grew up 25 minutes south of there, I can not believe I had never been there before. It was beautiful!! Highlights of camping were: walking along the cordwalk with a spectacular view of Lake Michican, and then along the beach (in fact this was Lydia's absolute favorite part of the trip!), waking up in a tent together and enjoying the first hour of the morning together listening to God's glorious creation, and getting to chat with Jenny and Jon around the campfire once the kiddos were all asleep. Lowpoints: Joe waking up at 4:30 the first morning, and not going back to sleep, combined with the rain that same morning at 6:00 am. Also, a lowpoint, Lydia was afraid to use the camp bathrooms. Needless to say, camping with 2 little ones takes the adventure of camping to a new level. :)

Our tent(the blue one), as a well as a playtent(pink) we set up during the days for the kids to play in.
Lydia enjoying the campsite.
Jenny and Tryston

Yum yum! Blueberry pancakes!


And in final news, Joe is walking! He took a couple of steps Sunday night after we got home, and then was walking across rooms all by himself last night! I will try to post a video soon. We happened to have a bunch of close friends over who were all able to share in our excitement for lil' "Jo Jo".

August Happenings

I have not updated much this summer. I'm hoping to redeem that by writing a bit of what we've been up to at the end of Summer 2011.

Brookfield Zoo with Grandma and Papa Woerner

Grandma Cis had to go back to work this week, but we were able to take a trip down to Brookfield Zoo in one of Grandma Cis's last weeks off, and Papa had off too! Unfortunately, Daddy had to work, but we still had a lot of fun. We saw almost the whole zoo, which I wouldn't have thought possible. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, with hardly any crowds. Highlights were the sea lions (of course!), the butterfly garden(so cool!), the bears, and ice cream!
Lydia enjoying the view from Papa Woerner's shoulders.

Kiddos with Grandma and Papa Woerner (if only we could get Lydia to smile for the camera!)

The photo of the day! The butterfly landed on Joe's head and stayed there for quite a while. So funny!

Cosley Zoo with Playgroup

We went to Cosley Zoo for our final playgroup of the summer. We got there a little early to see the ducks getting fed. This was a big hit for both Lydia and Joe.
Then our friends joined us, and we toured the rest of the zoo, ate lunch, and got a picture of all the kiddos.

Highlights here definitely the ducks, and maybe the turtles and bunnies!

Adventures in the City

Last week Wednesday began like any other Wednesday....

I wasn't exactly sure what we would do that day, though I knew I wanted to be outside because it was going to be a gorgeous day. I thought it might be nice to take the kids and visit our friends Rich and Leeann in the city. Rich was in an accident a couple of weeks ago and was/is still at the Rehab Institute recovering. We hadn't seen them in over a week and I thought a visit was in store.

Now mind you, I DON'T drive in the city. It freaks me out, the extra cars, the unfamiliarity of driving there, busyness, etc. However, where there's a will there's a way, and I bit the bullet, and did it.

I wasn't planning on staying for long, so I brought some snacks and water. In fact I was planning on getting home in time for the kiddos afternoon nap. Well we got down there at about 10:30. It took about an hour and I prayed the whole way down, for God to calm my nerves and for no one to honk at me! He brought me safely there and the kids were happier than usual.

We got some ice cream with Leeann and then came back and visited with Rich while he ate his lunch.

After lunch is when I was planning on going home. But between feeling a bit more adventurous than usual and that it was such a beautiful day in the city, I decided to take the kids to Millenium Park, and wait for Marc to get off work and then drive home with him. I had to stop and get some bottled water and sunscreen, so us "palies" didn't all sunburn and water because I knew we'd get thirsty.

Well, after walking a mile, we got to Millenium Park at 1:20(specifically Crown fountain - where the faces are), and it was under maintenance! Joe had fallen asleep now(it only lasted about 20 minutes). I knew Buckingham Fountain wasn't too far away and that Lydia would enjoy that, so we then walked another mile and it was a hit. Though there is no shade by Buckingham Fountain, so we didn't stay too long. By this time both kids were a bit crabby. Thank goodness for an Italian ice stand nearby! We got a large and split it on a bench in the shade.

Then we walked another mile back to Crown Fountain, hoping it would be working now. And it was! Yay! We stayed for about 2 hours at Crown Fountain, before Marc met up with us. Thank goodness for raisins and teddy grahams, which sustained us(along with the Italian ice and ice cream!). Lydia loved Crown Fountain, and spent the whole time buzzing back and forth between the two faces.

Then we walked the mile back to the Rehab Institute, and had dinner with Rich and Leeann and some other friends. We didn't leave the city until 7 pm!!! It was a great day, and the kids definitely were worn out (as was I!) and they fell asleep in the car on the ride home. I think I was a bit crazy for attempting that - skipping all naps, eating raisins all day, and "living" out of the stroller, but it was a memory I will not forget.

Lydia prancing about in the fountain.
Happy Joe, thanks to all the snacks!

In her own little world, crawling in the fountain. :)

Joe's Dedication Day

This past Sunday we had Joe dedicated to the Lord at our church. A Baby Dedication is where parents commit to raising their child according to God's Word and His ways, acknowledging that the child is essentially "on loan" from the Lord. It was a special day for us.

The idea of baby/child dedication comes from scripture:

And she (Hannah) made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." 1 Samuel 1:11

When God answered Hannah's prayer by giving her a son, she remembered her vow:

"As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1:26-28

Here are some pictures from that day (this is at our house, after the dedication).






































Also, a friend was able to capture it on video so here is a link to watch the dedication.

Early Birthday Room Makeover

As an early birthday present for Lydia, my mom offered to re-do her room in something Lydia would like. Her decor was still the "Mommy and Me" theme we had used when she was an infant. We picked butterflies as the theme, and my mom used her craftiness, and resale skills to makeover Lydia's room for a reasonable cost! And

The result was a beautiful new "Butterfly" room, which Lydia loves!

Here are the pics:




This is not what the banner look like out of the box. My mom did a some painting, and "glitterizing" to have it match the color scheme.



The lamp was a resale find embellished with all things butterfly!
Thanks mom for giving Lydia's room a new look!

Easter Weekend

This was Joe's first Easter, and our first Easter as a family of four. The weekend itself was very busy, so I am thankful I had time before the weekend to reflect on the "meaning of the season". I am thankful for Jesus's work on the cross and His resurrection, which opened the door to eternal life for those who put their trust in Him. When I think how he lived a sinless life, and then he suffered and died for us, I am amazed at his love for a sinner like me.

Romans 5:6-8

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


Like I said it was a full weekend. And with hardly any naps, plus us the kids and I fighting a light cold, it made for a late start to Monday. :) They slept past 8! That's a record for us!

Here are some pics from the weekend, plus a few bonus pictures!

This picture is actually froma couple of weeks ago at my parent's house. This is Lydia's Easter bonnet on Joe. (Lydia put it on his head!) He seemed to like it and this picture was too funny to not post.


Decorating Easter Eggs with our friend Leeann. Leeann is very creative and fun!





Joe enjoying the train at our friend, Kalli's birthday party.

The kids hanging out in the church basement before Easter breakfast. I tried to get a nice one of them sitting next to the plant together, but as you can see it didn't happen!





This picture is from today. Lydia got a flower headband from her Grandma Sandy and was enjoying wearing it around the house.

Joe's Birthday

Joe is one! We love our little boy so much, and are thankful to the Lord for the gift of his life. Two kids has kept me on my toes, but has been so much fun too. We celebrated Joe's big day with a small group of family and friends. Here's us singing to him as well as some pics of him opening his presents.