Great Wolf Lodge

For all the headaches caused by the Army (just keeping it real ya'll) there are definitely some perks.  Like the Strong Bonds conferences (marriage retreats) for families almost always held at some fun resort where parents and kids can always have fun.  We attended one in Hawaii when the twins were around 18 months and last month we were given the opportunity to go again.  This time the conference was at Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells.  We were actually on a waiting list for this event and got a call two days before telling us we got in.  Of course we dropped all of our plans and got ready, no need to pass up a free family fun vacay. 

 On top of that, it's one more state we can knock off our list.  And may i just say, Wisconsin was beautiful.  I don't know that i had any preconceived idea of what it would look like, but i did not expect it to be so beautiful.   Driving through there, on all of the country roads, passing all the amazing farm houses and land, i kept telling Mike that this was the place we should live... get a dairy farm, live in the country.  Seriously It.Was.Gorgeous.   Mike kept having to remind me we weren't farmers.  And that the winter would most definitely change my mind.  Still, we gotta go back.   I may have fell in love. 

The Dells is only about 3 hours from us...so no big deal at all.  Davis was absolutely ready for this road trip! 

Macky was pretty excited about our room.  Of course he thought this would be his bed....

The kids LOVED the water park.  There was such a difference from when we took the twins there a year ago.  Everyone had the best time and was much more comfortable in the water.  

Davis did amazing for not having much water/pool experience. 

Nora went down a few slides! 

and Holden did almost everything!  even some of the big stuff by himself! 

 

Macky also did wonderful.  He played in the water a teeny bit, but mostly slept.  I still can't believe we have a baby that will sleep while we are out and about.  I thought that was a myth!  Anyway that gave us a lot of time to hang out with our other 3 littles and really play. 

 

riding the slides with my biggest boy!

meeting the characters :) 

 

We even had a date night!  While I think most everyone else opted to leave the hotel and check out the town, Mike and I opted to take our 3 hours kid free and go back to the water park and ride all the rides we wanted together, NO KIDS.  and kids, it was awesome! Once we had our fill, we quickly showered, went down to the lounge and had some dinner together before picking up the kids and having ice cream.  It was a pretty stellar night...

...until this guys fell hard into the nightstand.  Then there was some drama, but what's new really? He bruises his face ALL.THE.TIME.

and yes, there were classes we had to attend too.  they weren't all that great, but small price to pay for a fun weekend with the family.  funniest part?  Mike throwing his coffee all over me and my workbook.  smooth move. 

and because we are water park lovers...we had to go once more before we drove back home...so here's our tired, end of the weekend, wet hair, family picture to remember our time at Great Wolf Lodge. 

and while we're usually pretty good at getting good photos of the kids....we do have our failures.  

like these...

 

we were tired and gave up.

but really.  it was an awesome weekend :) 

Kindergarten

and so it begins, our journey through 18 years of formal education, starting with Kindergarten...and boy were they ready! 

We've been talking with and preparing the twins for Kindergarten for a while now, especially after their graduation from preschool.  They've both been very excited about it all summer.  We attended their "unpack your backpack" night a week before school started in order to meet their teachers and get a chance to tour the school.  It was on this night that it sunk in with Nora that she and Holden wouldn't be together in class.  Where this news didn't seem to phase Holden at all, Nora seemed overwhelmed by everything and shed a few tears at the end of the night.  I was a little shocked, but honestly should have expected it.  New things always throw her for a loop and this would be the first time she went somewhere completely on her own.  

The first day of school for grades 1-5 was actually just orientation day for Kindergartners and their parents.  Nora was emotional on this morning as well but i assured we'd be with her all day and that she would be having fun.  Of course while Mike and I sat in meetings the kids all went off to do fun things like scavenger hunts and art projects.  That's all it took really.  Nora had a good time that day and by the next morning, their first day of "real, drop-off school" she was fine. No tears. Just these smiles you see below.  

And yes, Holden's aspirations at this point are to be a garbage collector.  We can always count on Holden to pick something unique.  When trying to clarify, Holden informed me he wanted to be the person who rides on the back and actually puts the trash in the truck.  Davis of course was listening and told me he wanted to be the driver. So there you have it guys.  The start of our new family business.  Mike and I are so proud. 

 

of course i made them do all the obligatory shots. 

and one last picture with the family before we left out Kindergartners for their first day of school. 

Macky is back there in the car seat...we're really bad about remembering to include him in shots! He's just so quiet and content in there, i promise we love him!  hashtag fourth child problems???

and one last shot of them in their lines 

at the end of the day, kindergartners get released a few minutes before everyone else.  of course i was there waiting on them to tell me all about their day.  This picture of the runs and smiles tells it all though. 

 

this momma was so glad they loved it

and an even cuter surprise was that they were wearing their lunch box notes i left for them!  I couldn't get to my fun papers easily the night before because all of that stuff hasn't been unpacked yet... but i ran across this foam stuff that has adhesive on the back.  I figured it was as good to write on as anything else...but i didn't really expect they'd figure out it was a sticker! Still it made this momma smile to see that they may be in elementary school now, but they aren't too big to think that momma's notes are uncool yet! 

 

Month.Seven

 (still a month behind)  

Seven Months of Macky

Have I said yet how much we all love this little guy.  He's just so incredibly sweet with a smile that melts your heart every. single. time.  and the older he gets the sweeter his personality becomes.  There's always someone around the house willing to hang out and play with this baby.  

We started off his seventh month by heading to the doctor for a checkup.  Macky weighed 19 lbs 2 oz and 28 in long and he's wearing mainly 9 and 12 month clothes.  He also has more hair than his siblings ever had, and yes it looks a bit reddish in the light. 

As we settled back into life in Iowa and stopped moving around so much Macky started to sleep better again. He also started forming an actual schedule with his naps and eating.  Predictability in babies is always a good thing.  

Eating is still going well.  He sticks to baby food and momma's milk for the moment.  We tried him on real bananas a few times.  He hates them, not sure whether the problem is the taste of the banana or the texture of real food, but for now we stick with jarred mush :) 

He's still on a rolling strike, it drives me crazy.  I'm always having to save him from becoming a beached whale. We officially took him out of the woombie this month.  He still prefers to sleep swaddled, but he's gotta figure out the rolling again, so the extra time trying to move around in the crib will hopefully help.  

Our biggest 7 month news is his two bottom teeth that FINALLY pushed their way through.  The whole house has been thankful for this--a lot more sleep and a lot less fussiness. Oh teeth.  Why must they be such a pain?  

Macky's Likes Include: 

His Paci 

Eating 

Hanging out with his family 

Swinging

Being Outside 

Snuggling in the bed with Mommy and Daddy 

Macky's Dislikes Include: 

Being stuck on his tummy 

Bananas 

Being alone 

and some sweet pics of my little one, and a few room sneak peaks as well!