Jingle all the way.

How I spent the first morning of Christmas vacation.

Helper Bee.

Maggie has always been pretty hip to the big sister gig.  She helped a lot with fetching things for Ezra when he was really little.  She reads him books, sings, and provides general entertainment most of the time.  Recently her big sister duties have grown to include hair brushing…

 

and feeding.

My favorite parts?  Maggie opening her mouth to show him how it’s done, and the look on Ezra’s face which seems to say, “seriously guys?”

Fall fun.

the first day through her eyes.

Maggie brought her camera out on the first day and captured the action on her own.  Here is a sample of her collection.

The 1st day of school 2012

The Hill

We only made it to Heritage Hill once this summer for their Monday night concerts.  The music was great, our picnic hit the spot, and the kids were happy.

Good times!

Adios, Mercer!

Hope you’ve enjoyed our  little vacation photo collection this week!

Mas Mercer

Mercer… the fourth installment

At the cottage.

Mercer, continued

Bessemer, Michigan

Hurley, Wisconsin

More Mercer Magic

We ventured out of Mercer to surrounding areas per recommendations on Roadside America (that’s foreshadowing, my friends).  We worked up quite the appetite searching for fiberglass giants and ceramic statues, so we stopped at Joe’s Pasty Shop in Ironwood, Michigan where we all shared our very first pasty.

Mercer Magic

A serendipitous vacation rental find on craigslist coupled with the allure of Loon Day took us to Mercer for a week this summer.  While Loon Day wasn’t quite the thrill we expected, we did have a wonderful week as a family – swimming, fishing, dancing, cooking, playing games, *thrifting* (who doesn’t check thethriftshopper.com before heading out on a roadtrip?)  It was really nice to get away, forget all the projects around here, and relax.

Check in every day this week for a collection I like to call “Mercer Magic”. 

Maggie at Swimmers’ Island on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage

It’s raining, it’s pouring…

And Maggie is jumping for joy.  The rain provided relief from this summer’s crazy heat, but it also has an entertainment factor previously unrealized.

She stomped back and forth for half an hour.  Apparently splashing on the dress was unacceptable.

Keeping Cool.

It’s been hot.  The outside looks so inviting, and then you open the door and basically choke on the heaviness of the air.  We have been pulling out all the stops to stay entertained indoors.    Amongst other things, we indulge in some PBS on Netflix.  I present to you… the captive audience of Super Why! 

Seriously, this is what it looks like here about 3 different times each day. 

LaX

We took a roadtrip last week to attend a wedding in southwestern Minnesota.  There was an overnight detour in my old stompin’ grounds – La Crosse.   It feels like I was just there – unloading my sponge-painted loft bed, eating cheeseburgers at the Cellar, and checking my email in the basement of Wing Computer Lab… but it was 14 years ago that I started making memories in that town.  My, how it’s changed!  We did a quick drive around campus – so many updates and new buildings.  We tried to go to the Myrick Park Zoo – it no longer exists (sad), and we tooled around downtown.

Certain things haven’t changed – like Exploratory Surgery at Pizza Doctors.  Ezra loved the applesauce.  Maggie was partial to Mac-n-Cheese pizza, and everyone liked the dessert pizzas.

We also drove up Grandad’s Bluff – the view of campus is still beautiful.  We saw a few deer and some fawns on our drive.

Father’s Day Fun

Maggie has been talking about last year’s visit to the farm ever since the weather started to warm up.  So, it was no surprise that when given the choice of activities to do with dad, she chose FARM! We headed to a new spot a little closer to our house and really had a blast!

Kole acted as the goat whisperer.  Seriously, it was weird how popular he was with this group.

One of the things we liked about Mulberry Lane was that they encourage the kids to pick up the animals in each pen.  Maggie was in her glory.

There were pony rides.

And milking time.  Maggie made it a point to try all four teats.  She may have a future in agricultural science.

We did a hayride through the pasture and out to the horse barn.

And there was a photo op – this place knew how to win us over!

Also, Maggie wants a cat.

The Sillies