One of Maddox's friends from Kindercare, who happens to live in our neighborhood, is moving to New York for a year while her dad does a OBGYN fellowship. Nisha's family threw a going away party for her. Nisha, in the middle, invited Maddox to the bead store. The girls got to make a personalized bead bracelet and mixed up a bottle of sweet smelling lotion. Maddox had a fun time and the bracelet is adorable…makes her look so old.
A couple of weeks ago we went on an epic trip…to OUR FIRST BEACH…beach you say?? In Iowa…well technically we were in Illinois so not the ocean but we did get to swim in a beautiful clear lake which also had a great sandy beach. Kennon and Maddox had a ball in the sand, especially Kennon. Maddox surprised me in the water putting her face in and asking to swim in the rather chilly water. We were hosted by my good friend from college, Katie and her kids, Mackenzie and Evan. This beach area also had a great splash park and a huge jungle gym. We took a picnic lunch and had a grand time. The lake was Lake Zurich in the suburbs of Chicago. Katie and her husband Ed were great hosts and since Evan and Mackenzie are similar in age to Maddox and Kennon there were tons of great toys to play with at their house. Thanks for the great hospitality Cwiklas.
Kennon, Maddox, Mackenzie and Evan
Mackenzie and Maddox digging together. Mackenzie is actually closer in age to Kennon but since they were both girls the tended to play together. Evan being the oldest, going into 1st grade, was a tad more advanced on his castle/mote building skills and became a tad frustrated at the little ones crashing his designs….see below. Sorry Evan!!
Maddox - Snow White Mackenzie- Cinderella
Having some yummy pasta on the back patio. Maddox and Kennon had, I believe, like triple helpings of Katie's yummy pasta bake!!
After a couple nights stay in Vernon Hills with Katie and her family, Eric headed to MN for a conference and we headed south down to Papa Dick's to visit with him and have a little fun. We spent the first morning at Blackberry Farm in Aurora. It was this fabulous almost amusement type park that you pay one fee to get in and then can ride all the rides unlimited and the one time fee was really cheap like $7.00/kid and $8.00 for me. Maddox and Kennon had a ball and really so did I…..I'm already planning a repeat trip, if only our calendar weren't so busy :) They got to ride ponies, a carousel, paddle boats ( a first for them), the train, a wagon pulled by a JD tractor and most importantly it had this totally cool jungle gym area that was sort of barn themed. Every corner we turned there was something so age appropriate for the kids. There were great clean smelling farm animals including piglets, chickens, a turkey, goats, and a baby cow. And for my interest the grounds were beautiful with gorgeous natural flower beds. You can even bring a picnic lunch there, which will be my plan next time. Papa Dick joined us for part of the morning and got in on all the fun.
Maddox and Kennon on the ponies. Oh shoot…I have forgotten their names…. I"ll have to ask Maddox. We have had so many pony riding opportunities in the last 30 days I'm starting to forget their names.
Maddox and Kennon on the carousel
So the park itself is designed to teach you about the 'olden days' for lack of a better term. So they have several little log cabins with real live people doing real live old time activities. The kids are in the blacksmith shop above with a roaring fire. So cool….. you could smell the smoke from the fire throughout the park. He was incredibly good with the kids and gave them the basics on the purpose of the blacksmith and showed us a little of his 'tricks'.
The next little cabin had a spinning wheel in it with a lady, in period clothing, spinning wool. They had baskets of dirty wool just taken from the sheep on the other side of the park as well as the wool from several weeks ago that had been cleaned. She told us in the 'olden days' it was expected that children were making their own clothes from spun wool by the age of 9 and that they were all able to spin the wool by age 4!!! Holy cow…we better get crackin' ……
Maddox with the 'clean' wool
Like I said the grounds were beautiful and they had this adorable little tunnel that Kennon thought was fabulous. We walked over this several times during the morning.
Kennon inside the jungle/farm gym. There were lots of interactive stations inside the play gym itself. Here the kids got to measure themselves. Not too far off…as Dr. Delessio measured him at 38 inches at his 3 year well check appointment. 32 pounds.
Maddox and Kennon on the rope bridge…love their happy active smiles.
Above, Kennon is in the rope bridge and below he is learning his berries….
Kennon and Maddox on the train…
Kennon and Maddox getting ready for their first paddle boat ride.
Maddox and Kennon sitting in the back of the boat while Papa Dick and I pedaled us around the beautiful, fishable pond.
….on the wagon ride now….
Papa Dick, Kennon and Maddox….she wouldn't keep her hat on and had to fight the sun as a result. Still a cute picture.
I probably could have left Kennon at the Corn Table all morning and he wouldn't have even missed all the rides. He scooped and dumped till I pried him away to go see the farm animals.
Tom the Turkey…well I don't really know his name…but I thought he looked like a Tom.
Second train ride of the morning…. after this it was time to head home for lunch and naps. Both kids slept incredibly well that afternoon…hmmmmm…I wonder why ???
This past weekend we headed north to Madtown..or Madison as it is more properly called…and really we were in Waunakee with the Knowles family. ALWAYS a fun time. We arrived on Friday in time for one of Aunt Brooke's yummy dinners with homemade peach cobbler :) The kids rode bikes and wore themselves out at 'Carter's Park' as Kennon likes to call it. And really we could say it IS Carter's park as it is soooo close to the house. We'll see how long that will ride with Reid coming up in the pipe… :)
The main event for the weekend was to see Uncle Tyler and Eric participate in the Paddle & Portage race downtown Madison. They paddled a canoe together across Lake Mendota in the city and then portaged their boat about a mile ( sorry if I"m off guys) over the capital into Lake Monona and then paddled across that lake to the finish line…phew..that sounds tiring just typing it. And so it WAS tiring..both boys came across the line with sweaty smiles happy to be done. Brooke and the kids and I JUST MADE it to the finish line in time to see them cross. …..phew :) The kids made signs for them and immediately wanted to jump in the boat. I think these pictures are so cute.
Reid, Tyler, Carter, Eric, Maddox, Kennon …what a crew!!!
After the event there was Wisconsin beer and brats for the participants…. It was a fun atmosphere with music and a lot of the participants were dressed in costumes so the kids had fun frolicking around and seeing all the funny people dressed up.
Eric and Tyler were nice enough to get 'extra' food….!! Kennon enjoying his brat.
The crew all camped out on the blanket and the table…beer, brats, water, and sunscreen….the essentials :)
Eric and Tyler…Lake Monona and capital in the background!! Great job guys…I can't wait until next year :)
Sunday morning we played outside for a bit and then headed to the Madison Zoo. It is a great zoo, free too, with lots of different animals, a play gym, a carousel, and a train. We did it all…and then had a great picnic before we hit the road. Reid seems to love to have his picture taken as he was just all smiles as both Maddox and Kennon each took their turn in the hole. Look at those smiles.
The kids stood in line for I believe 3 turns to be able to finally ride the train. They chose to ride in the caboose with Aunt Brooke. Luckily this train has a tunnel…as Kennon just expects every train to have a tunnel and when it doesn't look out!! It was hard to get a good picture as the train was moving….Oh and don't worry if you don't recognize the kid in the red hat…..he isn't part of our family :) just another train goer. ( I think it actually looks a tad like a Weber….! what do you think Brooke?)
So we are just busy busy BUSY bees the next several weeks… In fact we had to start saying no to some activities or there wasn't going to be time to sleep…literally….!! The kids are currently in Summer Camp at Our Savior. They have one week left of that and really have enjoyed all the activities and getting to see their old and even new teachers they will have this coming year. This week's theme is garden and next week is weather. They go Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday mornings which is just the right amount of time for me to do errands, a major trip to the grocery store, get the lawn mowed and maybe a trip to the Y although I like to get that done before Eric goes to work as it just makes the day work smoother. The kids are doing swimming lessons on Monday afternoons at the Y and have literally made leaps and bounds improvements in their confidence levels!! Today the kids and I went to Splash Landing with Elisha and Priya to swim and I was actually a tad scared at how over confident Maddox was in her skills…she seems to know just enough…if you know what I mean. She is not at all afraid to put her face in and does it every time I turn around. Kennon is much happier in the water this week than he was 4 weeks ago, although still timid at putting his face in. Our great neighbor friends who have a new pool invited us down on Monday and both kids were dare devils jumping off the diving board!! So fun. We have another mini trip planned to Indianapolis as well as Eric has a couple more conferences on the calendar before the summer is up. This weekend its off to see some hot air balloons after Eric and Uncle Brian run the BIX. Phew…hold onto your hats folks…pictures to come.
Maddox seems to get stronger, taller, and more coordinated each day. She loves to dance and sing. I just got her ballet shoes for her ballet class she is going to do at the Family Museum in the fall and she was already practicing with them tonight. I can't wait to see how she does excited for the continued gains in strength in her core as well as the brain power she is going to generate to follow all the steps. Dance is quite good for brain development. Her coloring and writing skills have really been improving this summer. She is finally writing her name in a straight line something we've been working on for a while…that is as long as there is enough room on the paper although her ability to write her letters small has improved as well.
Kennon is an active 3 year old. He would go go go all day if I let him skip his nap only to crash with a tantrum in the evening. So for now we keep on with the nap, as well as Maddox.... He is amazing on his balance bike and has really been doing much better with his pedal bike too, spiking an interest in the last couple of weeks. It won't be long before we are able to take the training wheels off. He has this trait of compassion and love I have no idea where he got. He loves to give kisses, say 'I love you' and gives great hugs. He is also very good with his manners too. He is starting to know all his letters and loves to read books as does Maddox.
Eric and I continue to take every opportunity we can to learn how to be better parents. We are currently participating in a 6 week class at a local church with another neighbor couple. The theme of this particular class is getting to the heart/core of the child. We have already starting using the techniques and it really does seem to be working, especially with Maddox and with time with Kennon. Still a work in progress and every day is a new day.
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