June 29-July 4: Family Vacation

We are so blessed that my parents allowed us to use their cabin in Shell Lake, WI, this past week for our family vacation!  It was the perfect set-up, because there is so much to do while still staying close for naps and early bedtimes.  Colton could be napping in the house while we were playing at the beach, and both kids could be having afternoon nap/quiet time while Paul and I could play croquet, go fishing, etc.  My parents have a nice kitchen where we could make all our food, which was convenient and saved money too :).  It was a perfect time to be able to have special time with the 4 of us (and Tucker too!) completely uninterrupted by yardwork, home projects, and all the other various pulls on us when we are at home.  We had so much fun!  I will share a few pictures and videos....

Colton

Big Fish!

Summer's First Sparkler!

Daddy and Summer

Colton's First Sparkler!

Daddy teaching Summer how to fish

Summer got quite a few fish and loved fishing!

 Here is a super cute video of Summer catching her fish....she even made up a song: "Yay I got a fish...yay I got a fish...."

Mommy and Summer's fish

My bud

Making sand "pizza" in a frisbee

Tucker

Paul's fish

Busy collecting shells

This kid loved to shovel sand and shells

Making a REALLY big sandcastle out of the toy holder basket

Look at Colton's blond hair in this pic!

Summer is looking so old!

 Both kids loved learning how to bat a baseball with the fat bat that Grandma and Grandpa Kirkwood have.  Colton LOVED it when the bat hit the ball and flew far!  I loved watching his face, so here is a little video of Colton (and Daddy!).....

Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the 4th of July, took us tubing, and we had a blast hanging out, chatting, and playing with them!

Grandpa grilled us steaks for the 4th of July!

Happy 4th!  The fireworks over the lake were awesome, and Grandma and Grandpa's neighbor actually set off a show that rivaled the city's show!

Paul and I fishing at sunset the night before we left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa, and headed out on our anniversary weekend trip!