Summer Vacation Recap

Highlights from our 5-week loop of the Midwest

Pennsylvania
We stopped for one evening and part of a day in Pennsylvania to visit Kathy and Derek's family. (Pat's friends from graduate school) Our kids had fun playing with their kids. Cullen introduced Jacob to Monopoly and they played for hours (literally) with small breaks for things like eating, swinging on the swings, and playing in the sandbox. It was fun for Jacob to have a playmate that was equally competitive and intense as he is.
Ohio - 1st time
So when we arrived in Ohio he ran to check if Nana and Papa had a Monopoly game. They did and he convinced his first opponent to play....
Our first stop in Ohio was only for a few days -- we had a picnic with family the first night and the kids got to play with their cousins.Pat, Jacob and Ken had fun on the courtAnd lollipops and watermelon were a hit!
Illinois
We stopped at Uncle Tom Haertel's on the way to South Dakota. He had fun watching the kids play, reading them stories and laughing at Pat's antics to get four kids to smile for a picture.
South Dakota
Originally our summer travel plans included a 2 week trip to Michigan and Ohio. But we extended our vacation and made it a working trip for Pat. He was having trouble with allergies in Connecticut so we figured it might make sense to pack up his computer and hit the road for a while to see if he could feel better elsewhere. The only place he didn't have allergies was western South Dakota (more to come on that in another post). But we made the best of our time and did fun stuff with family.
The wildflowers were in bloom while we were visiting and Pat and I had a chance to take a walk together alone on the farm. And a second time with the big kids in search of this beauty....
We stayed at Nana's farm for about 2 weeks. We enjoyed fresh strawberries from the garden. The kids had fun helping Nana in the garden. Jacob discovered another new game - with a wiffle ball and two baskets. Nana set up a basketball hoop to shoot hoops on so he had his necessary sporting outlets. ;-)
And Luke had his goofy outlets....
We went to McCrory Gardens in Brookings -- the kids had fun climbing the willow trees.

Hannah rode Annie every chance she got. Nana had been training Donner to pony Annie and Hannah got to ride behind Nana's horse on Annie a few times.
Fourth of July on the Farm -- Nana made her traditional flag cake - and we watched the fireworks on tv as the local display wasn't until 10:30 pm -- too late for our kiddos.
Our Patriotic Boy waiting for his piece of cake!
We celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday while we were on the farm with a truck birthday! He was thrilled to open all of his truck presents. Here he is playing with his new stash of trucks.
I couldn't believe that a two-year-old would stop to "read" his cards...But that's Luke -- Mr. Mellow -- A pretty special guy. Happy Birthday Luke!!
I had fun dressing Sophia up in cute hats!
We swam most afternoons at Oakwood Lake -- a state park near Lois' farm.
Pat and I attended his 20th Highschool class reunion -- Sophia was awesome in taking her first bottle and was a good baby for Nana when she babysat for her and the other kiddos.
Western South Dakota
Then we headed to the Black Hills for a little get-away with just our family. We explored Rapid City a bit while Pat met with a scientist at the School of Mines. We ate breakfast at Dinosaur Park and the kids had fun climbing on the dinosaurs.
Sophia's 1st camping trip
We had fun camping two nights -- in the Badlands on the way to the Black Hills and then a night at Wind Cave National Park near Custer State Park. We drove the game loop (we saw the domesticated burros -- I actually was able to pet one on my side of the car and this one that is pictured here tried to take a nibble of Luke's pretzel rod - a bit traumatic for him. And we also saw a lot of bison, pronghorn and prairie dogs) the next morning and then headed back east the next day. We had one more night of camping in Minnesota on the way to Crivitz, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin
We ended up staying three nights in the primitive cabins in Wisconsin. We had one good day of swimming at Newton Lake. The kids took kayak rides in the mornings with Nana to go birding and look for other wildlife on the river. Pat took Jacob and Hannah fishing. This year Jacob was actually excited about fishing -- his interests have changed a bit -- he has become quite the sportsman - no matter the sport. He wants to be out there doing it. Hannah loved fishing again for the second year! We picked wild blueberries which we ate on oatmeal in the mornings. And Mike and Pat had a jam session one night -- Luke was especially enthralled watching them play their guitars.

MichiganNext we headed to Lake Michigan for a week at Camp Arcadia. We enjoyed the morning lectures (it was music week at camp). The big kids had fun at their morning programs. Jacob graduated from the Ark to the big kids program. Hannah enjoyed another year at the Ark. Luke didn't care too much for the nursery at camp. He sat very quietly on our laps and enjoyed the music lectures too. I think we may have a musician in the making.

Here's Mr. Mellow chillin' by the lake We made it to the beach most days and we celebrated Hannah and Jacob's birthdays with family.
Hannah and Uncle Mike playing the Memory Game (a gift from Uncle Mike)
Here's Hannah with her new pink horsey raincoat and rain boots from Nana
Jacob received a laptop from Uncle Mike which he purchased through the One Laptop Per Child Foundation (a child in a 3rd world country also received a laptop when Mike purchased this one for Jacob). He's been having fun figuring out how to do different things on it.
Uncle Tom Steben is loved dearly by our kids -- he has tremendous patience for the children and they pick up on that and give him lots of love and attention. Look at the endearing look on Luke's face...
Ohio - 2nd time
We had fun-filled days in Ohio with family. Great Grandma and Sohpia got to meet each other! Dad, Carrie and Frank were all on vacation while we were in town so we were able to have a lot of time together. We had a few picnics at Mom and Dad's house. We attended a celebration in honor of Mali (my cousin Gwen's newly adopted daughter) at the Parma Heights PoolJacob had fun with the water features at the pool
Mom, Kailyn and Carrie at the Parma Heights Pool
The Medina County Fair was taking place while we were in town again this year. We spent an afternoon/evening at the fair. It was the first time I had spent any time watching the horse riding competitions. Everyone enjoyed that, especially Hannah - our horse lover. Sophia was greeted by a friendly goat. Luke was scared of most of the animals (he is in a new stage where everything is scary -- thunder, swimming, animals, etc). We took the kids to the Kiddie Park (a little park that Carrie, Ken and I went to when we were little). They still have all of the same rides. Hannah's favorite was the carousel and Jacob and Luke liked driving the cars. We watched a few baseball games -- Uncle Ken is playing on his church's softball team and Caden played t-ball. We celebrated summer birthdays (Jacob and Hannah had their second birthday party! but this time had to share the day with Luke, Aunt Carrie and Mommy) at Carrie's house. It was a fun evening of swimming, playing games and being together. Aunt Carrie with the seven cousins:
Xayne, Hannah, Sophia, Kailyn, Luke, Jacob, Caden
The last day in Ohio we went to the Akron Zoo.
Kailyn and Luke
And then back to CT to gear up for the start of school.....
Summer Vacation is over -- we look forward to traveling again next summer!