The things you do for your children....

Labor Day Weekend was full of adventured for our family. On Saturday we went to the farmers market  then down to the lake shore to watch the Dairyland Surf Classic. I still snicker a little at the fact that people call this surfing, but I guess they are just taking advantage of what is offered in the area. Last year the lake was as calm as could be so the fact that there were any waves was an improvement. The true surfing season starts in the fall and runs through the winter. Owen enjoyed watching the surfer and paddle boarders.

The Sheboygan County Fair was was our grand adventure on Sunday. Owen overheard me telling Brian that there were Monster Trucks on Sunday night and started talking about them non-stop.  Needless to say, I never expected that I would be attending any kind of monster truck show...  

Usually with the fair we try to attend in the morning when the crowds are a little different. Since the show wasn't until 7:00 it looked like it was going to be a late afternoon/evening experience for us. The tractors were set up at the main gate and in true tractor loving form, Owen needed to look at each and every one. Even though his love of toys has branched out to dinosaurs, monster trucks and stars/space he will always love those tractors! 

Owen and his tractors. He is going through a very goofy picture taking stage. I am sure we are going to have some classic pictures when the baby is born!

We then hit the animal barns and Owen was over the moon when we were able to see a cow poop and pee! Oh the things toddlers love! We were a little disappointed by not going to the pig barn, but the new strain of swine flu is in WI and people got it from spending time with the pigs at the fairs. The last thing we needed was for me or Owen to come down with the flu so we decided to be extra careful and bypass the pigs.

Owen spotted the ferris wheel when we pulled up and asked me what it was and decided that we needed to ride it.  Neither Brian or I had ridden a carnival ride in over 15 years and neither of us were excited about going but what are you going to do? At least he didn't ask to go on the Zipper.....  It was one of the longest rides for me but Owen loved it. He was able to spot the monster trucks getting ready for the show and was super excited.  After a quick dinner of fair food (always super healthy) it was time for the show....

Owen and another classic pose.... at the top of the ferris wheel.

We were not sure what to expect and were a little surprised that there were four actual monster trucks putting on the show along with local participants.  Owen did a great job wearing his ear protection and was in shock most of the show. We took quiet a few pictures and some video of it and he loves watching them over and over. Thankfully they had an intermission half way through and we were able to escape a little early.

You have to play with monster trucks while waiting for the show!

The fair was a total success! Owen still has a hard time deciding if his favorite part was the cow pooping or the monster truck show.... :)

Other than our big adventures we have been laying pretty low and getting ready for the little one to arrive. Hard to believe that in 4 days we will be meeting him/her. The heartbeat has been in the 140 range which is where Owen's heartbeat was but Owen has been pretty consistent in saying that he is going to have a sister. It will be fun to finally meet the little one!

Next time we post we will be a family of 4 (or 7 if you count the 2 crazy mammals and fish...)!

Gone Fishing

The last few weeks have been busy for our little family. Besides normal everyday life and getting ready for the baby, Owen had Art Camp, we visited the Milwaukee County Zoo, had play dates with friends and we took Owen on his first fishing adventure.

Art Camp was a lot of fun this session. Owen was very excited that it was all about fish.  Besides the normal painting projects we made fishing lures and rods and a fish out of clay. One of Owen's favorite activities is when they have the trucks and cars out to paint with. He is able to drive the trucks through the paint then leave tracks on the paper. It is amazing that we get anything else done when the trucks are available. We get to take all of the art he created home, so over the course of the last year we have lots of Owen's art hanging up in the house. This time they created a book full of all of the artwork. It really turned out neat and was a great way to display/save his art without having it all over the house. Owen really enjoys looking at it.

Making his clay fish.

Creating the book cover for his art.

Loves driving those trucks and cars!

Finger painting is fun and messy....

"Flowers" by Owen. He is starting to tell me what he is painting.

Painting his fish on the last day.

We are trying to take Owen on some fun family adventures before the baby comes. Last weekend we gave him the option of either going to the State Fair or the Zoo. Currently, the Milwaukee Zoo has a great dinosaur exhibit so the zoo won out. We saw the dinosaurs three different times that day. I think that dinosaurs have surpassed tractors in the favorite toy department, but it is good that he is branching out some. Owen was also excited to see the hippo's, giraffe's, monkeys and seals. A highlight was when we were looking at the seals underwater and Owen spotted some "zoo poo" at the bottom of the pool. The things that humor a toddler....  We also rode on the zoo train which was a lot of fun.

Love those dinosaurs!

Riding the train.

Roar!!!

This weekend we decided to take Owen fishing. He had a great time picking out his fishing rod at the store and proceeded to try and go fishing in the house when we got home. An almost three year old with a fishing rod is a little dangerous to say the least! After dinner we took him to Woodlake and try our hand at fishing. Woodlake is a man-made lake that is about 1/2 mile from our house. It is located behind the Shops at Woodlake and they keep it stocked with fish. We have ventured there many times to eat ice cream and watch the ducks and geese but never have fished. Our adventure consisted of a few nibbles from fish, catching lots of lake weed and Owen throwing rocks and gravel into the lake. Even though we were not successful at catching any fish we had a great time and are looking forward to going again. Owen did a great job reeling in his line. Casting is another story....

First cast of the day!

I am sure that throwing rocks in the water didn't help... but Owen had fun!

We have been very lucky and the heat and humidity have all but disappeared. The highs have been in the 70's and we have been able to have the windows open again. It feels more like September than August. That does make us a little nervous, hope that doesn't mean that winter will come early this year! One of the many nice things about the cooler weather is that Owen and I have been able to go to the park more and spend a lot more time outside again.  I keep reminding myself that we are in the home stretch now.... three weeks from tomorrow and we get to meet the little one!

Happy Birthday Kohler!

This week we had a mini-visit from my parents. They were in Minnesota the last weekend in July and extended their trip to make a quick visit to see us.  They arrived Monday evening and left Friday afternoon. Owen loved having them here this week. Unfortunately, everyone except my mom came down with a killer summer cold so it was a pretty low key week. We were able to get organized for the baby and Owen got lots of play time with two of his favorite people.  Many block towers were built and immediately destroyed and a few hours were logged in the sandbox.

On Thursday we did have an adventure into the Ravine to go frog hunting. Owen was excited to splash in the creek, throw rocks and search for frogs. We did find two frogs, but Papa's frog catching skills are not quiet what they use to be....

Grammy and Owen looking for frogs.

Papa and Owen throwing rocks and splashing in the creek.

We found a frog (it is sitting on the square rock) but it got the best of Papa!

Friday was a bit of a sad day for us with my parents leaving. This was the first time that Owen realized that he was saying goodbye and was sad about it. I thought that goodbyes would get easier for us but I am not sure if that will ever happen. Thankfully we have more visits to look forward to this fall. My parent will be out in 5 weeks when the baby is born, Brian's parents will be here when the little one is about 2 weeks old and Emilie, Steve and the girlies will be visiting in October. We are very excited to see everyone so soon! 

This weekend was the Village of Kohler's Centennial Celebration.  Friday they had a big concert in the park and fireworks, then on Saturday they had a parade and village picnic. Since we were all still battling the cold we didn't get to participate in the festivities as much as I would have liked to. Brian and Owen saw the band play a few songs and we all watched the fireworks from our backyard.  They shot the fireworks off from the soccer fields that are located about a block from our house. It is amazing how loud they are when they are that close!  The parade featured Mr. and Mrs. Kohler driving a horse drawn buggy, University of Wisconsin Marching Band and the Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages.  For a small town of 2,000 the parade was very nice and lasted about 35 minutes. Owen has discovered the joy of picking up the candy that has been thrown out and is quiet fast at it now.  

Brian and Owen at the concert.

Ready for the parade.

Here it comes!

Mr. and Mrs. Kohler... Owen loved the horses.

The Racing Sausages.... Brian was very excited about these...

The Shriners are a little scarier in Wisconsin. They zoom around on motorcycles instead of the buggies.... yikes!

They also have little cars like they do in Oregon....I had to pull Owen up on my lap so he wouldn't get run over! 

Owen was very excited about the tractor in the parade.

Art, Bouncy Houses, and Birthday Cake

It is amazing to think that it has already been two weeks since Amy and the girls left.  Life has returned to normal for us and Owen will be excited when my parents come for a short visit next week. I seem to be slowing down at a high rate of speed, I am sure that he will be happy to have two people at his beck and call again.

Last Saturday was my birthday and we celebrated by having a day of adventures. The John Michael Kohler Art Center holds the Mid-Summer Festival of Arts every July. It was held last year when Owen and I were visiting Brian so we were really looking forward to going to it again. They block off all the roads surrounding the art center and art vendors from all over the mid-west come to the event. There is everything from acrylic painting to silk screen shirts, hand-crafted furniture to blown glass ornaments. Owen takes art classes (and will hopefully go to preschool) at the art center and was very excited to see his teacher, Miss Keeley, and create some art of his own.

Painting at the festival. I love that he wanted to rock his rain boots and shorts. 

Checking out some art.

After a nice snooze we made our way to the Kohler Company Picnic. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw.  Poor Columbia and JELD-WEN's picnics are just pitiful compared to Kohler's.  There was unlimited food, drinks, beer, ice-cream and cotton candy. You could choose from hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, chicken sandwiches, broasted perch, corn on the cob, watermelon and mashed potatoes. The Schwann's truck was there supplying 10 different frozen treats. We counted 8 different bouncy houses, a ferris wheel, gravitron, climbing wall, tea cup and ladybug rides and a giant bungee/trampoline thing where kids could jump 20 feet high.  Pony rides, petting zoo, Bingo and a ridiculous amount of carnival games rounded out the activities. Owen was in heaven with all the bouncy houses, much to my dismay. Of course the pony ride and petting zoo ranked pretty high also. By the end of the afternoon his feet were as black as coal, a good sign he had as much fun as he could! Owen was pretty excited about the picnic and was convinced it was my birthday party.

Dont mind the random guy....but this is what we saw at the entrance.

Loves pony rides!

Owen was very proud of himself...going down the big kid slide!

Our original plan was to go to the Craverie, Kohler's chocolate shop on Saturday night for birthday cake and ice-cream. They have a wonderful seven layer chocolate cake that they sell by the slice. I figured that would be perfect and we would not have a whole cake sitting in the house....bad idea mom. I didn't feel the best after being outside in the heat all day so we decided to go on Sunday.  Owen was put out that we didn't have cake and ice-cream on my birthday so on Sunday we changed our plan and made a cake together.  Owen requested we have a dinosaur birthday cake so we made a dinosaur out of blueberries and raspberries. In the end the little man was very happy and that is all that counts.

 Owen helping unwrap my presents. Brian framed some of his artwork, I love the way it looks!

Making cake! He loves helping in the kitchen.

Licking his lips already....

Frosting the cake. Good thing it was only for us!

You might need to use your imagination...it is suppose to be a T-Rex....

Licking the candles is the best part! Owen would drag the candle through the frosting to get maximum coverage...it is amazing how quickly they pick up on that!

We have had a few heat advisories over the past few weeks but thankfully they would only last a day at a time. On Thursday and Friday we finally got a decent amount of rain. All of the counties in Wisconsin have been declared drought emergencies so we were very thankful to see the rain. It is amazing to see how dry it is and the farm that we have our CSA (crop share) through has been talking about smaller vegetable shares and potential crop failure. I never dreamed we would hear about crop failure or drought conditions when we moved here!

Owen running through the water puddles after the big rain...such fun!

It is hard to believe that 6 weeks from Monday we will meet the littlest Hedlund. On hot/humid days that seems like forever and on other days it seems to be coming very fast. We are really looking forward to meeting the little one. Owen has felt the baby move and talks about it being in my belly. He also talks about how it can play with his toys (we will see if that really happens!), I have a feeling it will be a rude awakening when our visitors leave and it is just the 3 of us during the day! 

 Until next time keep your fingers crossed for cooler weather and more rain!

Heat, Humidity and Adventures

The last two weeks have been a little crazy and a lot of fun in our household. My sister and nieces came to visit us for 10 days starting July 2.... 10 days of fun, adventures, heat and humidity. I think that we have finally recovered from all the fun. Owen has done well adjusting to life with just his parent again... today was the first day he didn't wake up wanting to sneak attack the girls.

Our adventure started by picking up Amy, Madeline and Meredith in Chicago on July 2. Owen was so excited to see his cousins. I love seeing him run up to our visitors at the airport and give them big hugs. He has such a special relationship with Madeline and "MerMer", the time and distance away hasn't changed it a bit.  

So excited to see MerMer!

They are finally here!

Tuesday the girls were treated to an Owen special... an early morning sneak attack! Little did they know that would be their alarm clock for the next 2 weeks. We had a relaxing day at the house, one of the only days without multiple adventures. Owen was able to show them all his toys and take them to the first of many trips to the pool in the afternoon.  That evening Amy, the girls and I went to the Sheboygan river to watch the annual Venetian Boat Parade sponsored by the local Yacht Club.  We  were debating between the boat parade and a moving in Ravine Park. I am so glad we decided to go with the parade.  Brian and Owen stayed at home since it didn't start until dark and I regret not having them come.  All the boats were decorated in patriotic lights and paraded up and down the river. It was such a neat experience and will be added to our annual 4th of July festivities! Unfortunately, Tuesday was the start of the excessive heat warning.  Little did we know what we were in for....

Sneak Attack! The girls alarm clock!

Sneak....

Attack!!!!

Venetian Boat Parade held every July 3rd. 

The 4th of July was the most unbearable day of their visit due to the heat and humidity. Due to the US Women's Open, Kohler didn't have a 4th of July Parade so we went into Sheboygan to watch theirs. It started at 9:00 a.m., but even then the heat was unreal... We only stayed for a little over half because it was so miserable. The farmers market was open so we stopped and bought some homemade ice cream on the way to the car, a little treat/break from the heat.  The rest of the day we spent in the comfort of air conditioning. We did venture out to Kohler's Annual Sousa Concert and Fireworks in Ravine Park.  It featured special guest John Philip Sousa IV who narrated the history of the music in between songs. The fireworks were great and it was fun to have patriot music playing while watching them. The only thing that would have made it better is  if the heat and humidity broke....

Ready for the parade!

Watching the parade

At Ravine Park for the concert and fireworks.

Festivities at Ravine Park. 

Thursday was another low key day for us as we were trying to recover from the 4th. It was still very hot and humid and none of us were dealing well with it.  That evening the girls decided to try playing tennis.  Needless to say, they will not be going to college on a tennis scholarship! That night we decided to make smores.  This was a first for Owen and still still asks for "sticky graham crackers."

Mer's hair kept growing bigger and bigger in the humidity!

Sticky graham crackers! Yum!

 Friday we decided to try and get some relief from the heat and went to Fireman's Park at Elkhart Lake. Imagine a cross between Dirty Dancing, Gidget (if she was on a lake instead of the ocean) and the original Parent Trap. Elkhart Lake is a fun little lake with a wonderful public beach.  We spent most of the day playing in the lake and cooling off. That night Kohler had a street fair called Fairway Festival. It was located at the shops of Woodlake so we walked to the event. They had food, beer/wine, a children's carnival and a live band.  The kids had a lot of fun playing the games. I felt a little like the no fun police because I made Madeline and Meredith return the two goldfish they won.  The last thing we need in this house is two more creatures to care for!

Elkhart Lake before the crowds of people showed up.

Relaxing after lunch

Of course Kohler had toilet related games at the carnival.... toss the roll of TP into the toilet!

Dinosaur dig for Owen

On Saturday, Amy and the girls drove down to Waterford to visit some of our extended family. Owen and I were planning on going but the heat and humidity caught up with me and I decided to stay home to rest. They had a great visit and I wish we could have made it. Thankfully the excessive heat advisory had expired and we were closer to normal temperatures on Saturday.

2nd and 3rd Cousins together. Amy had not seen Brenda or Kim in 20 years.

On Sunday we went to church together, then Brian and I went to see to US Women's Open and Amy and the kids went on an adventure to Lake Michigan.  Brian was given tickets to the golf tournament by Kohler and it was a fun experience.  We had Skybox passes and I don't think I will ever watch a tournament any other way. Free food/drink, shade, comfortable seating and a breeze created by fans is the only way to go. We did walk a few holes just to get the experience. Unfortunately our timing was off and we didn't get to see any of the big names.  After a few hours in the sun I was ready to go home and rest again.  Camera's are not allowed at the golf tournament so no pictures of it...   Amy and the kids had a great adventure at Lake Michigan, playing on the beach and walking out to the light house. I wish I could have been in both places at once, but it was wonderful for Brian and I to have a "date" together. 

Amy and the kids at the lighthouse. 

Monday brought another big adventure, this time we went down to the Milwaukee Zoo.  They had a new dinosaur exhibit that Owen loved, we had to go through it twice. Other favorites included the giraffes, orangoutangs, seals, flamingos and warthogs. Much to Owen's disappointment we did not see any zoo poo, but I think the dinosaurs made up for it.

Petting the baby dinosaur.

Owen got brave the 2nd round and was willing to put his hand in the mouth.

 On Tuesday I had a doctors appointment, Amy was able to come with me and the girls stayed behind with Owen. It was nice to have another family member meet my doctor and sharing the joy of hearing the heartbeat.  That is one of the best sounds in the world and it was fun to share it with my sister.  Later that morning we went shopping at the Shops at Woodlake, toured the Design Center and had lunch at the American Club. The girls thought the Numi demonstration was hilarious and enjoyed picking out their favorite bathrooms in the Design Center. Lunch at the Horse and Plow was yummy. We were able to check off tasting a Wisconsin delicacy while we were there, Fried Cheese Curds. I think the girls would prefer mozzarella sticks but they did enjoy them. Amy thinks they taste like a grilled cheese made on sourdough.

 Skyping with Grammy and Grandpa. M&M were dying to see what it was like from our point of view.

At the design center... the wall of china is behind them. :) Owen is still not sure about sitting on the toilet.

Walking back from lunch...think he loves his cousins?

Wednesday we went to the Farmer's Market again and to the Children's Museum.  The kids all had a great time at the museum. It was nice to be inside for the morning and have a fairly low key day.

Farmer's Market

 The girls 1st farmer's market purchase. Raspberries... :)

A favorite exhibit at the Children's Museum. It was hard to pull them away from this one.

The closest thing anyone will get of a belly shot...

Thursday we spent the day at Elkhart Lake again. It was very relaxing and a little less crazy than our last visit.  The shore has a very gradual slope so it is perfect to take Owen to.  It was a perfect last day in Wisconsin!

 Friday was a sad day in our house as we packed up the Bush's and drove them to Milwaukee. We did have one final adventure, finding a County Road PP sign to take thier picture in front of.  Brian now has two other people that agree with him and think that a road named "PP" is hilarious....

Owen and Mer looking at pictures we took during their trip. Do you think he likes her?

County Road PP

We had such a wonderful visit with Amy and the girls.  I hope that we were able to give them a good taste of Wisconsin.... I know we seemed to eat our way through their vacation! Sampling Culver's frozen custard, Cravery Chocolate, Brats and Fried Cheese Curds were a must!  It was so nice to have them experience what our life is like out here.  It went by way to fast and I hope that they can come visit us again next summer!