First Day of Fourth Grade

 This year the first day of school was Wednesday, July 19th. We landed in AZ from our WI trip on Monday afternoon just in time for meet the teacher. It was so hot when we landed. We left northern WI and it was 55 degree, but when we landed it was 113 degrees outside. It was crazy hot especially since I was gone for 12 days of extreme heat. I got Max home, gave him a snack and then we were off to meet his new teacher for the year. 

Max was not thrilled to learn he was having a male teacher this year. I think it's great but he was just worried since he never had a male teacher before. He was pretty excited that a few of his closest friends are in his class, but he was not excited that his BFF, Grayson, was in another class. It was crazy at meet the teacher...so crazy that I forgot to take even one picture while we were there. Max got to pick his desk and of course he picked a desk with his two buddies so we will see how long that lasts.

It was the morning of the first day of school and I took our traditional photos for my annual photo book. Max is officially 4' 11.5" tall. That's only 1.5" from last year. It looks like his growth might be slowing down, or he's just taking a year off. He still wants to be a chef when he gets older and his favorite food changed from salmon to dad's smoked ribs.

Here's to looking forward to a fun and happy fourth-grade year!

Wisconsin: Part II

 Once the whole Framily arrived in SP, they opened their welcome gift from us. It's an inside joke from our travels last year, but the t-shirts worked out perfectly for this Summer vacation.

We headed to downtown Madison and checked into our hotel on the square. Stopped in at a niche cheese shop to get some cheese and sausage for up north. We all walked down State Street to head to the union for some snacks, beverages and to enjoy the beautiful weather Madison had to offer that day. 

The kids went to watch a movie in our hotel room while the adults went to dinner and drinks at Eno Vino.

The next morning the Framily wanted to see my childhood homes so I showed them the first one and of course they had to take a picture. 

After the tour of SP we headed north to cooler weather. It was a long 3 1/2 hour drive, but it was absolutely worth it. I mean just look at this view.

The kids enjoyed all the tubing they could get in that week.

They loved playing with Barb and Shirley too.

We went out to dinner and learned that nobody is in a hurry up north. Dinners were taking 2.5 - 3 hours each night. Breakfast took two hours as well. It was definitely not something we were used to when eating out. At least at most places we were able to keep the kids busy with pull tabs. 

One morning Andy and Brian went out fishing with a guide. They brought in three Walleye so we ate that one day.

Another day we took the kids on the pontoon boat to a location where they were able to catch baby fish by just putting their poles in the water.

Max, Stella and Briggs all took turns driving the boat. 

The kids tried water skiing and kneeboarding. Max had more success with the kneeboarding and didn't even try skiing. I bet if Max would have tried a couple of more times he would have been able to kneeboard. 

We took the cheese we bought in Madison and created a cheese board and went out on the pontoon boar ride. This was a lot of fun and relaxing. Huge kudos to Emily for driving us around.

On the last day we did get out for an up north WI bar crawl. We had a lot of fun this day while the kids hung out back at the cabin. 

It was such a fun Framily vacation. It was a lot of travel to get there and back, but it was definitely worth it. There were a lot of laughs and stories to tell. Also, a huge thanks to our gracious hosts: Ryan and Emily!

Wisconsin: Part I

 We recently made a trip to northern WI with our framily to stay at Aunt Emily and Uncle Ryan's family cabin. So Max could see his grandparents, I flew him out five days early. It was great because I was able to work in Madison (at my parents' house) while he was living the dream with all of his grandparents.

He spent his first day with Grandpa T and Grandma S. I know they saw a movie, celebrated Grandma's birthday and of course, Max got to hang out with Beau.

Max also got to hit balls with Grandpa for a bit at the golf course and brought home a bag full of lost balls that Grandpa had collected. 

The second day he spent with Grandma L and they went to the Cave of the Mounds. I loved this place when I was a kid. I thought it was really cool when I went on a school field trip, so I knew Max would have a great time. He had a lot of fun and brought home a bag of rocks from the cave.

The third day, Max spent it with Grandpa J and Grandma V while I worked. They went mini golfing, bowling and the arcade. They also stopped in to see relatives and measure him against grandma Marge. He's just a hair taller than great grandma Marge. Max is pretty proud of this. 

While Max was off having fun, I was working, but I did stop in to see Tayler at the coffee shop she manages out in Waunakee.

I also went to the Art Fair on the Square with my parents, which is something I haven't done in many years. I was excited to have dinner in downtown Madison with my long-time buddy, Quinn. 

Andy and our Framily landed in Madison and headed to SP to pick up Max and I for the second half of our WI adventure. 

4th of July Weekend

 To kick off the long holiday weekend, Max and I went out for sushi lunch. He hasn't been able to eat sushi since he got a stomach bug the last time we ate sushi. It was not related to the sushi food, but he did throw up dinner that night and couldn't eat it again for a long time. When I took this picture of him at lunch he said "I'm back!" 

We also went out for Crab dinner to make up for not going out for crab dinner for his birthday. Max just loves this place.

I had Monday off so we hung out and went to indoor mini golf together. I beat Max by four strokes even though he told me I couldn't beat him since he's a professional.

We celebrated the holiday with our framily who we hadn't seen for a few months cuz they are always traveling. We got them prepared for the upcoming WI vacation by bringing them a jello mold to share. Our jello mold collapsed on the drive over due to the heat. My mom said we should have put it in a cooler with ice, but how were we supposed to know? This was Andy and Max's first time making a jello mold. I did not participate because the jello mold gives me PTSD from my childhood. Ha ha! 

The mold might have collapsed, but it still jiggled...just ask Briggs.

After we swam and ate, we let off a few fireworks before it was time to head home.