Summer Fun

For the first time in a long time we were able to get away as an entire family for a much needed vacation (on my part since Jill is always going somewhere)

For 2 weeks we took off to the midwest for various adventures. With a quick flight to Chicago we took a long drive north to Wisconsin to the cabin for some fun on the lake. We were lucky enough to trick my mom and dad into a 7 hour car ride with Abby and Parker so we only had Mia with us. It made the drive a lot easier.

At the Cabin we were able to spend time with Uncle Jay, Uncle Jack & Aunt Mel and their son Lit'l Jack. It's always good to see family. We played on the water and just hung out. It's so peaceful up there. The kids loved the water. Abby and Parker were both brave enough to ride the tube alone even with me driving. Abby also tried water skiing 1 time but that was a disaster filled with tears (Jill drove that time). All and all a peaceful time up north. The only issue we had was a bear decided to come visit the area and made some mess of the garbage. I guess in Wisconsin having a bear in the area comes with the territory, we're just not used to that being from the desert.


Mia just liked wearing the life jacket suit under her clothes. It was tough to get her to take it off.

Grandpa with his lit'l grand kids

peaceful...

After our fun up north we headed to Nauvoo to spend some time with the Wilsons. Although it was super hot and super muggy (90 degrees plus humidity is a lot worse that 110 degrees in the desert) we had a really fun time. While there we went to the Nauvoo pagent, a frontier fair, and some of the sites.

Best friends have to match, right?

Puppet shows keep anyone entertained


Mia loved the horses on a farm nearby

I guess Parker did not like this house as much based on his expression

Family pictures are just so hard sometimes...

After the Nauvoo adventure it was back to Chicago for fun. Grandma Suz has been wanting to do a girl day for Abby so all the girls took a day and went downtown to the American Girl doll store and got Abby a new friend. They made an adventure of it by going on the train and buses to get there. Jill did say that Abby was really friendly with all the strangers on the bus and the train. I guess she just likes making friends. I wasn't too sad that I didn't get to go to the doll store, oh well.

All and all it was a really fun time to get a way. Unfortunately by leaving it meant we were going to have to come back to reality at some point. Now with a few weeks of summer left we have a lot to get done before Abby, Parker and Daddy go back to school. I'm sure we'll manage just fine.