It's a Beautiful Day for a Hike

My boys love the outdoors.....I guess they are typical boys. We have been stuck inside lately due to the rain and cold weather. So when Sunday's weather was decent we decided to head over to McKinely Woods for a hike. Parker and Mason were excited----Jackson was a bit unsure...A few deer were spotted as soon as we got there. Mason took off running full speed on the trail....Jackson soon behind (a slight change in attitude here :) ) We soon came upon a older man, walking slowly...I felt sorry for him as I think we disturbed his peace and quiet. My boys soon found fallen trees---many fallen trees--and wanted to climb them. Being the good parents that we were-----we said "yes". They were so excited. One tree had fallen across some sort of a ravine (??). At the highest point --they were maybe 4 feet off the ground. Mike and I stood there with smiles on our faces as we watched them teeter with excitement across the logs...and as Jackson was yelling for Parker to move faster. Then as one point Jackson slipped----and fell about 3 feet down---he hit the ground, rolled over, jumped up ---and laughed! They loved the leaves, and rocks and walking on the bridges.

Camping---(again)

It has been 2 weeks since my last blog (GASP!)

We went camping with some great friends of ours over Columbus Day Weekend. The kids had a 4 day weekend from school, but unfortunately, Mike had to work 3 of those days. Our friends were going out to their club and I decided to take the boys and the dogs without Mike, as this would probably be the last camping trip until Spring. I was thinking maybe I could be Supermom! I packed ALL of the camping gear, clothes, food, etc, and then packed the entire van by myself! (Mike did come and meet us out there on his day off). It was cute becuase I had told the boys we were going camping and where we were going --as we had been there before. But when we pulled up to the gate Jackson gasps and yells in excitement- "This is where we are going?!?!" . The weather was beautiful (unlike the previous weekend) and we had a great time. Our good friends the Houcks, Szewczyks and Trotters were there. We were able to sleep in this HUGE motor home that the Trotters had borrowed for the weekend. The kids always have a great time--we are close tothe playground, there are real bathrooms and lots of kids to play with. We went on a boat ride, went fishing, carved pumpkins, went on a scavenger hunt, hung out by the bonfire, and got plenty of mosquito bites! The mosquitos were awful! We used bug spray, yard guard, mosquito sticks, citronella candles.......and nothing prevented those bites. Mason and Jackson had the worst of it--with each having at least 12 bites on their face alone. But all in all-- we had a good time, the boys were upset (and I was exhausted) when we left Sunday evening to head for home.

BRRR--It was cold

We went up to Kettle Moraine Wisconsin to see Mike's last mountain bike race of the season. Mike asked if I was going to blog his race--so here it is......Our original intentions were to camp, but the forecast was calling for some chilly weather and it was then decided I would sleep with Mason in my sisters' camper and Mike would sleep with the boys and the dogs in the tent. (this is because of Mason's allegies/asthma, we were told the cold night air would aggravate him). We arrived in WI at about 8:00, it was pitch black out because we were at a primitive campsite with no electricity. Mike and Ken put up the tent, came into the camper, and told us it was decided we were all sleeping in the camper-- it was WAY TOO COLD out there. But what to do with the dogs?? As it was- we were already cramming 9 people into a camper that sleeps 8....so my poor dogs slept in the car.....well- it was warmer than the tent. The boys were excited to sleep in the camper and I was excited at the thought of actually be a little bit warmer. When we awoke at 6:30 on Saturday morning, there was frost on the ground the kids put winter coats had gloves and hats on......it was chilly! We loaded up the cars and headed to the park where the race was. The kids-of course-enjoyed playing with their cousins. The weather warmed up as the day went on and we were able to shed our layers of clothes, only to start putting them back on again as the sun went down. Mike and his team had a good race--they placed 1st. The boys are trying to be like daddy and participated in a children's race. Parker had his first race crash after hitting large rock and loosing control of his bike, no injuries reported. We ended the weekend with a hike on the trails where we saw some beautiful scenery. And then a BBQ lunch at the park.