Wisconsin Dells

It has been a long time since Mike and I have taken our kids to the Dells. Like a really long time. 25 years or more.

 

When Stacy talked about taking the grandkids up to Mt. Olympus Mike wanted to go too.  I wanted to ride a water slide or two myself. Though in the back of my mind there was a slight fear that I would not fit down a slide or worse yet get stuck in a raft tube and be stuck circling in the lazy river till someone found me.
Everybody dressed and ready to hit the slides.

Mt. Olympus is a great place for kids this age. It has 2 water parks and an amusement park.
I rode my first slide with Kaylyn and I fit in the raft and down the slide and everything. I was not too sure about the next slide. The ones where you wrap the rubber mat around you and zip down feet first. I though for sure that's the one I would get stuck in but nope Kaylyn, Stacy and I all went at the same time and all made it down.
Ok, that was enough tame rides for Kaylyn she soon joined Mike and the boys at the 10 story drop slides.
After lunch (which we packed in the car) we head back into the park and on to the other water park. The wave pool was bigger waves and the water slides had bigger rafts.

Mike and Logan on the slingshot ride, both liked it but not a "do over".

The racer slide - Kory took great pride in beating everybody - every time. Hey Kory - The fatter you are the faster you go. Poor Kaylyn was not too pleased to finished last each time.

 The boys in the wave pool. This wave pool was awesome. Even I enjoyed it. One 15 foot wave comes at you every 90 seconds.

 Kaylyn, Kory and Mike on the 3 man raft. I did both of these slide with Mike. The hardest part was walking up the 6 story tower. Not a fan of Heights!!  We got to the top and I looked around and saw that I was by far the oldest person up there. I got a shout out from Logan for being very cool about it!

We all agreed the short, bumpy, fast pink one was way more fun than the swirly yellow one. Notice the dark clouds. We had 2 short cloud bursts, but no one cared and the rides weren't shut down.

After check in (we had a 2 room suite in one of the cleaner hotels - reviews on some of these were BAD) and dinner at Paul Bunyan we head on back to the amusement park. 5 large roller coaster all wooden and 5 go cart tracks. Yup - they (notice the they) tried them all.

The best part is they closed the park at 7 to all the daily park visitors and it was open till 10 for hotel guests.
Much to the disappointment of my husband and grandkids I did not ride on any rides. I am not a fan of wooden roller coaster, especially ones that go under the parking lot (pitch dark under there) out the other side, and a quick 360 and back under again. This was by far the favorite among the 3 kids.

The go cart tracks looked inviting, especially the ones that went up in the air like a roller coaster then cork screw down and under a water feature. Way cool! I was too afraid to get into a go cart and bump my leg. See on Friday I fell off my bike (gracefully though) and have a bruise the size of North America on my leg. And the water slides were enough punishment. I was ok with watching and hearing all about it when the rides ended.

I am pretty sure Mike had the most fun out of everybody. We stayed for 2 days and He never sat down - He was off with one of the kids doing something every minute both days with a huge smile on his face. He could NOT get enough.

Memories were made - for sure!

Roger turns 3

Even though when you ask him How old he is? He will tell you 40 pounds.

I made him a Mickey Mouse cake and Mickey cake pops. The ears were chocolate, which I was pretty sure he liked. I made the face portion into a cookie surprise cake because I knew he liked cookies. (cookie surprise = crushed chips ahoy in the batter). It was a big hit. The adults liked it too.

 The mickey cake pops were made with the left over chocolate cake, but my favorite was the cookie cake, cake pops. (not pictured). Tasted like a cookie brownie.

Roger saw his Uncle Brian put a whole cake pop into his mouth so he did too.

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I thought I was doing pretty good with my present selection. Mickey mouse singing the "Hot Dog Dance" Mickey mouse DVD's and Mickey mouse PJ's which he asked for. Get it - Theme "Mickey mouse."

Don't get me wrong he loved everything, but nothing like his present from his Aunt Stacy and family. His own "real" tool box with "real tools". He carried that thing everywhere.
He also would not take off his tool belt and suspenders, which he got from his other grandpa.

Here He is telling his Grandma Murphey which each tool is used for.

Pizza was served - with help from Roger. Kaylyn is trying on Roger's safety belt.

 

 

 

And just like that "Roger is 3 (40 pounds)!!





Twins & Twins

While big brother was off playing golf with his Mother and Papa, Kendell and Kallie took a trip to "Grandma's Creek".

This time they brought along old shoes so they could actually go INTO the creek.
Of course they stopped off at my house and invited me too. I grab some old shoes and joined them.

While changing shoes on my front porch Grandma was going over all the "rules".
"You have to hold on to my or Aunt Karen's hand when walking in the creek"

Aunt Karen was the first one in followed closely by Kallie. Kallie asks Grandma to take her hand and in comes Grandma.

Kendell stood in the bank until I asked her if she wanted to walk with me. (Us oldest twins have to stick together ya know). We walked down to where the creek got a little deeper and faster and louder.
We are having a blast!
Turns out the noise of the water running made Kendell have to go potty. I walk/run her back to my house and she stops to take off her wet shoes. I told her not too, we couldn't take away from "creek time". She gave me a huge smile and told me her Mother was not going to like it. So, yes Kendell walked through my house with wet shoes on. And now - Aunt Karen rocks!
We raced back to the creek - 61 yr old grandma's should not have to run. Just saying! Kendell beat me.

 We threw rocks, floated stick and leaves and played in the creek. Kallie ended up with wet pants, dirty t-shirt and muddy hands. Kendell had to clean her hands after every dirty rock. Though I did get her to splash me back when I threw water at her.

Oh my gosh - so many memories. Sharen and I would play, and play, and play in old shoes, in the creek in Lords Park.

Concert in the Park

Growing up with 4 older sister I was subjected to many different kinds of music.

The older sisters would lay on the floor in the music room (music room, because that's where the piano and record player were) and listen to their 45's . If Sharen and I were quite we could sneak in and sit on the steps leading to the second floor and listen along - out of the way. Did they know we were there? Probably.

Maybe this has a lot to do with their age but, I remember Vicki was into "malt shop" music. Deanna too, though Dee would put on a crooner or two.
When I think of Linda's music The Beach Boys come to mind. For Mary it was the Rolling Stones.

All music from the 50's and 60's. I am not too sure if that's why I still enjoy the tunes or the fact that it brings back memories of hanging with my sisters. Well kinda, sorta hanging with them.

Anyway a 60's band was playing at Elgin's free concert in the park at the Wing Park band shelter so Sharen and I decided to check it out.
Linda had plans to go too, so we met up with her there.

 It was a perfect night. You can tell by the crowd there. The band even snuck in some 70's music.

All Decked Out

We have had 4 glorious days of summer weather. In a row - Hummmm what to do?
Spent 2 days golfing - Fun! Fun! Fun!

Our deck was feeling neglected. So for the last 2 days Mike and I have been prepping and sealing the poor thing.
We decided to try the new revitalized deck sealer. Reviews were mixed, but lets be serious here - people who spend that kinda money and are not satisfied are going to complain more than people like us who used it, liked it, and have the wait and see attitude.
Besides we both liked the commercial - who doesn't want to dance out on their deck - in their bare feet.

I power washed. Mike sanded. I took a butcher knife and cleaned out between all the cracks. I protected the house with newspaper while Mike shop-vaced the sawdust. It is clearly ALL ABOUT THE PREP!

 I found this cool sponge wheel that filled in the cracks really well. And no bending over.

Mike followed behind me and rolled the flat boards.

And the lower deck gets it's make over.
It says to use 2 coast so Mike added the second coat on Sunday.
We bought the 5 gallon bucket that was supposed to cover 100 sq ft. both coats. Our deck is 18x14 and we had plenty. Maybe enough to get the upper decks railing? Fingers crossed.
We still have the upper deck to do, but are going to wait till we get rid of the hot tub so we can seal the whole thing.
All decked out. A quick trip to Joannes for some outdoor material and we have pillows.

 This time of day I can choose to sit in the shade or in the sun. The sun only lasts for a couple hours every morning so I enjoy it while I can.

The biggest improvement was taking down the deck railing. I felt like I was boxed in. It's just a small step down into the flowers and you would have to walk behind the chairs, so why not? Now I have a clear view to the whole backyard. After 10 years in the house I am lovin' my back deck again.