After our grand trip to Chicago, we spent a minute out in Cleveland visiting my mom's good friends from work--Mary and Ann.
The next day we made another go of the beach--this time just nearby Grandma and Papa's house. We played in the sand for a while, and the girls could have played longer, but Grandma and Papa had another commitment that night.
While Grandma and Papa had fun at an anniversary party, we went over to my cousin Scott's house. That's where I also got to catch up with my Aunt and Uncle and my other cousin, Brian. Scott and his wife Becca have 5 kids (Ariana, Callista, Ashton, Grace and Kian) and a most amazing backyard that includes gardens, a treehouse, a chicken coop and--dah, dah, dah, daaaaah--a screen against the back of their garage where you can project an outdoor movie. We stayed up late (oh so late!) to watch the movie "Enchanted."
The next day, our last full day in Sheboygan, we did a return trip to Bookworm Gardens and then we went out to eat at Klemme's Wagon Wheel (home of some delicious perch dinners).
On June 30th, we headed down to Milwaukee to pick up Cory from the airport after 10 long days of being without daddy. We had to say goodbye to Grandma and Papa, but we left knowing that it was a good visit and we all seemed to have a great time.
After picking Cor up from the airport, we headed to Mike and Jill's house near Madison. We got to visit with Mike and Jill and their kids Hannah and Ben, but we also got to visit with our mutual friends the Spredemanns--and meet their new addition, baby Megan.
From there, we spent one night at a hotel in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and then headed to Minneapolis on July 1st. We made our way to Jake's new place, then headed over to our friends Mary and Willi's place to meet their new addition (only like 11 days old at the time!), baby Delsy Rose. We spent the night at Jake's and checked out his neighborhood a bit. Cory and Jake visited a well-known local brew supply store and picked up some Sprecher Root Beer extract. We spent some time at the park, and grabbed lunch, then we were off. From there, we headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and spent the night there before finishing the remaining drive to Sundance on the 3rd.
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| Mom's friend Mary making goofy faces for the photographer |
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| Ann acting silly for the camera |
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| Watching cartoons and playing with Grandma's necklaces at Ann's place |
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| At the beach in Sheboygan |
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| Grandma helping them navigate the rocks |
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| Major sand action |
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| At Scott's house, having dinner |
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| Grace, Scout, Kian and Ruby |
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| Kian and Ruby played so well together--here they are dancing |
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| Yay! Great dancing! |
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| Grace and Scout on the teeter totter |
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| Brian's daughter Nadia and Scott's daughter Ariana |
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| Kian and Ruby eating their mini-drumsticks |
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| Scott's older girls marveled at Ruby's messy face |
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| Getting ready for the movie |
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| I love this one! Ruby, Kian, Scout and Grace |
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| Even though it was like 9 bajillion degrees, you gotta have a blanket to watch the movie, right? |
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| Nadia, Ruby and Ariana (and Scotty's neighbor) |
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| Back at bookworm gardens, a section of fairy gardens--I want to make this in our backyard!! |
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| At the Laura Ingalls Wilder section of the gardens |
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| Sweeping the dirt floor.... sometimes I feel like this is what I do, too! |
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| My pioneer girl! |
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| Grandma watches all the action |
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| Buckets of water from the well? |
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| I'm not sure the pioneers exited their wagons quite like this... but maybe... |
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| Filling up a watering can to water the garden |
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| The barn--complete with a mock-up Charlotte's Web |
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| Watering the garden |
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| It was very warm that day--taking a water break |
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| Winnie the Pooh's hollowed out tree |
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| Ruby is raking the zen garden |
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| Gong! |
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| The monster's house |
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| There was a statue of a dog, and the girls enjoyed giving him a bath |
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| Inside the monster's house |
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| The monster's house is cute and crooked, I want one! |
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| Grandma and Papa |
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| Playing a shoot 'em up game at the restaurant |
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| Papa takes a turn |
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| Scout took this! |
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| Eating mac-n-cheese |
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| Eating, with Jasmine jewelry on (procured at the Disney Store in Chicago!) |
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| Mom and Dad got the kids grasshoppers for a special dessert |
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| Grammy and the girls |
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| Mmmm. Grasshoppers! |
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| Moustache! |
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| An acquaintance of dad's offered to take our photo |
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| All the kids in the pool *except baby Megan |
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| She's right here! |
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| In the backyard at Mike and Jill's |
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| Jill making faces at baby Megan |
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| Cory and all the kiddos |
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| another one! |
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| At Mary and Willi's |
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| Itty bitty Delsy Rose |
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| Ruby could not WAIT to get her mitts on this baby |
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| Mary and Delsy |
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| Scout took this one |
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| Ruby took this one |
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| Willi, Mary and Delsy |
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| Jake's new kitchen |
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| Ruby and Scout just chillin' in Uncle Jake's new pad |
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| Cory and Jake in the dining room |
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| Jake's bathroom, notice convenient location of washer/dryer |
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| The extra bedroom/Jake's closet |
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| Jaker's bedroom |
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| Jake brought us to a nice park in St. Louis Park |
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| At the park... before we melted (sooo hot that day!) |
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| Jake pushes Ruby at the park |
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| In Sioux Falls, it was still pretty toasty... Ruby probably thought that water looked mighty tempting |
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| Oooh, water! |
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| On the main drag in Sioux Falls |
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| Checking out the fountain |
