Horseshoe Bay

We had SO much fun at the Horseshoe Bay Resort... who knew such fun was so close by. The few days spent were covered by Marty's work which made it even nicer. We got there later on in the afternoon and they had maxed out of regular hotel rooms so they put us up in a two bedroom villa. Madi and Drew were ecstatic that they had their own bedroom and bathroom and that all the rooms were upstairs! Downstairs was a kitchen, another bathroom and full living room. Needless to say this "hotel" room had more space than any apartment Marty and I lived in before moving into our house. The first day, we hung out at the pool and how could we be at a resort without a Bahama Mama... the only problem -- I think the bartender was laughing while I explained how to make one and they are even better in Mexico when they are free! None the less, we thoroughly enjoyed our Bahama Mamas.

After getting settled in... we got ready for dinner at the Yacht Club and then swimming at the beach area, pool and hot tub later before catching some of the movie on the lawn.
Relaxing in the lake...

Drew floating in the bucket...

And then Madi...

Madi hanging in the very cool "Volcano" hot tub!

Drew enjoying....

The next day... we spent some time both at the hotel pool(Madi's favorite) and then at the Yacht Club Pool (Drew's favorite as well as my favorite too).

Madi loved this waterfall -- the reason she liked this pool.

My sweet boy....
Once the "storms" rolled in, we headed out of the pool and relaxed for a while then went to the putting course. It was perfect for golfing as the cloud cover kept us cool enough to golf all 18 holes. We all had a ton of fun and the course was beautiful.

Loved this waterfall wall...

Drew golfing...

Madi golfing....
After golf, it was a quick get ready for the celebration dinner. There was lots of dancing after dinner and Madi and Daddy got into the fun for Dynamite -- Drew sang his little heart out at the table -- dancing in public isn't so much his scene.

Once the awards portion past, we headed for another night swim and warm up in the hot tub -- the room for dinner was FREEZING!
Last day was more mini golf and a quick swim before heading out back to home and again back to reality.

Again -- I loved this waterfall!

Happy Birthday Madi!

In the true tradition of birthdays around here! The birthday person gets to pick t he fun for the day! Madi picked Schlitterbahn this year. It is great to do all sorts of fun things with the kiddos. I have to say the tradition also helps me remember those precious days as each year passes by. So in the true spirit of birthday season ans before I forget some of these moments... I am going to reminisce a bit because even 7 years is somewhat of a stretch at this point.

Year 1... the year of the 3 birthday parties. Madi celebrated her first birthday with her cousin Hannah in Wisconsin about a month before her birthday -- Auntie Khris was kind enough to share Hannahs party and even let Madi smash around in chocolate cake on her carpeting!!! She had a party planned for her actual birthday but we ended with a trip to the Dr. -- she had a virus and we had to cancel the party for all the kids invited -- the adults were still okay so we had a family party instead and redid the other group a week later! So the spoiling began early.

Year 2... Drew was born shortly before so Grandma & Grandpa were here for Madi's birthday celebration. For her actual birthday, we spent the day at the Pflugerville water park. She loved that place!

Year 3... I'm a blank -- see that's why I am reminiscing -- SO SAD! :)

Year 4... Sea World

Year 5... Sea World with the Ms. Katie & the boys in Texas but it was a pretend birthday day as we were in Wisconsin on her birthday and she went to Rainforest Cafe, took pictures with the giant tortoise and snake, Went to Fired Up! in Racine for a pottery party with all the cousins and then back to Grandma's for a Royal Ball! Whew... that was a lot!

Year 6... Spoiled Rotten Disney Princess for a day -- need I say more! She had a blast!

And Year 7... Schlitterbahn -- It actually wasn't terribly too hot and she was more excited about Rainbow Ice Dippin Dots than anything else!

So sad that the Dippin Dots are gone!

Happy Birthday Madi!!!!

All sorts of fun & lack of sleep eventually must end!

The fun continued for many days after the Brewer game. Travel around the state began with a trip to Boyd. A day spent visiting some very special Aunts, Uncles and grandma went by really quickly. Then it was off to Appleton to visit another very special Aunt, Uncle and grandma as well as cousins. Swimming in the pool and going to Build A Bear topped day 1. The next day was a ton of fun swimming in the lake, riding in the tube and taking a nice boat ride to end the night. It is alway so hard to say goodbye but we will be back soon so we reserved most of the sadness. I wish I could say the same for our next departure, though we know we will be back in a couple short weeks, we also know how quickly the time will fly by. So here's to another year, another couple weeks of sleep deprivation (and I don't seem to be helping my cause) and lots of anticipation for our next visit! The crew Madi and Drew can't get enough of... They LOVE their cousins and love playing with them non-stop.
Matching 4th of July attire compliments of Grandma & Grandpa! They all look pretty darn cute!

Oh boy... leave it to Drew to give quite a face!

Go Brew Crew

Ready for another fun night at Miller Park!!!!

Grandma & Grandpa came with us again! Love being with them whenever we can!
Drew was ready to get inside!

Awesome seats again thanks to Uncle Marty... just a few rows above the Brewers dugout.

Much to my disappointment... Braun was still sitting out the game with an injury. We saw him out of the dugout a few times though. Other highlights of the night included Drew getting a ball though not in a traditional way -- an usher gave him one from batting practice that day -- AND Madi made the TV broadcast. There she was eating her dipping dots, with chocolate smeared across her face and licking her hand like a... "errrrrr" -- I am speechless for that one! None the less she was super ecstatic to be on TV.

Oh and yes... we needed the rally caps again!!!!

One day the Brew Crew is going to win when we attend a game of theirs! Really... it is going to happen! :)

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July camping in luxury with the whole family... So the luxury didn't leave out the bugs but it wouldn't quite be camping without them.

4th of July included many days of fun! The kids were able to decorate their bikes and participate in a parade through the whole campground.

Proud of that decked out bike!
Those that decorated their bikes...

Madi and Drew ready to go.

All nine by the pond... Drew being "just a little" uncooperative. And in case you care to know "just a little" is quite the understatement and my attempt to be nice!

As far as the whole camping trip since I didn't take any other pictures... we had a TON of FUN! You can't beat chatting around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning and then being able to retire to air conditioning. Madi and Drew had an ultimate blast riding their bikes all over the campground and having their freedom -- they were always off with their cousins to different parks, etc. They came back just the way they should each night, filthy and exhausted from playing so hard! My only complaint -- they couldn't ever find their shoes!

Looking forward to another fun trip next year!

Drive In Fun...

We made what is now our annual trip to the drive in movie theater. We went to see Cars 2 and The Green Lantern but due to the movie starting late... we only made it through Cars 2 and Drew didn't even make it through all of that! Sister Pic...

With the boys... Ryan and Chuck were apparently less than enthused! I really hope someone has a better picture somewhere!

All the kiddos! We are so happy Zach was in there this year!

The lone trio of boys, outnumbered by the girls - Zach, Caleb and Drew.

Double Trouble hanging out in the back of Uncle Ryan's truck!

Saying goodbye...

Saying goodbye wasn't too bad this time as we were heading to Wisconsin in a week...

Since we didn't get a picture of Madi with Grandma and Grandpa and her dance costume... we took a quick opportunity to recreate the moment!

I always forget to take pictures of the kids with Grandpa & Grandma...
Samantha in there too

Drew thinks those girls are crazy....

So he sat this one out!

Birthday Party for Two!

Madi and Drew had so much fun last year with their joint birthday party that we tried it again... this way Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie TT can celebrate Madi's birthday as well as Drew's. This years theme was beach but aside from the beach balls and Bahama Mamas there wasn't much beach about it. I truly just ran out of steam in planning -- hopefully I will be back on track next year.

So instead the birthday party just revolved around a cake. I usually enjoy making the cake for Madi and Drew but this year time was scarce and Grandma pretty much insisted that we order a cake. I have to say it was pretty awesome and Grandpa was even chased out of the bakery by someone to get another look at it!

So here is to the awesome cake (that didn't taste too bad either), another great water fun filled party with the only major issues being a slightly large Sangria spill an hour before the guests arrived and an emptied out gas tank in the middle of grilling --thank goodness we had a spare!

Madi, Drew and Samantha -- pre party!

Crazy candles on the crazy cake! 7 for Madi and 5 for Drew!
Hoping all their wishes come true....

Drew's Birthday and Sea World

It is tradition that the birthday person in the house gets to pick what they want to do on their birthday... Drew picked Sea World for his 5th birthday! Yes -- 5th birthday... I CANNOT believe he is 5 already! We were at the hotel on his birthday morning so there was no cake... we did manage to get some near inedible donuts for him that morning and Grandpa, Grandma and Samantha came to our room to celebrate a bit before we left for the park. His presents for the morning included a couple of Wii games and a lego watch. He was super excited for everything and for a fun-filled hot day at Sea World.

These guys greeted us shortly after the gate...
Watching the show Azul (still one of my favorites)

The girls feeding and petting the dolphin!


Drew made a pretty good reach for this one...

Beach Party lunch before heading to the waterpark.

After lunch... we stayed at the waterpark until it closed and then caught dinner and the last Shamu Rocks Texas show.

Drew had an awesome day where he was treated to desserts galore at his whim -- even getting two ice cream treats at once that pretty much melted before he could eat half of either of them.

Happy Birthday Drew!!!!

Almost Drew's Birthday...

The day before Drew's big birthday celebration, we headed down to San Antonio. On the way we stopped at the mall to go to Build A Bear and the Lego Store. Madi (and Sam just behind her in the background) getting ready to stuff their animals.

Drew was giving his puppy a bath... and he got a birthday sticker!
We spent the night at a hotel just a few minutes from Sea World so we could get there early the next day and fit everything in. We swam a little and then headed to the hot tub...


Smores and roasted marshmallows by the firepit before turning in for the night!