Saturday, November 27, 2010

Recent Travels

We have done a bit of traveling lately.  A few weeks ago, the four of us took a 6 a.m. flight to sunny Florida!

We stayed with Jim's friend from college, David, and his girlfriend Leslie.  They live about 2 blocks from the ocean!



Sand!
David is in a band and we got to see him play on Friday and Saturday nights.  Jim and David recorded some songs together at his house.
Here is a sample of the many guitars David has on his wall.  Jim is so jealous!
Jack's not as tall as the Marshall stack.

The boys enjoyed playing with David's drums, too!
While Jim and David were recording some songs, I took Jack and Patrick over to David's brother and sister-in-law's house.  They have 3 children ages 5, 4, and 2.  Our boys had a lot of fun sharing their toys.  This jeep was a big hit.  The kids washed it and then drove it.


Patrick was crawling around in shorts and scraping his knees on the concrete.  So we borrowed some pants.  They were pink. 
Jack and Patrick did a great job on the plane rides.  Here are some pictures from the airport when we were goofing around while waiting for our flight.

The boys were watching the planes land and take off.
We got home from Florida around 9:00 on Monday night.  We took the boys home and put them to bed.  In the morning, I took Jack to preschool.  Patrick and I picked Jack up from preschool and drove to Chicago to pick up my brother, David, who had flown in from Australia a few days before.  Then, we drove to Milwaukee to stay the night with Jim's sister and her family.  The next morning (Wednesday), we drove over to Appleton to visit my brother and his family.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures in Milwaukee except this one.  On the drive from Chicago to Milwaukee, Jack and Patrick pulled all the Kleenex out of the box.
In Appleton, Jack and Patrick got to hang out with their cousins Ryan, Adam, and Lukas.
One day I took Jack and Lukas to the children's museum.  They both got to be pilots...

...and firemen...

...and they played with construction trucks...

...and the water table...
...sat on a zebra...
...and played golf.
Notice that the club is between the ball and the hole.  He is also swinging with just one hand.  Hmmm....maybe Daddy needs to take him to a mini golf course sometime.  I would, but I think I would just make things worse.
While we were in town, my brother, Patrick, put David to work.  They did a little work for Patrick and Ingrid's solar company, Appleton Solar, and they installed a new t.v.
Uncle David read bedtime books.

We are home now, and I will post Thanksgiving weekend pictures soon!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Pere Marquette

Jim took a vacation day last Thursday and we rented a cabin at Pere Marquette State Park.  After checking out our cabin (which had a king size bed, bunk beds, and a pack-n-play), we got ready for a hike.

Jack is pretending to wear the hiking backpack with Patrick in it.
These are the cabins we stayed in.
The fall colors were really pretty.  Jack did great on the hike.  Some parts were pretty steep, but he held our hands and didn't complain.


We met a couple along the way and they took our picture.
This picture is compliments of the self-timer on the camera.
A view of the Illinois River from one of the look-outs.
We were setting up for another family shot.  Jack didn't want to sit on the high ledge.


After hiking, we swam in the indoor pool and hot tub.  Then we had a nice dinner in the lodge.  It was a nice, relaxing day with just the four of us.

Here are a few more pictures of our past week.  The first are of Jack painting the other day.  He wore one of Jim's old t-shirts as a smock.


We went to the zoo last week.  It was a little cool, but not too bad.  They are making a new sea lion exhibit, so we got to peek through the fence and watch the construction.
No trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on the train!
On Sunday we went to a Baptism for the daughter of a friend.  Jack signed the card by himself. I think this is the first time he ever wrote his name on paper by himself (so, of course, I had to take a bunch of pictures).