We left on the morning of Dec. 26th and arrived at my parents' house some time after 2pm. It was still daylight! And we could still actually do something with our day! Plans for the afternoon were already in the works since that day was my sister's birthday. Most of our family and my sister's in-laws gathered together at the Sprecher Brewery in Milwaukee for a tour and some sampling. Super fun time!
The kids played a little 'Ring Around the Rosy' while we enjoyed some samples.
And then we followed up with a birthday dinner at the Sprecher restaurant. Delicious food and a great family time!
The next day was the Benetti Family Christmas!
Lots of new toys!
We've already made some new crayons with this!
Super durable remote control cars - a perfect little boy gift.
My sister, Mary, surprised all of the kids with tickets to see 'Frozen on Ice' at the end of January. I think I'm just as excited as they are!
The following day, we celebrated Graydon's birthday a little early.
He got so many cool presents! A greenhouse for our little gardener, Ninja turtle toys, clothes, and pajamas, puzzles, etc. He was one happy boy!
We met up with Jodi and her girls at Monkey Joe's the next day. I meant to get a good photo of the kids, but I forgot. These were the only two photos from that outing. Whoops!
Using a new Christmas gift.
Curtis found a 'hot spot'!
Apples to Apples!
Before long, it was time to pack up our bags again and load up the van to head onto part 2 of our Wisconsin trip: Verona!
On our first night in town, we were able to have a night out with two of Andy's high school buddies and their wives. Such a fun night of adult conversation and reconnecting with people who we enjoy.
And the next day was Graydon's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!
The temps dipped down to super chilly; but the kids still wanted to play at the park across the street. I probably should have packed their beard hats.
We went bowling later in the afternoon.
Poor guy, no matter how hard he tried, his spin on the ball always had it veering to the left and knocking down few pins. He did manage a strike one time; only it was when he bowled a round for his cousin!
Ice cream cake!
It took a while to decide what his birthday wish should be.
More fun presents!!!
I introduced the kids to the game, Po-Ke-No, which my grandparents played with us growing up. It seemed to be a hit, so I'm sure it will make an appearance again in the future.
And since it was New Year's Eve, I just had to bring out the hats and noisemakers. Next year, I won't give the kids the horns until a couple minutes before countdown. It was LOUD!
The following day was Kilps family Christmas!
So many cozy things going on in this photo.
Bella and Jacob got these latch hook kits from Papa and Gaga. They spent hours working on them.
We also went swimming at the Verona High School pool and the kids loved it. I loved the hot shower I took afterward. ;)
Sunday morning arrived and it was time to pack up again and stuff our van full of luggage and presents. But again, I felt super grateful that we didn't have a two-day trip ahead of us. We got back home around dinner time.
Graydon opened a few remaining birthday presents the next day.
Phew! I think that covers the majority of it!
