Wrapping up July

Can you believe how quickly time flies?

Summers are just CRAZY. You are finally able to get outside and you just CRAM everything possible into such a small time frame.

In July we enjoyed several more GREAT beach days as well as a trip to Milwaukee--complete with journey through Discovery World and a Brewer Game. We ran a little late leaving from Madison (of course--I had lost our membership card) and went straight to Discovery World (after I found it). We had a difficult time with parking. Discovery World had a sign saying parking was $14 and we were only going to be there 2 hours--and thought that was ridiculous. Being former residents we knew we could get a parking garage for much cheaper. Unfortunately, we had forgotten about the "accident" that had happened the prior week where a boy was killed by a concrete slab that fell on him in a parking garage. So, naturally that Main parking garage was closed for inspection and ALL of the other parking garages were full due to the loss of that major parking garage. (Yes this became a BIG deal--as we lost 30 minutes of our Discovery World time driving in circles.) We eventually were forced to the Discovery World garage where we discovered that their sign, was merely there to "Scare" away people who were trying to use their lot since the other lots were overcrowded. I think we paid $3 to park. HOW FRUSTRATING! What happened to honesty! Anyway...so we got to Discovery World and the kids had a blast.

Rob impressed us all by laying on a bed of nails. Kylan showed everyone his infrared tummy, and Alaina..well she was Alaina, just trying to run everywhere and get a "behind the scenes" look at things. (Yes with that child, I am often running behind store counters to get her and back rooms...)

Their music section was really neat--though lost the small child interest. Rob and I of course did the "read as much as you can while the kids are still in sight" tour.

The water area was the best part of the journey. Unfortunately, we got there at the very tail end of our time. We literally only had 15 minutes or so to look at the fish tanks. Alaina was very funny! She is such a bold and adventurous child, but when it came to walking on the glass (with the fish and water below) she was petrified. Be sure to check out the videos! She was too funny!





Since we got kicked out of Discovery World so quickly, we played in the outside park--which is a musical area. The benches are xylophones and they have this metal screen that makes music as the kids pass rocks through it. It's pretty neat.

After that we were off to Oscar's to continue our ice cream quest. Oscar's is a custard place on the the west side of Milwaukee. It was pretty good. We also got burgers & fries, but were not that impressed with those--Gille's is definitely better.

From there we were off to the Brewer game. We let the kids play at a playground along the way and journeyed into the stadium. Alaina did VERY well this game. I was impressed by her. She sat through much of it and just watched the crowd--and ate (of course!) Sadly, the Brewers lost...

So that following week Ky bit holes in his shirt. I was so angry with him. He has been doing this for a while and I have been trying to stop him. Anyway, we felt a punishment was in order. This was probably one of Ky's biggest punishments. We talked to him about how things cost money and we have to work in order to earn that money. And, since we had lost a shirt he needed to "pay" us back by working. So I made him wash all the tile floor by hand. He enjoyed this for about the first 45 minutes. But the last 30 minutes were full of much tears as they DRUG on. I was pretty sure I had made an impression since I had not seen any more holes in his shirt--however on Aug 28th (over a month later), I discovered another chew hole in on of his shirts. Naturally, he will be washing the floor again. And hopefully it will once again make an impression.

The following weekend we went to Rob's company picnic. It was held at Mt. Olympus. We decided that since we hadn't been in the Dells in a while we would camp Saturday night and also spend Sunday in the area (Devil's Lake). But as always, things don't work out as planned. The kids had a great time at Mt. Olympus. Ky went on his first "real" roller coaster. He just made the 42" requirement (though when we are the doc's a week later he measured in at 41.5".)

He LOVED it! During our day at the park we learned that our passes were actually good for the next day as well, so we made plans to skip Devil's Lake and come back on Sunday as well. We left at a reasonable time for dinner, but had trouble getting our tent set up in a timely manner and then finding a restaurant to eat at. It was nearly 9PM by the time we got the kids fed. ARGH! Yeah they were overtired and cranky. (If we do this next year I think we will just pack a dinner.) This was NOT worth it.

The next day when we returned, it was cloudy and not as nice. In fact we got rained out for part of the afternoon and ended up in the overcrowded indoor waterpark. BLEH! We left early and were very happy to get home. SO TIRED!

The week following, we signed Ky up for the Soccer Bible Camp at the church across the street. I was so excited to get him in. Five afternoons for $40. They provide snack and then feed the whole family on Friday! It was a wonderful blessing. Ky loved the camp. He loved his coaches and learned a lot. I did try to get some pics of him, but every time I did he was playing with his pinny. Oh, well! That's my boy!

The following weekend, we went up to Shawano to "get away". It was nice. I really relax better when I am not at home looking at the children's messes or thinking about what I need to be doing. On Saturday we spent the day at Shawano beach. It was so nice! I love watching the kids play and enjoy themselves.

So that was July--are you exhausted from reading this? I am exhausted from typing it! Summers are always so busy, and I am sad to think that it is almost over. *Sigh* Stay tuned to the August posts--including a trip to Kentucky!