Camping..

Ready for a hike!
Our tent!! Raccoons liked to sneak in at night and push things around. Thankfully the tents we slept in were zippered off from the main area and they couldn't get in to where we were. It was freaky enough knowing they were 2 feet away.
Shiloh and Cayden chilling out in the tent. I think he was playing Mario Kart. I just like this picture...it is so sweet.
The boys took out the paddle boat for a awhile. The weather was perfect for our camping. Warm days and cool nights - no humidity at all. We did have a brief heavy, heavy shower on Thursday night. But we came through it none worse for the wear. Riley's forgot the rain flap for their tent, but we scrambled around enough tarps to cover the tent in time. Thank goodness!

We were joined by several more families from Oconomowoc and we had alot of kids running around. The boys had fun and it was a grand way to end the summer.

Cave of the Mounds trip

We took the boys to Cave of the Mounds a couple weeks before school started. It was a really neat place to visit. The boys spend almost as much time in the gift shop as they did in the cave. It was a cool (literally) cave, and the tour lasted about an hour. Just long enough for little legs. The formations were awe inspiring, but the pictures didn't turn out very well.

After we were done, we let the boys pick out one special thing from the gift shop. Kieran picked out a purple geode key ring and Cayden picked out a bad of sand that had gems and rocks hidden in it. He then emptied the sand into a pan and used water to wash away the sand to reveal the treasures inside. He loved it. We thought about going back there just to do that activity again.

Our meal at Johnny's Charhouse..

Cayden used my camera to film this during our dinner Saturday night at our convention in DeKalb. He took several videos that night to occupy himself while Jerod and I finished our yummy meal. I just thought it was funny to see how much fun he had with this.

In DeKalb again for the district convention....

How handsome are they?
Jeez, honey,,,,you can smile...
Such happy, smiling faces!!

We had beautiful weather for our convention this year, August 16-18. Jerod got to help in the bookroom with the new releases. That was pretty exciting for him. All in all it was a good weekend.

Circus Party time!!

The feared T-Rex!
Kieran's crab face...
Look at all the loot!!!
Give it all you got Cayden!!!

Our good friends in Richland Center hosted a circus party for all of the young ones. And what a party it was!! They don't feel comfortable having their names or pix on the blog, so I won't be posting any of that info.



But we had a scavenger hunt, a water balloon fight (which morphed into a rowdy "dad water balloon fight".) That was hilarious, until one of the kiddies got beaned on the side of the head. There was also a cotton candy machine, face painting, clown noses, and a pinata full of an extreme amount of candy!! Holy cow. My friends really know how to put together a party! I know it was alot of work, but it was a party the kids and parents will remember for a long, long time. Thanks!!!

To the pool we go..

Swimming lessons this year were a bit hit, as I figured. We did have a couple stormy days that cut the lesson short, but all in all they got in all of the skills they needed in order to pass. Cayden was in level 3 and Kieran was in level 2. Personally, I feel the classes are rushed and have way too many kids in them. So much is crammed into 30 minutes. If it is the same way next year, I may talk to the pool director. I wonder if any other parents feel the same.

So our house is officially off the market!. Some relief there, just hoping the winter treats us better this year than last.

Josh's wedding plans are going well. Both boys are in the wedding party and Jerod is an usher. They will all be so handsome! I am a little hesitant about getting Cayden into a tux. Hmmmm. We'll see how that works.

Fun at Governor Dodge...

We haven't been out to the lake very much this summer..(I find the sand and carting all of your stuff clear from the parking lot to the beach very tiresome and messy) But we did get there to meet some friends and play in the sand. The kids had a great time as you can see here. Later in August we are meeting the Rileys for camping for a couple nights. That should be a fun way to wind up the summer. Hard to believe that it we have only a few weekends left before school. Where does the time go?

Josh is engaged!

We would like to welcome Sara George to our family! The nuptiuals are slated for nov 22, 08. First day of deer hunting. Jerod is not real happy about that, but he'll get over it, I'm sure. We all love her already and it's not hard to see why Josh is head over heals crazy for her!

Here's Oliver!

He's just gotten soo cute and adorable!! We were at the park for an outdoor concert and I tried to get a couple shots of him, but these really don't do him justice with how squeezable he really is..We love him so much.

Last day of school!

(you'd think he'd smile...it is the last day of 1st grade for crying out loud)

Silly me, I forgot to get Kieran's last day! His was the day before and I totally spaced taking a picture that morning before we rushed out the door. Bad mommy!

Post-talk celebration feast! (at Culvers)

After Cayden's talk we all, and I mean all went to Culvers for frozen custard. The kids all crowded in a corner both and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy themselves...while nearby....
sat the teens and twentysomethings. The one with his arm around Andrea is her main squeeze...Frank. I'm sure we will soon welcome him into the crazy familia de Silvers.

The Wilderness Lodge trip

The spoils of a battle hard fought in the arcade...



One cool thing at the Wilderness is the indoor park that has the Wave pool. The roof is made of glass so you can tan year around, even when it is cloudy outside! In fact, they urge you to wear sunblock in the park. This is where the last 2 pictures come from.

So summer is in full swing..

Kowabunga!!!!



Here are some photos of what we have been up too. We tried to jump-start summer with a trip to the Wilderness Lodge in Wis Dells on May 29th. It was chilly and rainy, so we didn't get to use any of the outdoor waterparks and one of the indoor ones was closed for construction. But the boys had a fun time anyhow...

I hope that this works. This is my son's first bible reading. He did an amazing job, and we are very proud of him.

Thanks to Eric to get this in decent shape to transmit this over the Web. I only hope that my blogger will upload it properly since I've never had any success with it before. OOO, it looks as if it is going to work...YIPPEEE!

Our trip to the beach!

So in spite of a forecast calling for numerous T-storms and the like, the girls and I headed off to Cocoa Beach on the Friday of our trip. We were leaving to come home Sunday morning, so this was our one and only time to go. As it turned out, it was a perfect day to go. By the time we got there, the sun was peeking out from the clouds and by lunchtime it was downright blistering hot! The water was amazingly mild and we had a grand time splashing around.

Of course, we had to make a pit stop into Ron Jon's Surf shop even though none of us surf. Still a cool store to wander around in and pretend that Matthew McConahay (oh please forgive me Matthew for slaughtering the spelling of your last name, it's very late at night) may be strolling by any minute now. SIGH!!!...A girl has to have some unattainable dreams, huh?

We got back to Kissimmee and saw that it had rained a good 2 inches or so throughout the day. So good for us for getting the heck outta Dodge that day. It was a memorable day...

Saturday was spent lounging around the pool, eating up the leftover food and packing our stuff..or should I say CRAMMING our stuff back into our 1 bag we were allowed to bring. Thank goodness one of my carry-ons was a nice expandable bag to shove more stuff into.

Oh, did I mention that I remembered how much I HATE flying? Yep, it's a means to an end, but I won't be holding my breath with anticipation for the next time I get to fly the friendly skies.

Flordia trip part 2

Yes, I did survive 8 nights and 9 days without my family in Florida. Thank goodness we kept busy otherwise I wouldn't have been able to keep sane. I missed my family greatly, but at least when I talked to the boys on the phone they never broke down on me. Jerod told me later that Kieran would hang up the phone and proceed to cry for me for an hour afterwards. YIKES! Sorry honey..

We ate well, one night we traveled to Sea World to see a Luau. Our table was stage side and we got a worm's eye view for all the acts. Very awesome! I figured that I would never get to Hawaii to see the real deal on a beach, so this one was a very good substitute. Even got a pix of me and the Luau boy doing the "hang ten" sign.

So I went to Florida the end of May - SANS KIDS AND HUBBY!

OK so my bad in not putting any of my pix from Florida on here. It's been insanely busy and I haven't made the time to do it since I have been back. So tonight I am taking some time away from my sleep to get some on here. So there, Jessica! (ha, ha, just kidding about the sleep thing-thanks for getting me motivated to update this blog)

So the first is the group shot. The black sisters and I are from Wisconsin. Patti and her daughter Breanne, and my new friend Melissa. The other sisters are from Minnesota. I made some nice new friends on my trip.

The second is a shot of the front of the condo we stayed in.

The third is Breanne and Melissa sunning themselves by the pool. Breanne looks awesome in this shot!

T-Rex makes a terrifying appearance!!

Sorry about the blurriness, we couldn't use a flash and these monsters were constantly moving.
The mama T-rex reassuring her baby that she was there to protect him..

This was the grand finale of the Walk With Dinosaurs show we took the boys to this week. I'm telling you what, that T-rex roar was frightening! It shook the seats and gave me goosebumps. The boys were mesmerized! A few smaller kids were really scared and their parents had to take them out. It was that "in your face" real. We loved it.

Dinosaurs have invaded the Colesium!

This is what greeted us when we entered the auditorium. Ominous, doncha think?
Red footprints of a predator dino chasing after another dino. Cool, huh?
Two brachiosauruses ganging up against one allosaurus. The larger of the two had his head almost clipping the stage equipment up top. I was completely enthralled!!!

Wednesday night we treated the boys to a once-in-a-lifetime cool show. This was way beyond what Jerod and I thought it would be. Lights, seat shaking sound effects, a great story, and incredibly life-like dinos, made this show a delight to watch. Through lighting and sound effects, this show took you through all the prehistoric periods. (i.e. Crusteaous, Triassic, Jurassic, etc) Each period featured a few dinos from that time and showed how they interacted with each other. I was very impressed and would encourage anyone to go if they have the chance!! It was not only for kids...