Girl Scout Camp - 2024

 

**I've been tryin to convince Abby to write a post about her experience at Girl Scout Camp to go along with these photos, but she's not interested so I'm going to post this without the commentary.  At least we'll have the photos down the road!

Fireworks (around the Fourth-ish)

It felt like the summer started off slow with just a few small camping trips here and there but July has been non-stop summer packed full of events and friends and summery things to do! Marengo hosted a Family Day in the Park the weekend after the 4th, complete with food trucks, bands and fireworks.  Since we were camping we didn't get the fully on firework show that I so love.  So when we figured out that Marengo was doing it the following weekend we quickly penciled in a sleepover for the kids and a plan to go see the fireworks with the Brackemyers.

It was like the night was made for me!  The band was a country band and they played a handful on 90's country, there was a beer tent, it was a 7 minute drive from the house and we ended the night sitting in a field in our chairs watching fireworks.  I mean, I don't know if I could have dialed up a better night if I'd tried.

We gave the kids a phone and let them wander around as a little girl gang.  They went on a few rides and jumped in the bounce house (all free, which was amazing) while use adults sat and watched the concert.

The fireworks were great and the kids loved their campout in the back yard.  We just checked so many things off the summer bucket list!  Which, it's a good thing because the summer is starting to fly by.  But I'm not going to start down that path just yet - we've still got plenty of summer to enjoy!

Summer Race Track

 

Last summer we took the kids to the Sycamore race track on an adventure to find something new to add to our summer repertoire.  It was such a success that we went back a second time dragging some friends along to show them our new summer event.  So, we knew we'd have to get a date on the calendar to go this year too - turns out, the date we picked was Monster Truck weekend meaning we didn't see the traditional dirt track races but it was just as fun as we remembered and we've got a second date on the calendar for later in August. 

We all packed up some quarters for the kids to use to bet on who would win (and to fund their "can we get a snack" snack bar runs.  It's such a fun way to spend a summer evening doing something a little different.  Plus, the people watching is amazing!

We have no idea who won or how the thing is even scored but we had fun cheering!

4th of July + Hazel's Birthday Party

After being gone for 10 days camping we figured, in a very McGrath way, that we should host a party at the house on the 4th.  We're so often gone on the big holiday weekends that it seems like a special treat to be home for the 4th.  We took it as an opportunity to have a small party for Haze's birthday with some of our closest friends and a pool party with our friends.  

A few weeks before her birthday Hazel told Erin that she was hoping she'd make her a wolf cake.  Erin always delivers for these kids - and it the most thoughtful way.  She came out and spent a few nights at our house before we even got home and then she joined us on the bunny pick up.  While she was here working she baked an amazing homemade cake and then expertly decorated it, per Hazel's dream.  

The kids played with Ned, had water balloon fights, did fireworks and jumped on the trampoline.  The adults swam, ate a brat platter, drank cocktails and beers, had lots of laughs and it was the most perfect way to spend the holiday and our last day of vacation before it's time to head back to work.  Wah wah!  Never lasts long enough :)

1 Family x 12 (July)

 

We love a good summer pool party and this year is no different!  Happy Birthday sweet Hazel.

Welcome Home, Ned

 

We got home from camping on Monday, July 3rd.  After a 4 hour drive and a few hours at home unpacking and putting things away, we loaded up the whole family in the car and drove down to Naperville to pick up Hazel's birthday present, Ned.  I'm here to say that he's very sweet and a fun new addition to the household.  

It was a little too much driving for one day, but the look on Hazel's face as she snuggled him the entire ride home was priceless.  They say bunnies live 10-15 years so it's quite possible that Ned will be headed to college with Hazel some day.  We'll see, if I'm honest, I really love him a lot myself.  It's been a few wild weeks of work since we got him, so I haven't had much alone time with just him and I at the house, but I see lots of co-working hours in our future - once we can get him potty trained that is.  That is the only part that has NOT been going well.  I think we've made zero progress on the litter box front, but we'll get there.

Ryan even came up with an insta-account for him: Nedflixandchill.  Which, you just might see happening here at some point.  I mean, that's pretty cute guys!

Voyageurs - Lake Wissota

 Our last stop on the 10 day trip was to the Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire area where we camped at Lake Wissota State Park.  Making our way back down south and 4 hours closer to home also meant we left the rain behind us and started to travel back to the warm temperatures and sunny days.  

Because the mosquitos were so bad and the rain and burn bans in northern Minnesota we didn't really get a chance to do all the normal camping things like hiking, campfires, s'mores etc until we got to Lake Wissota so we really crammed it in during the 3 days we were there.  Abby hosted lunch one day by making Tonka pizzas for the entire group (she was very proud of this).  We spent two days in the lake though, I think if we had it to do over again we might have tried to rent a boat on this lake too.  It was a big lake and the swimming beach area was a little mucky and shallow to really enjoy fully but it didn't stop the kids!

Mom and Dad hosted an outdoor movie night complete with Papa popcorn.  We watched the new Super Mario Brothers movie which was packed with nostalgia for me (and had me busting out the Nintendo switch the next day at the beach to play a little Mario - which, I should do more often!  It brings me lots of joy!)

One of my favorite memories from this part of the trip was the small hike we did one morning because there were SO MANY geocaches for the kids to find and they were so easy for the kids to be successful with.  Some family hid a series of minions around the trail and it was so enjoyable for the kids to be successful finding them.  They were hidden for kids, not impossible to spot, easily identifiable (they were old canned good cans that were cleaned out and painted like little minions).  Ryan and I have been talking about hiding a geocache for a few years and after finding these I think we'll take some inspiration from the family that hid these and do something similar.

You know what we did on our last morning together at the campsite?  We started planning a trip to Acadia for next summer, 2024!  Yep, even after nearly 10 days of rain we're already starting to think about how we'll spend our vacation next year - hauling our camper across the country, collecting state stickers and stopping at national parks along the way.  

Now this guy - we've got some work to do with him.  He's the best dog - as long as we aren't forcing him to go camping.  There's something about being in the camper solo that he just hates.  We knew it was an issue last summer but we've spent all spring working with a dog trainer to figure out how to get him more comfortable being in the camper.  We haven't quite figured out a solution just yet, but after 10 days together, we've got a new plan and we're going to see how it goes at the family reunion in the Dells in a few weeks.