Wisconsin Get-Away!

Here are some (ok, lots of ) pictures from our time in Wisconsin.  We stayed several days each with two sets of friends, and squeezed some play time in with our former neighbors as well!  The kids (and I!!!) had a GREAT time, and it was fun to get a break from the Texas summer heat.  We got a serious break, considering it hardly reached 70 degrees some of the days we were there.  All in all, a fabulous, fun filled visit. :-)

First stop: our friends and former small group leaders, Marc and Amanda Lutz, with their two boys, Evan (7) and Mason a.k.a. "Mario" (almost 5).

Our first fun outing was to Monkey Joe's.  We don't have a jumping place near us in Texas, so the girls love the memories of Monkey Joe's in WI and didn't want to miss the opportunity to go.  Plus, jumping with friends is much more fun than jumping alone. :-)

Next activity (the following day): Bay Beach, a little amusement park in Green Bay, WI.  Here, the kids got on their favorite ride, the Scrambler.  This is what they looked like at the outset of the ride.

During the ride, they were sitting much more "compactly" :-)  -- how many kids do you see in this picture?

Sisters trying to decide where to go next.  (And thank you, dear boys and gentlemen, for sharing your long sleeved shirts with Lucia and Rhea, without which they would've been uncomfortably cold.  Very much appreciated!!)

This picture captures Lucia's and Rhea's personalities to a "T".

Marc and Evan on the bumper cars

Amanda and the big kids on another crazy ride.  (I had the pleasure of staying with Alexa and watching the ride. :-) )

Alexa absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED every minute of every ride.  She cried whenever she had to get out and immediately pointed back to the entrance gate.  She just couldn't get enough!

Wish you guys lived closer!!  Awesome family...

Mason/Mario in his cart. :-)

I see operating some type of vehicle in Alexa's future.  The louder and faster, the better. ;-)

Evan speeding around the corner

Rhea high-precision-steering her race car

Rhea and I went down the potato sack slide together

 Amanda and Mason's turn

Each kid got to pick a treat -- looks like Evan was pretty happy with his :-)

 Brothers

 Sisters

Amanda was inspired by Rhea's sticky cotton candy mess and tried to imitate it.  Looks like she caught on pretty well!

 Mason generously sharing some of his snow cone with his Papa

Amanda and Alexa taking a snuggle break

 Saying our scary monster good-byes.  The stay was too short.

 Here's the non-monster version. :-)  We miss our friends!

Stay tuned for pictures of our next stop. :-)