Wisconsin Dells!

After the wedding on the farm, we had just enough time to do some laundry and get settled only to pack up again and head to Wisconsin Dells!  This was the first time that just the four of us were going on vacation.  That means we were totally in charge of everything.  If I forgot to pack something, I couldn't rely on anyone else having it.  All things considered, it went pretty well!  There were some things that we thought 'let's do this differently next time' (can't quite remember what they are...oops!) but for the most part, we made do with what we had and what our schedule was.  We were about 50 yards away from the pool and playground.  Score!  So we were in the pool pretty much every day.  Lachlan loved it.  Torin dealt with it.  We wanted to see if Lachlan would wear those blow-up water wings so we wouldn't have to carry him the whole time we went swimming, but he wouldn't have anything to do with them.  Well, we got a work out, then!

Look, Ma!  No hands!

We were excited to go biking while we were here.  Luke got a new bike this summer and since the two of us just can't go, we also purchased a bike trailer for the boys.  Our goal was to bike to the 'lake'.  More on that later.  We sunscreened up,

snacked and watered up, and head on our way. 

He was so excited to show off his helmet and sunnies.

Hooray!  Let's go.

The way to the 'lake' was quite lovely (minus Luke's chain getting stuck).  We were on the road, but it wasn't too busy.  The boys did great riding together.  By the time we arrived at the state park where the 'lake' was, it was getting pretty warm, but we made it!
And now we would like to present the 'lake'.

Now perhaps I am just spoiled with the lakes that we have here in MN, but this is more like a pond!  And half of it is covered with green gunk.  No one told us we were headed to the pond.  Oh well.  It was an adventure!  We had a nice break from biking and hung out at the playground they had.  I put Torin down, and before his butt had even touched the wood chips, he had some in his mouth.  And since it had sprinkled the night before, they got all over his face.  Mix that with some cracker crumbs, you have a typical 1-year old crawling boy face.

Where's Torin?

Peek-a-boo! 

Lachlan enjoyed watching the shenanigans of his brother.

Before we biked back the four of us sat on a bench, and we realized that there was an echo.  I said 'Hello!' and after the word was out of my mouth, then you heard the echo 'Hello!'  Talk about a real echo!  This was Lachlan's first time experiencing an echo in nature.  I think one of my favorite part of being a parent is watching your child learn.  Watching them learn.  We could see him try to understand what an echo was.  He tried it out, he listened to what happened, he asked questions about it.  After we said 'hello' to everyone in our family (aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents) and a few other things, we all left the words 'I love you, Jesus' to ring out and vibrate across the water and the trees and the sky.  Thank you, Lord for that beautiful moment.

Luke did an AMAZING job pulling the boys to and from our condo.  I helped out by adding words of encouragement now and then, supporting any breaks he needed to take, and then finally pulling the boys on his bike up the last hill.  Goodness, that is tricky!  Good job, Dada!
We hit up Buffalo Phil's for dinner, which had a toy train come right by our table to drop off our drinks and food.  They also had macaroni and cheese.  This was Lachlan's favorite restaurant of all time. 

Oh my goodness!

I asked for a side of corn for Torin.  Little did I know that it was still on the cob.  That didn't stop this little guy.

He was sad when it was all done.

We of course went on a Wisconsin Dells Duck ride.  All four of us enjoyed ourselves.  We loved the scenery.  Luke and I tolerated the corny jokes from the tour guide.  A lot of groaners, but still quite enjoyable.  Being able to experience it all together was probably the best part-seeing the excitement in the boys' eyes and on their faces was priceless!

We rode one of those

From land to river

Awesome sandstone

Someone was mad and threw the piano over the rock

Lachlan loved the ball in the water!

We spent a day downtown Dells, hung out at the resort place, and the day we left was Torin's 1st birthday! (Next blog.  Don't hold your breath, though...)  Spending this much time together was so enriching.  It was great to be so focused on the boys and just be us. 

Storytime before bedtime.

Lachlan lined these up.

This store had so much 'noise' in this corner.  The ice cream was yummy, though.

Lachlan was really into the racquetball

Our sleeping arrangements.

Getting the camera ready for our family picture.

Still getting the camera ready for our family picture.

I want to go to there.

Ok, can we just talk about how great this picture is?  This was only the 2nd try and there is no photoshop-ing! (I wouldn't even know how to do that...)  What a way to end a family vacay--all smiles!

Love ya, mean it.
Be here now.
(Did ya miss us?)  ; )