Birthday Week in Wisconsin

We have made it pretty much an annual tradition to get together with my in-laws over 4th of July, since Owen's birthday is the day after his grandpa's. (July 6 and 7) A couple of years ago we went to Great America and this year we spent a night at the WI Dells, which is less than 2 hours from where we live. I think it's great that my father-in-law gets to REALLY celebrate his birthday now that he's got someone to share it with. As adults, we tend to think of our birthdays as any other day and sometimes we even dread them. But I think any occasion to celebrate should be seized, especially as adults so that the days don't just pass us by.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from their visit and our time in the Dells:



William is TWICE the eater his brothers are! Here he is enjoying an entire hamburger and this was AFTER he ate 1/2 breast of chicken and many spoonfuls of corn and mashed potatoes.

I had arranged for our room to be decorated when we arrived which was thrilling to the kids. They especially loved the balloons - well what kid doesn't?

I made this cake for Pa before we left, but he shared it with Owen. I added a box of pudding mix to the pre-packaged cake mix and WOW, did it make a difference! Sooooo moist! I'll never make a cake again without it!

Owen asked for many different things for his birthday and his list of wants would change all the time. But one thing that remained constant was his request for a flashlight. Chris wisely got the crank kind so we wouldn't have to deal with batteries. (He got one for Sammy, too.)

My father-in-law loves fireworks so this was a great birthday gift for him.

We had a great week and are already looking forward to seeing them again when we travel to MI with the new baby in October. Our next scheduled visitor is my mom in September to help when I have the baby. It was nice that when William was born at home, we didn't have to find a sitter for the kids and they never even saw the midwife. We put them to bed and said we'd have a baby in the morning and by the time they got up, the midwife was already gone. Sammy still talks about "when you go to bed and the baby pops out." (Yes, that's EXACTLY how it happens!) But this time, since I will be going to the hospital we need to find childcare for at least 24 hours.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday! Can you believe we're almost 1/2 way through July already? Life is like a roll of toilet paper - the further you get into it, the faster it goes!