Summer Vacations

 With the boys heading back to Bonnie's and my school year starting, it's only time I sit down and update you on our SUMMER VACATIONS! 

We packed up and traveled to the County of Door on July 18th.  This is our annual trip with the family to Peninsula State Park.  This year marked year number 32 for Adam and year number 6 for me.  This was year number 2 for the boys (last year they were six months).  We were looking forward to being able do do more with the boys and them being a little more independent!

Many of our days are spent at the beach.  Grampa brought this raft that was enjoyed by all... even the adults!

When exhausted, the boys will sleep anywhere... Even on the beach!

Brothers... In-Law.

Aiden liked being the Captain of the ship (sitting in the middle which was the cooler).

More naps.

Even Elle gave in some days.

Aiden thought Daddy's BIG wagon was pretty cool.  Adam walked all our beach "Stuff" daily... with a beer in hand.

The main form of transportation is our bikes for the 10 days, so the boys spent a lot of time in the Burley.  They were NOT crazy about wearing these "hats" but they soon know they had to wear them.  Now Ashton wears it when he is just playing around the house... his head is always protected right?  ;)

Cousins... sitting in their chairs.

You would have thought we were beginner campers with the Camping Cats we had!  We usually hear all the raccoon stories from others, but this year we were distracted and left for a walk after supper.  The mistake we made was not putting our garbage up!  I waled back with the Ashton and we had about 10 visitors under our picnic table and in the garbage.  I walked through the site, went into the camper and got the camera.  All the while I was yelling at them and this lone fatty was brave enough to stick around!

By the looks of Ashton's face, you would have thought he killed a seagull.  Nope - just a piece of licorice.

The weather was HOT and the water was warm! 

Can't be at the beach and not get ice cream!

We went on walks and played at the park many times a day... at for entertainment at the site we had balloons, balls, trucks, and chalk at the campsite to keep the kiddos busy! 

Aiden liked to decorate his skin too!

Tired boys will sleep anywhere.

Pretty much dirty the whole time! 

We only went to Wilson's once this year... that must be a record.  Wilson's just celebrated their 100 year anniversary and they have the best ice cream in Wisconsin.

Adam celebrated his 33rd Birthday in his favorite place!  We had a party for him and he had three helpers to open presents.

TWO new pairs of shoes!  It is impossible to find shoes that fit his feet, so this was GREAT!  He kept both pairs  ;)

Brothers...

Ashton looks tired and Aiden almost looks like he is leaning in and posing. 

Helpers.  double checking everything and making sure nothing will fall off on our way home!  notice their pacifiers.  They DO NOT get these unless they are going to bed or it is nap time... BUT on this last day, we all had no sleep and keeping the boys occupied for 10 days was draining on all.  So I gave in. It made our morning of packing up a little more manageable.

Another year in the books.  Adam and I both felt that the boys grew up so much in these 10 days.  We also learned all about band-aides (skinned knees) and being very dirty.  We are already looking forward to next year!

While we were in Door County, Adam's dad received a call that we all have been waiting for!  Laura was to get a new liver... I am providing a link to Missy's blog to recap the story.  She did is nicely, briefly, and has shared pictures on her blog.  Thank you all that have been sending well-wishes and asking about her progress.  We are excited to have her healthy and back home!

Laura's Story

The first part of August we packed back up and headed North.  The Shively Family Reunion was in Pembine, WI at the Four Seasons Resort.  The family gets together every three years and this year it was in Wisconsin.  We had to drive right by Grampa's work, so we stopped in for a surprise visit!

The resort was on an island that has been rumored to be the hang out of Al Capone and his mob buddies.  Adam and Dave organized a golf scramble on one of the days.  Everyone had a great time!

They had an old fashioned ice cream shop.  You may notice in some pictures, Aiden has a new "Cheese Face."  Neither boys ad ever paid any attention to the camera or even slow down to get a decent shot, so I was surprised when this face started showing up in EVERY picture!  It makes me giggle... he thinks he can't smile without closing his eyes.  :)

Yummmmm.

Aiden's cheese face...

Elle liked feeding Ashton... He got the best of both worlds, his ice cream AND Elle's!

Is is possible?  Ice Cream cones as big as the Kids?

Aiden's cheese face...

Too cute!  The two cousins that play great together, get worried about each other, and can fight like brother and sister.

Fun time in the pool!  Aiden's cheese face.

I promise Adam is OK... and he survived being beaten by the boys :)

Marge Zielke (Gramma Z) and family.  We are missing some VERY IMPORTANT people... Gramma and Grampa Wamboldt as Laura was recovering from her surgery.

The boys stopping to take the time and smell (or pick) the flowers!

The Youngest Generation.  This was a one...two...three... parents RUN and get out of the picture.

The one who sat the best and probably the longest?  Aiden James.

The whole Shively gang!  Don't even ask me to name everyone!!!

Adam's Generation... cousins.

It was a great trip and rather relaxing.  I can get used to resort living after 10 days of camping just weeks before!  The next reunion may be out west and we cannot believe the boys will be 4 1/2 years old!

That pretty much sums up our summer.  We left the boys a couple times with Nana to visit Laura (Gramma) and we can not wait to visit her with the boys when she is back home in Oconto Falls.  Until then, the boys LOVE their Face Time "visits".  ;)

With school starting and things maybe slowing down, I will get back to blogging weekly (Sundays).  We will have HOUSE UPDATES! 

I will leave you with the back of my two favorite little heads... watching ELMO!  This is a daily site in the mornings.  I limit them to once a day (for my sanity) and they ask probably hourly at the least.  I do have to say Elmo has saved us on all the time we spent in the car this summer!  I have not justified starting Elmo for a five minute trip to Wal-Mart, however.  It is nice to see they can sit still  for maybe 15/20 minutes...