Wisconsin Visit

Summer was beginning to wind down for us, but we still had one trip left: our visit in Wisconsin with Andy's side of the family. The evening before we left, Bella had 7th grade orientation since she is switching schools and moving up to junior high. She got a tour of the building and practiced opening her locker. Is it just me, or does this locker make her look older?


The next morning, we drove up to Verona. We relaxed that evening and enjoyed some Papa Murphy's pizza.

Andy's parents have a nice pool area in their apartment complex, so we spent some time there the following day.




After the kids dried off, Gaga had a craft for them to work on.










On Saturday, there were two big family gatherings. The first was a family reunion at a local park and right after that, there was a 60th wedding anniversary celebration for Andy's aunt and uncle.


A big family photo (and there were still a lot of people missing).


There was a table with some old photos. Andy's mom was the flower girl in this wedding. She was eight-years-old at the time. Andy snapped some photos with his cell phone.




If this was a modern-day photo, I would have thought these ladies were taking a selfie. In reality, I think they were trying to catch the bouquet.


The church where the anniversary party was held was the same church where Andy's Boy Scout meetings were held. His name in on a plaque in the church because he completed his Eagle.


On Sunday morning, Andy gave the message at the church he grew up in. During the coffee fellowship time afterwards, we saw that Curtis had snuck away to the pulpit.


After leaving church, we spent the afternoon at the lake.
















Bella ended up accidentally stepping on a wasp and getting stung on the bottom of her foot. Other than that, we all had a fun day!






The boys tried to do some fishing, but nothing was biting that day.


On Monday, I slipped away for a few hours to spend some time with my friend, Jenn. While I was gone, Andy and the kids went back to Papa and Gaga's house for more craft time.


Then they went bowling.


For the first game, Graydon and Curtis both used bumpers.




For the second game, no bumpers for anyone! Graydon and Bella both got their first non-bumper strikes! Curtis struggled a little without the bumpers.


After bowling, they went to visit another of Andy's aunts and uncles.






That was followed up with dinner at Culver's and then back to the Meade's house for one more night.


Tom took these neat photos of the kids!




That following morning, we were up and out to make the trip back to Indiana. We got home in time to unload the van and then load it back up with school supplies because it was the elementary open house at school.

We came home from that and had a frozen pizza and pie. The next morning was the first day of school! Normally, I like to have a special back-to-school dinner for the kids on the night before. But with being away and getting back late in the day, I couldn't pull it off. Here they are eating their pie.






We've had a lot of fantastic adventures this summer; but I am looking forward to being home for longer than five days at a time and to getting back into a routine. :)

Church Camp

This was Curtis's first summer at camp. All three kids fit into the age range for this camp, so the whole family went this summer. Here are some highlights from our week.


I know there can sometimes be a stereotype about camp food, but it doesn't apply to the food we ate. Volunteers from the churches came and made each meal for us. We ate SO much good food!






This was my crazy crew, minus one. I was fortunate to bunk up with a great group of girls.


Andy and I also co-led our program group.


Each cabin took turns washing dishes.




Andy was part of a skit.






Theme dinner.








Bella brought some decorations to make our cabin a little more homey.


The giant slip-and-slide is always highly anticipated.




It takes a bit of skill, effort, and speed to make it all the way down. Bella was able to do it every time.


Andy always gives 110% when it comes to the giant slip-and-slide. The secret, he says, is to run as fast as you can and don't slow down as you leap to your belly. This always results in bruises, but he always has an impressive slide.


Craft time is a favorite.


Talent night! Graydon and his friend had a contest to see who could make the other laugh first.


Curtis did, "The Force!" where he held juice in his straw.


Bella and Andy told jokes. Example: "Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?" Answer: "Samson. He brought the house down!"

The next evening was skit night by the campfire. Graydon was in a skit called 'Taming the Worms' (or something like that). He and a cabin-mate did the worm while another "tamed" them.


One of the counselors asked for Bella's help in a skit. She had no idea what it was about until she got down there. Turns out that she, along with two other campers whose dads were also present, were giving their dads a spa treatment. Only the materials were a little different than an average spa.


The first portion was the application of the lotion (peanut butter).


By the end, Andy was covered in peanut butter, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. You can't really tell from the photo, but his hair was covered as well.


Some of the boys enjoyed playing cards on the lodge deck.


It's hard to tell from the photo, but Graydon had a camp injury. A PVC pipe from a game of 9 Square fell on his face and scratched him up quite a bit.


Anchor Cabin girls!


This guy had some mixed feelings about camp. On the second night, he was in tears about being away. Even though all of us were there, he was feeling homesick. At mid-week, he asked me if camp would be over soon. Most kids felt like camp was going too fast. Curtis felt that it went too slow. He did end up having fun, but he wasn't sad when it was time to leave either.


When we got back to town, we picked up Mabel from the kennel.


Bella was glad to see her.


And she was glad to see Bella. :)