Who says you can't have fun in Iowa?

We also took a quick day trip down to Platteville, WI and Dubuque.

 While we were in Platteville, we went to the Mining Museum where there were $1 train rides around their lot with an old mining train pulling us.

 Then we also got to gear up and head down into the old mine to see what it looked like 120 years ago. This was everyone's favorite part- Emi liked wallking up and down the stairs of course and Peter was quiet when he was down there, but really liked seeing it all down below. There also was a small section of track up in the top of a building that they used to dump the waste rock out of the tall mine building which I think was his favorite part. He made a comment about how loud the dumps would be!

 Next, we headed to Dubuque where I lived for 10 days about 8 years ago when I worked for the Audubon Society on the Lilly Belle at the Mississippi River Museum.

 We first took a quick ride on the Fenelon Place Elevator which a banker built a long time ago becuase it was taking him too long to get home for lunch.

 And then we went to the Mississippi River Museum where we found a really nice kid's splash area, spent time outside climbing on a huge dredging barge, feeding a pond of carp, and then went back inside to see the fish, turtles, birds and other creatures.

Herbster, WI

We took  a quick three day trip to Herbster where we camped ON the shore of Lake Superior, played on our little private beach, Garrick and I went canoeing on the Brule River, kayaked on the lake and went to the train museum in Duluth.

 There was a park around the corner from our campsite where the kids had a lot of fun. Herbster was a tiny town that had a gas station and a restaurant that served breakfast, pizza for dinner and then was also a bar... the land for the campground was right on the lake- so close that you could throw a rock from your tent to the lake- and so it was perfect for the kids to go down and play in the sand and waves.

 Sitting each night and "watching the sun go to the other side of the earth"

We went to Duluth and checked out the train depot- Emi and Peter both liked going in all of the trains and seeing them.  The coming weekend was "A Day Out with Thomas" where Thomas the Train was going to be there giving rides. We were outside watching trains come and go and who drove by? THOMAS! Peter couldn't believe his eyes at how lucky he was to see him there working that day! He kept saying, I didn't know Thomas was going to be here!

More Summer Cousin Fun

I lost my camera card- somewhere- I'm not sure if it is one of my little helpers or one of my moments that I seem to be experiencing more and more lately. So I'm piecing the end of the summer together from my mom's camera. Hopefully it will turn up.

We have been seeing a the Madison boys quite a bit this summer! Lots of swimming at the beach, playing trucks and working on granpa Dan's new trainset that he is building with/for the kids. Each time they come to visit he has another job for them to do- paint the mountains, put down track, build a bridge...

 We also met up with them at Devil's Lake on what looked more like the beginning of spring- but of course Peter had to go for a quick dip!

4 month old Lainey

Little Lainey is 4 months old. Which is incredible.

The most common comment that is made about her is that she is such a chill little baby that never cries. And it is true, she goes with the flow, smiles at everyone and is happy to be a part of whatever is going on.

She is following the path of her siblings of being long and lanky- she was measured today at 11.5 pounds (10%) and 25 inches long (75%). The PA we see said she is perfect in every way though!

Lainey likes to take a morning nap that is pretty short- about an hour- but then can sleep from 1:30- 5 if I let her in the afternoon! She is a great sleeper at night as well- she goes to bed around 8 and gets 12 hours in. She was waking up for a while in the mornings and fighting her swaddle, now I just leave a light gauze blanket in with and and she shimmies right up with it- she loves to suck her fingers/thumb while she sleeps.

She has been rolling for about a month now, but this week she has gotten so that she is going back and forth all of the time. She loves to play on her tummy and sleeps on her side. She is grabbing toys and putting them in her mouth at times.

Her favorite toy though, is Peter and Emelia. They love to make her laugh, shake her bouncy seat and bring her toys to play with. Both of them will spend time talking and signing to her every day and I feel like they both really love her right now- until she starts to crawl and get in their things!!

Cousin Visit

We had a great cousin visit with Erika and her family. We went to see them in the cities and then had a fun Winona day as well- We went to Farmer's Park for a picnic and then also to the pizza farm. The kids had a blast running around together and especially had fun in the water!

That's not a FORT....

That's what Peter said when we went to LaValle to my dad's garage/workshop, or as we call it, his "Fort." Peter thought it was more like a HOUSE. We had a few days that we spent swimming, playing trains and going to see Kim in Milwaukee and then ended the trip with a visit to LaValle. The kids loved exploring the fort, playing in the creek, having a picnic and playing in the dirt. The grass was so tall that it was up to their heads which made it a little hard to walk in the field.