Wisconsin Vacay

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Wisconsin Dells,

along with Adam's mom and his brother's family.

We stayed at Kalahari Resort

in this two-bedroom suite with a full kitchen.

 The bar was a perfect spot for the kids to hang out,

 and watch Uncle Chris cook breakfast in the mornings.

 

Each family brought supplies to cook one dinner meal,

as well as some breakfast stuff, snacks, and sandwich fixings

to save money on food,

but we still purchased a giant pizza one night  -

 

and lots of treats! 

Kalahari's African theme meant there were animals everywhere 

that the kids loved to ride on and pose with -

 

but we didn't just stay at our resort the whole time.
We kept busy doing all sorts of things,
like this Duck Boat Tour!

The duck boat picked us up right outside of our hotel,

and drove us around in the forest,

and then right down into the water!

We enjoyed the beautiful ride,

and got dropped off right back at our resort.

On another outing,

 we saw some amazing things at the Tommy Bartlett Show, 

 but someone was a bit crabby and struggled to make it through.

Even this amazing water skiing pyramid -

 and some popcorn,

wasn't enough to stop the whining and
keep me from wanting to strangle him.

He sprang back to life though
when we returned to the amazing water parks at our resort.

Walt was quite the dare devil!

 Ruby loved it too!

 There was so much to do!

 

From these big water slides I went down with Emma -

 to this kid-sized water park that kept Walt and Ally busy -

 to this mini-water park for the littlest ones.

We played at these outdoor water parks during the day,

when it was hot and then hit up the indoor water parks

that were just as amazing after dinner,

when it was cooling down outside.

By the time we'd get back to our room each night,

 the kids were happy -

but exhausted and liked relaxing with a movie before bed.

They also enjoyed getting up close and personal 

with all kinds of animals at Timbavati Wildlife Park.

We fed carrots to just about every animal in the place -

 

 

 Ruby especially loved the giraffes,

and Walt and Adam had fun on a camel ride!

It was such a great trip

and so nice to get away for a bit!

Big Project Alert!

I'm sure you've seen my kitchen a time or two on this blog.

It generally looks something like it did here -

 I've had blue walls underneath my cabinets 

since the day we moved in, but I recently cleaned everything off of my counters -

In preparation of this -

 

After months of debate and agonizing over numerous samples,

we've finally purchased some tile 

and have a backsplash going in!

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

Adam's been out of town for work, so I've arranged to have it installed while he's gone.

It will be a fun surprise for him to come home to!

Long Weekend, Long List of Things to Do . . .

How did you spend your Labor Day weekend?

I, fittingly, spent mine laboring.

We hauled out the contents of the garage -

 

and sorted through things to toss, donate, and give away,

before putting everything back in a much more organized fashion.

We hauled out our downstairs mini-fridge and defrosted it,

 and bought a trunk load of containers 

all in the name of organization!

 I haven't gotten all of my organizing projects completed yet,

but I'm knocking them out little by little.

 Like this cabinet under my kitchen sink -

 It hid all kinds of chaos and grunge from leaky containers.

 I revamped it with one of my new tubs,

 threw out the junk we weren't using,

and now it looks all tidy and accessible.

 It's nothing earth-shattering, 

just keeps things picked up and off the floor of the cabinet 

so nothing is leaking or leaving rings under there.

I also found time to organize 2 closets with my new bins, 

but have no fear, I also found time for some fun!

We took the kids out to the splash pad again -

so they could run around with their cousins.

 And we took a trip to the flea market 

and came home with a couple of treasures!

I got this cute little blue chair for extra dining room seating.

 

It just sits in the corner where the high chair used to be 

so the kids can use it at the table when we have guests over 

and are short on chairs.

I love the painted stripes down the linen seat cover,

 and the little step rail on the front 

so the kids can climb on and off themselves.

 

Such a fun and useful little piece of furniture!

We also bought a little something for the front steps -

 See it right next to the planter on the right?

We couldn't pass up this etched Fighting Sioux rock!

We know the name change is coming,

so we're happy to grab items like this while we still can.

Hey, as long as we're out here, 

remember this wash tub I found out at the farm?

 I filled it with flowers this year and absolutely love it.

 I have such fond memories of the time I spent at the farm

as a child with my late grandparents, 

so I love coming home to things that remind me of the farm.