Our first family vacation

Last week/weekend, we took the kids to Wisconsin Dells for our first family (of 4) vacation! We went out there with my parents and stayed at the KOA Campground. My parents brought their motorhome and we rented a kamping kabin. It was a one room cabin with a double size bed and bunk beds and just enough room for our suitcases, Dawson's pack and play and one of our coolers and some other little stuff. But it was perfect for what we needed it for! PLUS, it had air conditioning...which we were very thankful for as it was the hottest its been in a month.

We got out there on Thursday afternoon and Kylie was dying to go to the Deer Park. So we got settled in a bit and then headed to the Deer Park. It was so cool and Kylie did real well and loved hugging the deer. Dawson on the other hand, was perfectly fine around them, but he thought it was funny to chase the deer, in which they didn't like, they'd take off the other way! But Dawson thought it was just hilarious...of course he was crossing the grounds in which he wasn't supposed to be too!

As we were driving back, Kylie saw a rollercoaster that she wanted to go on...of course, we stopped and checked the height requirements and she was tall enough and I ended up going with her. All I can say is, "I'm glad I have a head left." That rollercoaster whipped you around like no tomorrow...I was laughing so hard though that I couldn't keep my own head in control as I had my arm around Kylie trying to keep her from getting whip lash...but it was fun and she got off and said, Wow, I won't go on that again, but it was fun!

We made it back to the campground and had a bonfire and the kids both had an ice cream treat and we went to bed...we were all tired from the long drive over.

On Friday, we got up and walked town a bit and bought our tickets for the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory and Tommy Bartlett Show and the Original Ducks. Kylie got a really cute tie die shirt and got to pick out her own iron on decal to put on it. :) We did end up going on the Ducks that same day! It was a ton of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. The one thing that was not good is the smell...it's nasty! The engine smokes like crazy from going to land and to water. But it was a really cool trip and both the kids really enjoyed it!

On Saturday, we took off right away in the morning to Noah's Ark Waterpark. All I can say is, "what a blast" we had!!! Kylie surprised us in many ways...she would go on rides that Grandpa wouldn't go on, but shhh...grandpa's a chicken! :) We did get Grandpa to go on a few things though -- I did receive a few pics as well. We had so much fun though. We then went home and Kylie of course, wanted to go swimming, so Grandpa took her to the pool at the campground and we all got ready because that night we were headed out to the Tommy Bartlett show! We did the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory prior to the actual show and the kids really enjoyed this as well. When we arrived at the Tommy Bartlett show, Dawson was exhausted and didn't want to sit still. He struggled throughout the entire show...but we made it to the end. It was hard to get photos during this time as it was dark...but what an awesome show!

Sunday a.m., we got up and Dave and my Dad had packed a lot the night before, but we packed up the remainder of our gear on Sunday a.m. and headed for home! It was nice to go home, but it was a TON of fun in the Dells. Definitely on our list for next year :) On our way out of town, we stopped at The Lumberjack, which is also known as "Paul Bunyan". It's an all you can eat food place. You only get a choice of certain foods and that's it, but it wasn't to bad, we all got full anyways!

Here is a link to our photos! Obviously, these are all of them, but what a blast we had -- we'll definitely have to do this again :)

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1794244007/a=26588602_26588602/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Vikings Training Camp

Dave and I had the opportunity to go to the Vikings Training Camp in Mankato on August 7. We took the party bus from Salida's Depot down there and had a ton of fun! Dave started drinking at mmm....7:30 a.m. Crazy I know! But, we made it down there and it was raining of course...so they played indoors. Come to find out the indoors facility was full and they weren't allowing anyone else to go in. So we were trying to be sneaky and stand by the doors where people come out and then we could sneak in...well that didn't work. So finally they said to line up outside the locker room and the players will come out when they are finished. So did just that and ended up getting some pretty good photos -- it was fun! :) **These are just some of the photos** Unfortunately, I wasn't to good about recognizing them not being in uniform either!

Dave drinking his beer ;)

Their bikes they ride back to the dorms

Ben Leber

Bryant McKinnie -- BTW, he wears a size 18 shoe!! I asked! :)

Jared Allen (to good to even wave)

Dave and Grant -- at the pavilion where we had our picnic after practice :)

We've had a busy last month...

Kylie has started soccer at the end of July and loves it. It's two nights a week for one hour -- that one hour gets to be long, but after we started games last week, it goes much faster! I actually got suckered into coaching Kylie's team this year. Good thing friends of ours is also playing and we got rearrange the team a bit so Kylie and Rose could be on the same team and Rose's dad is helping coach which is great! Kylie has a hard time with me coaching at times...but she's getting better and I can honestly say is a great soccer player! Sometimes is a bit aggressive, but she's doing great! I'm hoping to get a video of her playing soon.

Kylie has also switched dance studios over the summer and took a couple summer classes -- the first one was three weeks 1x/week - Leaps and it was a good class...I definitely see potential with that class and it keeps her going a bit through the summer and then the second one she just finished last night and that also was a three week class and it was Hip Hop! Awesome class and definitely more Kylie's style. We'll stick with doing Tap/Ballet/Jazz this year and see what she wants to do next year and we may include Hip Hop as well -- below is a video of Kylie learning some moves :)