We've been using our grill a lot this summer. These looked so nice on the grill, so Andy took a picture. They looked nice and tasted even better!
It was time for the County Fair. Our kids didn't participate in 4-H this year, so we came purely for the entertainment. Graydon got to help out with a magic show.
He made the girl disappear!
It was wristband day on the Midway. All the rides you want for $15.
Bella was off with a friend the whole time, so it was us and the boys.
His latest creation.
I came to the kitchen and discovered this bounty on our kitchen table - dropped off by a friend from church. :)
On the day the kids and I left for Kentucky, Andy and a group from church also drove to Kentucky to visit the Ark.
He joined us on vacation after church on Sunday.
Time for our vacation pics!
We decided to meet up in Kentucky, which seemed like a good central point for the Wisconsin, Indiana, and Texas family members. It seems that we all need a little geography lesson. It was about a seven hour drive for the Wisconsin peeps, about 2.5 hours for us in Indiana, and about 15 hours for the Texas crew! We'll try to make things a bit more equal next time.
The house we picked was pretty remote and definitely off the grid. None of us had cell service and, while the house had wifi, it wasn't always the strongest signal. This ended up being wonderful. We were all truly able to get away and unplug.
When we pulled up to the house, the kids thought that we had arrived at a hotel.
It turns out that they have the same pillowcases!
This is actually a part of the master bedroom.
I had Bella taking house photos for me. It's nice to remember the details.
Rock painting is definitely a trend that is popping up all over. Bella found this outside the house.
We did the grocery shopping on the way into town and had all of our meals at the house. Our first night was homemade pizza. But first, pepperoni bread. These girls did a great job with that.
Stole this from Lori's Snapchat. Curtis has a lot of pride in his name and variations of it. :)
I saw this in the entry way. It feels nice to know that we were prayed over.
Another of Lori's snaps! Any photos with words were from her.
Heading down to the lake with Uncle Scott.
I wish I could remember what were laughing about.
Sparkling water for Curtis
Cousins!
I have a similar photo of my Dad from when we were all in Door County six years ago!
Two of my sisters joined me for a workout the next morning. It was already pretty humid outside, making it for a pretty sweaty workout!
The coffee room was our favorite room to start the day in. We all seemed to congregate there, even though there would have been plenty more space in the living room.
The house had a little private lake.
The kids enjoyed games of catch across the balconies and from the upper to lower levels. They all had so much fun running around this house, exploring, and playing hide-and-seek.
Oldest and youngest cousins.
The two cousins who were both born on May 13th (just one year apart)!
Believe it or not, Sydney is only seven months older than Graydon.
Sweet girls.
There were also a few pillow fights. I have a hilarious video of the kids chasing Uncle Jeff around the house with their pillows flying.
We brought some games and the house came equipped with some of its own.
Getting ready for some Rootbeer tasting. My mom bought several different brands of root beer for the kids to rate. If I recall, she had Barq's, A&W, Sprecher's, Mug, . . . and I think I'm forgetting another one or two.
Cheers!
Kid commentary during the tasting. . .
Sprecher's (aka "Sparklers") was the crowd favorite!
My mom brought white t-shirts and markers and the kids designed their own shirts!
Jodi did this one of the house.
And everyone signed it. Bella is the proud owner of this family t-shirt.
More lawn games.
Some of these photos are from Lori. Some are from Jodi. And some are mine.
We celebrated my mom's birthday that night.
And watched old home videos. Kristen was the only sibling who couldn't make it. But she was represented in this old movie.
Uncle Scott was the first to fall asleep, so the kids drew some tattoos on him.
Bella wrote, "Bella is awesome!" Curtis signed his name. And the others drew pictures.
Winding down with tablets and The Wizard of Oz.
Smoothies for breakfast!
A little down time while we all ease in to the morning.
We stayed at the house for the entire time, except for a group who went out to tour the Woodford Reserve Distillery.
During the distillery tour, the kids and a few adults stayed back. During that time, the kids planned a whole talent show! They even set up the stage area at the front of the house.
Ava did a few dances.
Graydon solved a couple Rubiks cubes.
Curtis danced to the Gummie Bear song.
Rose also performed a dance number.
Andy joined in and did some juggling.
Our three did a little skit. Graydon narrated. Bella played the part of the arms and legs. Curtis took the brunt to the chocolate cake and lotion to his face.
Sydney showed us some of her tae kwon do skills.
It was such a sweet and funny show!
Family photo time!
Graydon and Rose.
Water balloons!
Trying to catch balloons shot from the launcher.
Slip n' slide!
This was our last night and we did some wine tasting. This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. We all gathered around the kitchen and shared favorite family memories. I loved it. The wine was good too.
Jodi brought some sparklers.
Curtis was a little confused about the difference between the maple syrup that he had with his pancakes that morning and the bottle of whiskey that my brother bought at the distillery.
The next morning, it was already time to leave. We each packed up our things and the leftover food in the kitchen and loaded up our vehicles. A few of us met up for brunch at Cracker Barrel. Scott still had a few days off of work, so he joined us at our house for one more night. On the way back home, we saw the Jim Beam distillery, and, since we weren't in a hurry, decided to stop in and take a look.
I always find the history of these big operations to be pretty interesting. And we learned more about the whole process.
Soon after we got home, Curtis began building with his new legos from Auntie Lori. There were instructions that he could follow, but he decided to build a bunch of "Curti-animals".
We're not whiskey drinkers by any means, but Andy bought a bottle from Jim Beam and Scott had already gotten some from Woodford Reserve, so we had our own little tasting that night.
Bella already sported her new vacation shirt!
Curtis has taken a recent interest in skateboarding.
It's that time of year: back to school shopping!
Nerf gun war at a recent birthday party.
Our whole family is leaving for a week of church camp in the morning. This second half of summer has been a bunch of packing and unpacking. After church camp, we're home for a few days and then are heading up to Wisconsin to visit with the Kilps side. We'll get back on a Tuesday and then school starts back up on Wednesday. Busy, busy, busy!
