A perfect Saturday in October

On Saturday, we enjoyed another beautiful hike at "Dells of the Eau Claire State Natural Area". This park is breathtakingly beautiful. The hiking trails are full of interesting trees, rocks and a series of beautiful waterfalls. Thanks to Grandpa Dave for taking so many great pictures. He truly captured the beauty of the day. Here's Jack before going on our hike. He was excited to see all the rocks and waterfalls.

Jenny and Sofia looking over the cliff down at the river. This is right at the beginning of our hike and we were all still in aww over the view.

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Debbie. One of the few pictures that Dave was actually in. He was quite the photographer that day!

Jack and Sofia going under a fallen tree.

Dave spotted this great photo op! Jack was happy to be able to walk out onto the rocks.

Another great shot of Sofia, Nana and Auntie Jenny.

Look at the SIZE of this leaf! Jack and Sofie both found one of these huge leaves and they were both very excited.

Jack and Sofie crawling in the roots of a tree that were washed out by the recent flooding. Such fun things you can find on a hike.

Grandma Debbie at the end of our hike, holding the kids HUGE leaves.

One big pile of leaves and we all had to jump in.

Such a cute picture of Nana and Maddie.

Maddie and Daddy sharing a chocolate chip cookie.

After our hike we enjoyed a picnic and watched the kids play in the leaves. The weather was perfect and the kids were all happy. Who could ask for more?

Pewit's Nest - October 2010

Last weekend we enjoyed another hike at the beautiful "Pewit's Nest" in Baraboo. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was amazing. We started down a long path that turned into many and we weren't really sure which path to choose. We found this huge, old oak tree. We tried to put our arms around it, but it was too large for our hands to touch.

This is one of the smaller waterfalls that we found. It was amazing how loud the water sounded and then when we got up close, it turned out to be rather small.

This fallen tree was along the path. It looks like it either fell over in a storm or finally collapsed with old age.

This is a view from the top of a cliff looking down the river. It was very pretty and peaceful.

A perfect picture with a perfect waterfall in the background. My family is so cute :)

The long trail led to the water clearing and being able to see one last waterfall. It was such a pretty hike. It's amazing that we've lived here for 4 years and haven't heard of this secret treasure until a couple of weeks ago.

This weekend, Grandpa Kyle and Nana are going camping and we're planning on taking them to see this beautiful spot.

Treinen Farm Pictures 2010

Do you see Maddie sleeping in the back pack carrier? That's how we know she like it. She was comfortable enough to fall asleep. I love this picture

Jack loved climbing on all these tractor tires. I think he could have explored these for hours.

Jack sitting in the tunnel that brought him to the top of the slide hill.

There's the big slides that we went down. It was so fun!!!

A lesson in animals and their babies.

The Great Outdoors

What a great weekend to spend outdoors. Last weekend we visited Natural Bridge State Park.
We've actually driven into this park a couple of different times but have never been able to hike through. What a beautiful place. Jack loved the cave that the natural bridge formed. He came up with all sorts of creative things that they cave would have been used for long ago.


We explored on the trail and Nathan was able to capture pictures of some of the wild flowers found along the trails.

Jack and Nathan standing just outside the cave. Jack was a little hesitant to walk all the way back in the cave, but he did. He had lots of questions. There was a sign posted outside the cave that we read to him and he thought it was pretty cool that people used to sleep, eat and have fires inside the cave.

This is on our way out of the park. The kids did such a great job on the hike. They enjoyed running in the open grass. Jack is so good about holding Maddie's hand and helping her along.

We will definitely be going back for a hike soon!

On Sunday, we went to "Treinen Farm". What an AWESOME place. We went to explore the corn maze and found that and much, much more. We were very impressed with all the activities for families to do. The corn maze was so much fun. Jack had a blast following Daddy through the trails and looking at the map. In order to get the next piece of the map you had to find it in a mail box hidden along the way. There were 8 pieces of the map hidden amongst the corn. Nathan did a great job of navigating.

After the corn maze, we checked out the other fun things to do. They had huge drainage tubes set up as slides, pedal tractors, animals, a tractor tire maze and pumpkins. Jack had so much fun sliding down the slides. Jack and I got into the slides that were next to each other and raced down, he won!

Nathan was excited to try out our new backpack carrier for Maddie. He loved it and so did Maddie. She was comfortable enough to fall asleep half way through the corn maze.

We're already looking forward to our next hike and adventure outside next weekend at Devil's Lake State Park.

Kindergarten Here We Come

It's official, we're parents of a kindergartner! Jack's first day was yesterday and he had a great time.

He was excited to meet his teacher, hang his back pack in his locker and see his friends.

Jack was so brave. Nathan and I drove him to school, took a couple of pictures in front of the school's sign and took Jack to his classroom. Jack got to hang his back pack in his locker, put his lunch in the "green bin" and head outside to see his friends. At first, not recognizing anyone, Jack was a little nervous to run and play. I spotted a boy that Jack had played hockey with this past winter and pointed him out to Jack. He was off and running!

Nathan and I stood there for a second and watched Jack play, I then proceeded to cry, cry cry. I really did think I would be fine, but I have to say, it's a bit emotional.

Jack's second day was great. He was excited to go to music class and do some art projects. Today was his first time going to "kids club". It's an after school program that the kids go to until their parents pick them up. He was able to play with his friends and explore the school a little.

Our little boy is growing up very quickly. We're excited to hear about all the things he's going to learn and we know he'll have lots of fun!

A Pirate Party

I can't believe it, but it's happening, so it must be true! Jack has turned 5 and is starting Kindergarten next week Wednesday.

Jack is such a sweet and funny kid. He will do great in Kindergarten and I'm sure he'll love every minute of it.

We go to meet his teacher and drop off his school supplies on Tuesday and then Wednesday will be his first official day. I will be sure to bring a box of tissues with me.

Jack had a great birthday party last weekend. Jack wanted to do a pirate theme. He had two friends from daycare that are also five and his cousin Sophia that is 3 join him in pirate treasure hunting and treasure chest decorating. Jack wanted a pirate cake too. I had so much fun making that cake. Usually it doesn't bother me to cut the cakes that I've made, but with this one I actually was a little sad. It was just so cute.

Enjoy these last few days of summer.

Jack and Cooper

These pictures are from the beginning of July...I know, I'm slow.

Jack and Cooper met last summer and hit it off right away. They are about a year apart, but are both starting kindergarten in the fall. Cooper is from Texas and comes with his family every summer to visit his Grandma and Grandpa that happen to live next door to us.

Jack was so excited that Cooper was coming for a visit. We had just put Jack to bed, when I heard a little voice yelling Jack's name. Jack came flying out of his room and started yelling, "COOPER'S OUTSIDE!!!!" We had to let him go out and play. They hung out each night for 5 days!

We wish that Cooper and his family lived closer, because they sure are a lot of fun!

Out of the mouths of babes...or little boys

I took Jack to the doctor yesterday morning for a sore throat. While we were in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor, Jack started talking about chicken pox for some reason.

He said, "why is it called chicken pucks? Oh, I know why, because you wouldn't want someone to think you were talking about hockey pucks, so they called them chicken pucks".

It was so cute and so full of thought, that I couldn't correct him! What a guy!

Swimming Lessons

Jack and Maddie have been enjoying every minute of their swimming lessons. We go twice a week for a half an hour each.

Jack has really started to get more comfortable in the water. He can now dunk his whole face in the water, hold his breath, float on his back and tummy and knows the free style stroke.

Maddie loves splashing, blowing bubbles and kicking her feet. She doesn't really care too much for floating on her back though!

It's fun to see the kids getting more comfortable in the water!

A fun weekend!

I know, I know it's been far too long since I've posted! We have had a fun and exciting couple of weeks.

The fourth of July weekend was filled with fun and family. We celebrated Grandpa Kyle's birthday, watched the fire works and went to an overpriced grocery store :) I thought for sure Maddie would be awake this year to enjoy the fireworks, but she was too tired and missed out.

Jack and Grandpa Kyle had fun playing with the toy airplane that Grandpa got for his birthday.

A relaxing and enjoyable weekend!