look out food network

alex informed us tonight that he has been thinking
and that he is going to open a restaurant when he gets older
it is going to be called
'cereal and hot dogs'
and
you guessed it ...
they will serve
cereal AND hot dogs

i'm not sure how well it would go over
but he is sure it will be a hit
AND
given the menu options
i know he could eat there every day
and never go hungry

my littlest love

 

bunker beach

earlier this week
before heading to the wisconsin northwoods
stacey took a day off
and
we went to bunker beach as a family



we had the perfect weather for it

 

 

 

 

 

 

it was a great way to kick off a week of vacation!

bringing the heat - 3 on 3

this summer ben has kept busy with 3 on 3 basketball

last weekend
he and 4 friends played in an all day tournament



they won their first game

 

but then lost the 2nd and 3rd
which is understandable when you see the slight height differential

at least they had some quality time
to have fun during their breaks

right?!

 

lotsa TLC

all of the boys are home
camp for 2013 is done
and
i'm pretty sure they all still wish they were there

alex had a great time
and is already excited for next year when he can go
for a FULL WEEK!!



we picked him up on wednesday
and it is so fun to hear the stories that have come out since

we picked ben and luke up on saturday

 

ben said that he had the best week he's ever had

he asked to build our own gaga ball court in our backyard

and he too is already talking about next year

i love that all 3 of my boys get so excited about this one week of their summer

i love the things they are learning there

and 

i love the memories they are making

it makes it worth the 30 hours we spent in the car going back and forth ...

5 times ;)

his & hers ...

opposites attract ...
right?

TLC * round two

this week
ben and alex are getting their turn at camp



this is the first time alex has gone
and
as you can see ...
he was just a little excited

he is with his friend blake

 

and they are FINALLY getting the chance to do

what their older brothers have been doing for years

 

i'm pretty sure that yesterday was harder on jen and i
than it was on blake and alex ;)
but knowing how excited they were
and
that they didn't even think twice about saying goodbye
made it much easier.

as i was leaving i heard blake ask
'so when does this thing get started'

they were ready.

ben is with his friend luke

they are in the cabin gray fox

which means they are VERY lucky
because they have TWO bathrooms IN their cabin -
ALL FOR THEMSELVES!!

 

i'm guessing that won't be their week's highlight -
but he might ACTUALLY take a shower this week ;)
so i was kind of excited

they are all going to have such a fun time
and
as long as i don't get a call from the nurse ...
i will too ;)

stitched

on friday night
drew was at camp
and we got a call
that no parent looks forward to getting

while playing a game similar to capture the flag
drew had fallen
and gashed open his knee

he had a cut that was 2 inches wide
and a quarter inch thick
and they felt that he needed to be seen

here we were at the end of a week apart
we hadn't talked
and he was going in for stitches -
something he's never had done before -
and i'm 3 hours away.

talk about feeling helpless.

i knew he was in good hands
and
i knew he would do ok
but ...
that didn't help speed up time
neither did the fact that the closest clinic that they prefer
is about an hour away

i anxiously waited with my phone right next to me for the next 3 hours
and was SO relieved when they finally called
to say that things had gone well

they had taken him to the ER in crosby.

his cut was filled with dirt
so they had to give him 10 shots to numb it
and then scrub it
* cringe *
before stitching it up with 4 stitches.
they said he did great the entire time

the best part ... for me

was that i got to talk to him when it was all over!

he was in really good spirits -
told me about what happened
told me that the worst part was that his cabin won cluster of the week -
which means free ice cream -
and that he was going to miss it :/
and then started to tell me all about his week.
a few minutes in he stopped and said
'actually ... i'm going to hang up now
because i want to tell you about everything tomorrow - the way i usually do'

he had fallen on the last night of camp
and that worked out perfectly.
mostly, because then i got to see him the next day ;)
but for him it was great because he wasn't limited while he was at camp
and in reality - he missed very little
he even made it back in time for his free ice cream!!

 we were able to head up to camp first thing the next morning
to get him

and i was even more excited than usual to see him

he had been placed in a cabin
with some kids we knew from back in our days at calvary
and it was fun to see them all together!

they had a great week
and
he was SO excited to tell us about it

he was even more excited to show us his battle wound

it is not pretty ...

 

but he thinks it's pretty cool
and
it has already proven to be a great conversation piece

not exactly how i hoped his week at camp would end
and not exactly the cheapest souvenir
but
i'm glad that he's ok
AND
i'm glad that we can say
that we successfully got through out first traumatic experience -
apart.

while drew is away ...

having just one kid off at camp
completely changes the dynamics in our house

there were times last week when it was nice to enjoy the quiet
and
there were times when we found ourselves wondering what to do
to pass time before drew got home

we started the week off with a quick trip to wisconsin
aiden was turninng 7
and we thought it was a perfect time to surprise him with a birthday visit



the boys had a blast teaching him how to ripstik
and when he got one for his birthday he was so excited!

we also took some time to stop into casual joe's
food network filmed food court wars in wausau of all places
and this was the winning concept

we had just watched the episode
and the restaurant had opened a week earlier

the food was ok.
great ideas ...
but it was still a work in progress

we tried their beer cheese fries
and thought they were ok
but
ben loved their mac n cheese

now drew is saying he wants to try it -
so i'm sure we'll be back ;)

it was a quick trip ...



and we had barely been there 24 hours
before grabbing some treats for the road
and heading home

we spent a few days
hanging out with friends
and then finished our week off
with a day out on the town

we had lunch with stacey
and shopped a bit at the MOA

we had an afternoon treat at cupcake

 

 

and finished our day with some fun at chutes and ladders

 

 

a busy day
and
the perfect ending to a fun week

we're ready for drew to come home!