Milwaukee

At the end of July we headed to Milwaukee for our annual Northwestern Mutual meeting. Jay had some committee meetings a few days before the real meetings, so we were there for almost an entire week. We had a great time--probably our best Milwaukee trip ever. The most difficult part was getting there. Anna isn't a huge fan of sitting still on airplanes. Let's just say that I was very thankful God surrounded us with gracious people on the airplane. At one point they were all singing "The Wheels on the Bus" to her to try and console the poor child.

We had a little mix-up with our hotel reservations, so we were at one Marriott for 2 nights and then moved over to the other Marriott. Our kids loved this big window that looked out on the river at the hotel. They were very happy watching boats and kayaks and people walking down the street on the morning it rained.

One of the annual highlights is the race on Sunday morning. Will was looking pretty handsome in his race gear. Definitely the cutest racer I've ever seen.
Catherine and Will did the one mile walk with PopPop, Mimi and Anna did the 5k, and I ran the 10k. (Jay had to head to a meeting and couldn't race this year.) Catherine was very excited that she didn't fall down and get a boo-boo this year.
On Sunday night, Northwestern rents out the entire Milwaukee zoo and has a big Garden Party. This year our kids especially loved the carousel. Will pretended like he was a cowboy on his horse and named it Rob and kept petting it and talking to it.
This was Anna's first carousel ride and she loved it. When we got down at the end, she climbed back up and wanted to go again.
On Monday and Tuesday mornings we went to a couple of museums. The kids always have so much fun. One funny story: we do a lot of walking in Milwaukee. Pretty much everything is within 1/2 mile to a mile so we definitely get our exercise. After we walked to the museum on Monday morning, Will started complaining about how much his foot hurt. I took off his shoe and realized he had a huge blister on the back of his foot. I had been thinking that he probably needed bigger shoes soon but had put it off. So he walked around the entire museum with one shoe on and I carried him piggy-back down the street when we left. We walked to the nearby mall to buy him some bigger shoes. The shoes he had on were a size 7. They measured his feet and said he needed an 8.5! No wonder his feet hurt!
We enjoy having Mimi and PopPop with us in Milwaukee too. Jay's dad also works for Northwestern so it's a lot of fun that we get to go to the meetings and dinners and events together. They were both very, very gracious to us and watched the kids a lot this year so that I could go with Jay to some meetings and dinners.
We love our annual trip to Milwaukee. Sounds crazy, I know. But Northwestern is fabulous. We love the work God has given Jay to do and the company he works for is the best there is. I'm glad our whole family gets to be a part of it!

Puzzle-Mania

Catherine and Will's favorite too-hot-to-go-outside activity is puzzles. The last few weeks they've been completing 2 to 3 a day, usually 100 piece puzzles. At first I tried to help them, but they informed me that I was in their way and I am only helpful to turn the pieces over when they take them out of the box or pick them up off the floor so the dog doesn't eat them. This keeps them occupied for a few quiet, cool minutes and is great for fine motor skills, problem solving, and sharing. And they're so proud of themselves when they're finished!

She Must be Growing...

...because her big toe wasn't sticking out of her pj's when she went to bed last night!

I Love 'Em

They're cute and they're crazy and I love being their mommy.

Some days I want them to grow up so that they won't be quite so dependent for every single thing--going potty, getting something to drink, taking a bath--you know, the one million things that you hear "mommy, i need you" for in a day.

Other days, I want to freeze time and keep them just like this forever. I don't want to forget their silliness, their laughs, their hugs and kisses, even their messes and noise.

I'm so thankful God picked me to be their mommy.

Yellow Jacket Surprise

Tonight while Jay was taking Eli potty, they found our second nest of yellow jackets for this summer. (Will and I found one nest last summer.) Poor Eli got stung at least 5 or 6 times, and Jay got stung twice. By God's protection, Anna did not get stung even though Jay was holding her during the whole episode. Poor Eli was so terrified that when he came inside he ran down to the basement and hid in the corner. We finally convinced him to come back upstairs and then he hid under our bed. The kids were really worried about him and went to check on him.

A few minutes later, Will comes out and says "Hey, look what I found. A guitar!!" Yep, in my attempt to plan ahead and be frugal, I purchased Will a guitar last month at Target when it was on sale, I had a coupon, and a gift card. I hid it under our bed because his birthday isn't until October. We couldn't very well tell him to go put it back under the bed, so he was pretty excited about his surprise. At least it was a funny way to end the yellow jacket scare.

Swiper, No Swiping

Anna has another new nickname: Swiper. If you've ever watched Dora the Explorer, you've probably seen Swiper the Fox who swipes things from everyone. They then chant "Swiper, no swiping." Well, Anna has become our swiper. If Catherine and Will have something, she wants it (and usually gets it). This applies to sippy cups, toys, snacks, phones, and even Mommy and Daddy. Take for example popsicles the other day.

Insert a loud, high-pitched squeal as you look at this picture of her begging from Catherine.

Notice how she has convinced both of them to feed her their popsicles.

Will is especially generous.

Yum, yum!

She is quite proud of herself for her swiping.

Swim, Swim

We have spent a lot of time this summer swimming. Catherine and Will took group swim lessons at our gym, Catherine has had some individual swim lessons, we swim with friends at their neighborhood pools, and our neighbors are so very generous to let us use their pool often. On the afternoons when it's not thundering, it's great to just walk over to their pool, let everyone swim for 30 to 45 mins, and then head home for dinner. And did I mention that they have one of the nicest pools I've ever been to?

Catherine is really starting to swim on her own. She can swim the entire length of the pool by herself (although I make her stay close to the side in case she needs to take a break). She can also jump in by herself.

She likes to practice holding her breath underwater. So far she's only able to do it for 3 or 4 seconds and comes up looking surprised every time!
Will is practicing lots too. He's very good swimming with a noodle, kickboard, or his floaties. He's a very good jumper too. We aren't quite ready for him to swim unassisted yet, but he's getting close.
Anna likes to sit in the shallow/lounge area to play with toys and pour buckets of water on herself. She doesn't understand that she can't walk around in the whole pool and gets frustrated if I try to hold her in the water. She often is content to sit in her stroller and eat snacks while Catherine and Will swim too.

We love to watch them swim!