Camping with the Neighbors

The kids: Mylee, Maddy, Kendal, Hayden, Ben, and Gabe

Our annual camping weekend with the neighbors followed tradition with a weekend of crummy weather. This year we went to South Haven, MI to the Covert KOA. It was an awesome campground with a beautiful pool and hundreds of blueberry bushes with the most delicious blueberries I have ever tasted. The Schmidts did a great job finding this campground, but it was unfortunate that we didn't get to enjoy it to its fullest as the weather was rainy. Thank goodness we rented cabins this year as it would have been pretty miserable being wet all weekend with the kids. We did get out to the campground until late Friday night and it was actually stopped raining for a few hours so we could enjoy a small campfire for a few hours. Saturday was cold and rainy so we found an indoor waterpark close by to spend the day at. We did manage to cook dinner over a campfire and roast a few marshmellows before the rain clouds rolled in. Sunday looked gleamy so we packed up and left. So there wasn't much camping that took place but we had a great time none the less. Sometimes you have to improvise, especially when there are 6 kids involved. Hopefully next year our luck will change although I'm thinking next year we should start a new tradition of taking the group up north to my folks house for some swimming, fishing, skiing, and 4-wheeling.

Greg eating breakfast with the kids

Maddy is looking...Mylee isn't

Mylee looking...Maddy isn't
(UGH!)

Hayden fell asleep in the water like this

The Kreiders Cabin

Our family photo

Mylee - 5 months

5 MONTHS

So I have to get this post up before Sunday as Mylee turns 6 months then. I am so far behind and I'm so mad at myself because the last two months have sort of run together and so I don't remember exactly what of what Mylee is doing now, she did then. One thing I know for sure though that Mylee learned during month 5 is sitting up. She really extended the amount of time she could sit up unassisted. She would still fall backwards once and awhile when she got excited, but otherwise could sit and play for quite awhile. She really started using both her hands to play with toys and pass them back and forth, too. She would try to bring the toy to her mouth but couldn't quite get it there yet.

Mylee's new favorite toy became the JUMPEROO. She could spend all waking moments jumping in that thing. With all the traveling that we did in August I think Mylee was missing the jumperoo. When we got home after our trip to Wisconsin, Mylee was so excited to jump. Take a look...

It was hard keeping a routine with all the travelling, so we really didn't have a routine down with her yet. She would usually take two go naps when we were home, but still not up in her crib all the time and definitely not constantly. We were on the go just as much as we were home so you can't blame her. What a trooper though...this month had to be tough on her but she took it in stride. She just has a "Happy Gene"! How did she get it and how did I get so lucky??? I ask myself that all the time...Mylee is just too sweet! Enjoy the pics. I tried to get the pictures while she was showing off her sitting skills but it wasn't as easy as I thought. She would grab the 5 month sign and put it in her mouth. Ugh...frustrating...but I love it!...you just can't be mad at this kid. (I'll have to reread this post in a few years.) I can't help but post a million pictures; I'm that obsessed!

Smiley Mylee...showing her sitting skills

"What are you looking at?"

"You think that's funny?"

Close Up

I'm going to eat this paper thing

You are making me mad...all I want to do is play with the paper

Okay, I'll smile and then we are done

One more...with Maddy and Molokai in on the action

Maddy Water Skis

We ended our trip to Wisconsin with an afternoon up north on the river. We met my brother between his football practices for a few hours of water skiing. It was a perfect afternoon...my favorite way to spend a summer day...in or behind a Ski Nautique. Jason and I both got our annual ski run in, which felt great. Although I must say being top heavy made for quite a disaster on my swivel ski. The most exciting part of the day, though, was watching MADDY SKI! Jaelyn went first, as she has been skiing for over a year and wanted to show Maddy how to do it. This got Maddy pretty excited to do it, although as soon as we got her in the skis and ready to go she started to chicken out. Jason was in the water with her and I was in the boat holding the rope. As we were getting ready to go she started whining that she wanted Jason to hold her hand...that's when I told my brother to just go. I didn't want to give her anymore time to wuss out. Here's the video of her first ski pass...

Maddy and Jaelyn were both loving it so they each went 3 times each, fighting each time about who got to go first. It was awesome and I was so proud of Maddy. We got a better video the second time from the boat...

It was adorable how Maddy was so proud of herself. You could tell she was still a little scared each time by the look on her face while she was skiing and as soon as I pulled her into the boat she was on an adreline high. So sweet! Good Job lil' girl...we are so proud of you and love you "to the moon and back"!

Looking nervous...

...but still smiling

THUMBS UP!

Maddy waving to all her fans

When we got back that night my dad was sitting on the coach with his new Favre t-shirt on watching Favre's announcement to return to football to play for the Vikings on ESPN. Maddy got and snuggled with grandpa and before long she was out cold. She was obviously exhausted from her first day of skiing.

Visit with the VanCamps

We spent a few nights with Casey, Cory, and Ava while in Wisconsin. We let the girls play while the rest of us pretty much just laid around. Casey and Cory had just gotten back from a vacation hiking in Colorado so they were exhausted. Maddy and Ava loved their time together. Casey and I got to play volleyball together, which we haven't done since high school, which was a blast. The girls are quite similar...go, go, go... until they crash. We got a ton of pictures, for once, as Casey was on top of it and I stole them from her. So I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Ava and Maddy playing dolls

Mylee staying busy in the jumperoo

Who are you sticking your tongues out at?

Someone's getting sleepy

Ava out cold on the couch

Maddy too

The girls drving the jeep with the neighbors

Emerson, Ava, and Maddy in the hot tub

Bath time

Sticking their tongues out again

They sure look sweet when they smile

Ready for bed

Casey and I tried to get a few posed pictures on the girls before we left. This is the best we could do. These two just don't want to sit still for anything.

Princess Rebecca's Wedding

Maddy and "Princess Rebecca"

As I mentioned we had a wedding last month in Wisconsin. A good friend of mine from school and also a family friend got married in Green Bay so we took a few days off of work and made a short vacation of it (more posts to come). The wedding ceremony was in DePere at a beautiful catholic church, however we didn't get to enjoy much of the ceremony as it was a catholic wedding and the kids didn't want to sit longer than 20 minutes. So most of our family ended up in the greeting space watching the kids run around for an hour. The reception was at Brett Favre's steakhouse, which was a treat for our Packer backer family. The kids had a great time dancing at the wedding. Mylee pooped out early but Maddy was a trooper. She got to dance with "Princess Rebecca", which was the highlight of her night. She didn't want to leave, but we eventually convinced her it was time for bed at 11:00. She took a photo card of Rebecca from the photographer and hung onto it until she fell asleep. It was sure precious!

Mylee sleeping on the floor during dinner

A group of the kids

I love this lil' girl

Maddy waiting for the music to start

Maddy and I on the dance floor together

My sister Aundrea and her daughter Lexi

Mylee sleeping with grandpa

Maddy and Jaelyn doing the waltz

Dancing...

...still dancing...

...not a fan of this song

back out on the dance floor with Tricia

No...she's not exhausted

The next morning we went to breakfast with the family before coming back to the hotel to swim for a few hours. We then made a well needed Dairy Queen stop before heading to Denmark to spend the afternoon and evening with the Dewars. I've been wanting to see Tricia's house and looking forward to a relaxing time with her family. We don't ever get to do that. The kids had a great time playing. As I've mentioned before Jack and Maddy are the best of friends and play awesome together. We ended the day with a nice mexican dinner out before heading up to Kimberly to spend the night with the VanCamps.

Aydanne...only pic from the Dewars