Wisconsin Trip 2016

We've started the tradition of visiting Wisconsin every summer now. I look forward to future years where we can continue this tradition and take our kids skiing and swimming in the lakes. Coming to Wisconsin brings back so many wonderful, carefree childhood memories. I'm glad I can share some of them with my kids. Here's a recap with lots of pictures.

Day 1: We flew into Madison. The flights went well. Both kids slept on the planes. We purchased a CARES harness for Ashton to help her sit better in the seat and it was the best buy ever! Once we arrived, we met up with my sister and an old friend from high school for dinner at a restaurant with a carousel next to it. Ashton loved to ride the pink elephant. On the drive home, my parent's van had a small issue so we ended up getting home close to midnight. Thankfully the kids fell asleep in the car so it wasn't too bad.

Day 2: Visited my grandma. She turns 90 this year so I know her years are limited. I am grateful she can see my kids and play with them. Ashton loves visiting her as my grandma always has treats for her. That afternoon, we drove up north to see my step-sister and her two kids who were camping for the week. We played with cousins and went out to eat.

Day 3: We drove over to Green Bay and went to Bay Beach Amusement Park. We met up with my friend, Janet, and her two girls. Her oldest and Ashton are a month apart so it's fun to see them together. We had a wonderful morning there. That evening, we went to dinner with my aunts and uncles.

Day 4: Aunt Trescha came! We spent the afternoon with her and celebrated my mom's birthday. Ashton got to help stain the playground my parents are building. We had a family dinner and bonfire that night. Then we played cards at home and Ashton learned "Slapjack" (which really became Slapface. By the time we left Wisconsin, Ashton could distinguish the all the face cards by their letter) and loved it.

Day 5: Church day! Church with two kids by myself is a challenge. Ashton desperately wanted to go to nursery though so we made it! The ward has changed so much that I only know a few families now. Ashton enjoyed nursery so much she didn't want to leave. That afternoon, we picked berries in my parents yard and built houses out of Lincoln Logs.

Day 6: We met up with my cousin, Lisa, and her daughter to paint pottery. Ashton chose a teacup for her project. She lasted about an hour, which I expected. It turned out really cute and I hope to take Ashton back there next year to see how she improves her painting skills.

Day 7: We went to the Leigh Yawkey Art Museum for their Toddler Tuesday. I love this program and wish we had something similar in Texas. Ashton likes making all the art projects and my mom met us there for her lunch break. That night, Ashton got to take Molly the dog to the dog doctor! She loved it!

Day 8: Visit to the children's museum. Always a hit with the kids. Got ice cream at Briq's and visited a park.

Standing up while holding on to something by himself! He's getting too big too fast!

Day 9: We stopped at the library for storytime and then went swimming with Megan and Lisa in the afternoon.

While we were there, Ashton caught many tadpoles in my parent's ponds. Papa helped with the swimming pool net.

Day 10: I was fortunate to head out to camp, where I spent my summers from 2005 to 2009. I worked year round two of those years as well. I haven't walked around camp since I worked there in '09. It was great to show Ashton around and she loved all the playgrounds. Maybe one summer I'll enroll her there for a week. Then we went to Megan's house to play and Ashton loved that.

Day 11: We went up north to Jim Peck's wildlife zoo. Ashton had no fear for any of the animals. That's my girl. Tanner enjoyed it too. Trescha came up with us as well. Ashton loved playing with the baby bunnies and feeding the goats.

Day 12: Church again. We met up later with my cousin, Amy, and her husband at the splashpad. Everyone had a blast.

Day 13: My parents had the day off so we wandered up north to Laona and rode a train to an old logging camp. Ashton loved it! She especially enjoyed playing with the kittens in the barn. Played cards with Aunt Lynn and Uncle Bill again in the evening. Tanner surprised me by transitioning from crawling to sitting up several times this day.

Full size steam engine. It was really cool.

Day 14: Visited a park and packed. Ashton convinced Papa to play guitars together.

Two big smiles! (If only the computer wasn't on...)

Day 15: Travel day back to Houston! It was more eventful than I would have liked. In Madison, some drunk guy tried to get through security with no boarding pass. He kept pushing the TSA agents around and it took 10 minutes before someone handcuffed him. That was terrifying and a first for me as we were about five feet from the guy. Then our flight to Houston was four hours delayed so our day was a little longer than anticipated. But we made it safe and sound. Now the planning begins for next year!

Ashton's Drawings

One of the first days in Wisconsin, Ashton was busy coloring. I didn't think much of it until I looked at her paper. First time writing a letter and a stick person. Apparently she gets her drawing skills from me!

Draws lots of A's now!

A few houses with windows and doors.

She learned to trace hands from her cousin, Alexia when we went in May. Typically, she would skip a few fingers but now she gets them all.

Lots of arms and legs

6 Months Old Already!

So far, I would agree that time goes by faster with the second kid. 6 months already! Halfway to a year. Yikes! I mainly celebrate this milestone because that means only 5 more months of nursing (not my favorite thing in the world) due to a trip I'm taking in late December.

Forgot to take his monthly picture with the chalkboard so this will have to do.

Weight: 21ish pounds

Height: 28ish inches

Clothing Size: 6-9 month clothing with a few 12 month things. He finally seems to be slowing down with growth. Has been wearing the same clothes for the past 2 months.


Daily Schedule: Wakes up around 7am most mornings. At first, I didn't like this because Ashton is up then too. But it makes his morning nap earlier and then we can go out and do things after that. Takes 3 naps throughout the day now. Most of the time, his naps are still 45 minutes. Ashton did the same thing and it drove me nuts. This time around, I know it will end one day. Bedtime is about 7pm for him, which feels so early compared to Ashton. I miss having time to take him on walks or bike rides after dinner like we with Ashton. However, it is nice for nights I need to go out and visit sisters or have Relief Society meetings. Tanner still wakes up once or twice a night for now. I also remind myself and this will end one day... Tanner loves to eat solids and can eat an entire container in one sitting. He also seems to follow in Ashton's footsteps and prefer the straw cups versus sippy cups. I like this as straw cups help strengthen muscles for speech development.

Special Outings: Beach, flying to Wisconsin

Firsts: Mores solids in general, first time in ocean water, officially crawling! I love the mobile stage!

Sibling love: They have their loving moments and then their moments of not so much love. Tanner must have whatever Ashton has and will whine until he gets it. Ashton then whines if Tanner is within a 3 foot radius of her toys or her... Every now and then, she shows some love to him.

I love when he sleeps so peacefully

On the move!

Cow day at Chick-Fil-A

He's a great flyer.

Finally got a good picture of him with his great-grandma Ashton.

Fourth of July

Joseph headed to scout camp early Friday morning and returned Saturday afternoon. The kids and I celebrated the start of the holiday weekend by eating dinner at Chick-Fil-A and going to the beach on Saturday with friends. This was Tanner's first time swimming at the beach. He was a big fan.

Monday, we had a BBQ at our house with friends. We did sparklers and a few other fireworks. The older kids were a little nervous but they warmed up quickly.

So pleased with ice cream. Tanner got a lick or two as well and he loved it.

His favorite toys right now are anything that crinkles. So spoon wrapper was great.

We got an inflatable pool to put him in at the beach. That way I could put him somewhere safe if I had to run after Ashton. It worked pretty well but he still ate some sand...

Always a happy boy!