Swainston Family: August 2008

Wisconsin

Overall, our trip to Wisconsin was wonderful. I loved spending time with my family. The bonus of having great friends to see, was also wonderful. We have missed both family and friends a lot since our move back to "mountain land".

I am grateful for the time we had, I just wish it were longer. The kids are already back into their routine, and Kale and I are slowly getting there.

This coming Saturday, the boys and I leave for Utah. Kale will join us after a business trip he has. I'm excited to see the rest of my family, and Kale's family. (After this trip I will have seen everyone in my family except for Scott! I miss you Scooter!) I wish we lived closer to either side. It sure would make things easier.

Great tune!

In the post prior to this, I said my dad is a great guitarist. You an see for yourself. (Sorry dad.) Make sure you listen to the words of the song. They're so inspirational! :)

Random WI

My parents picked us up in the airport. They brought my little sister LuLu with them. Brenton was immediately attached. (Too bad LuLu wasn't.) He held her for as long as she would let him on the car ride home. That trend kept going our entire trip. I'm just glad LuLu survived!

Alex loves to sit on people. He was especially spoiled at the grandparents. Alex would protest taking a nap in the pack n play, so they decided it would be easier to just hold him and rock him. They did that pretty much the entire time we were there. (His transition home was kind of rough...poor kid.)

My dad is an excellent guitarist. :) At least he is in my boys eyes. Love ya dad!

Park #2

This is yet another park in Oshkosh. It was so fun for the kids. I couldn't believe the amount of playground equipment. There was such a variety that the kids would never get tired of it.

They also had a little water area for the kids to play with. It was like a glorified sprinkler area. There were some holes on the ground that would randomly shoot water from them. We sat there for at least a half hour watching Alex play with the holes. For some amazing reason, he never once got squirted! He always moved away from the hole before it started to spray. Sometimes it was close, but he never did get hit.

My brother & his family were with us once again. They were willing to drive the two hours back up to see us for just a few more hours. Thanks Jason & Beth. We miss you guys!

Alex & Damon (Alex really enjoyed his big cousin!)

Brenton made lots of new friends. He's not shy at all.

Papa (as Alex calls him) & his two little boys.

Monkey Joe's

There this place in Appleton, WI that is completely AWESOME! It's pretty much a warehouse full of giant inflatable slides and trampolines. The kids run crazy, and really enjoy it. Brenton and Alex were able to go two times while we were visiting. Brenton wasn't shy or even that nervous. His favorite slide was the tallest one.

The security there is also wonderful. They band your wrist, as well as your children. You have matching numbers, and no one can leave with a child unless the numbers match up.

One rule is, anyone participating on the equipment, must be wearing socks. Poor Kale was the only one (well except for my dad) who was wearing socks. He got to follow the kids around helping them if needed. (I don't know why my dad didn't do it? He somehow got out of that one.)

MJ's is just another thing I wish we had close to us.

For some reason, this was actually Alex's favorite thing to do. I had a hard time tearing him away from it. At one point in time, he was fighting another boy for it. (He is learning to defend his toys pretty well. I guess we can thank Brenton for that.)

Fishing

My parents have some friends that live on a large pond. My dad just HAD to take my boys fishing. So, they got on the paddle boat (all four of them, Alex wasn't quite sure) and went around the pond with their fishing poles looking for fish. No fish, but a fun 1/2 hour or so.

After the paddle boat, Brenton really wanted to go in the Canoe, so Kale and I took him on a VERY short ride. Thank you Kimper's! (The very nice people to offer their equipment & boats to us.)

I really wish we lived closer to my parents so my dad could take my boys fishing more often. I HATE to fish, and I hate to eat fish, so I fear they won't go much....

Air Show

Every year, Oshkosh hosts the EAA Air show. Our friends from Iowa, attend every year for their business. We actually planned our vacation around the air show, so we could visit our friends while we were visiting my family. It ended up being a very nice visit.

My brother & his family came up for our day at the show. Here are our pics from the airshow.

Back row: Me, Kale, Mike, Christina
Front row: Brenton, Alex & Mikayla

Damon, Isabel & Brenton

Brenton really enjoyed this!

Alex didn't care much for this.

Brenton made a penny airplane. (It was wrecked shortly thereafter.)

Brenton & Alex both climbed up in the plane, and saw the view from the top! Brenton liked it, Alex didn't really...

Brenton enjoyed flying his own plane...but had a hard time steering.

Below: What a way to end! My mom took Alex back to her home early afternoon, and Brenton, Kale & I stayed for the airshow. It was really hot, so ice cream was definately in order. I think it was Brenton's favorite part!

Park #1 & Zoo

We started out our vacation by going to a local park and small zoo. My parents live in Oshkosh, WI, and their small town had many wonderful parks! The first Sunday we were there, my brother & his family came up. We took all the kids, our two, plus their two, and went to the park/zoo. The kids loved it. They only had a few basic animals, but the kids didn't seem to mind.