A Wrap-Up of Our Summer Staycation with the Kids

I just returned home from a wonderful four day weekend celebrating our 38th Wedding Anniversary.  We had the most amazing time in Door County, and I can't wait to tell you all about it...next week. 😀. Today, I'd like to wrap up our week with the kids and grandkids when they came to visit this summer.

Celebrating Birthdays

I chose an animal theme for their birthday party and it was a complete disaster.  I was trying to keep a generic theme since the three of them are different ages and sexes, but Alethea wanted a princess theme, and Atticus wanted a action figure theme, and Elisha didn't seem to have an opinion. I think Lazarus appreciated the decorations the most, and it wasn't even his birthday. 😁. Next year, I think we'll just skip the decorations entirely.

Atticus and Alethea are summer babies and Elisha is a fall baby and Lazarus is a spring baby.  So, for the time being we celebrate the three oldest grandkids birthdays mid-summer and Lazarus' in the spring when we go to their house.

They always enjoy opening presents...but what kid doesn't?

I think Alethea's favorite gift was this make up kit from her paternal grandfather.  It wasn't something I would have chosen for her, but she sure did love it!

We were so busy running around all week I didn't have time to make a proper birthday cake, so we just purchased some simple bakery from the grocery store.

Swimming at the City Pool

Eau Claire Wisconsin has an amazing city pool with very reasonable admission prices so we spent one day there.  The kids LOVED the water slide.  I couldn't even count how many times they went down it.

It is so nice to have a pool that is surrounded by grass and trees so you can have some reprieve from the sun.  I enjoyed laying down and looking up at the sky through the leaves.  I soaked it in.  Summer is short here in Wisconsin

The pool doesn't open for public swimming until 1:00 pm so we had lunch at home, but then I brought lots of snacks for them to enjoy too.  

Chilling Time

Remember back in April when I shared My Newly Redecorated Family Room?  Well, I said in that post that we needed a better seating arrangement for our growing family so I bought a new sectional and made some other changes to the room so there would be space for everyone.   The little ones (and the adults) really liked the changes I made;  they enjoyed my new sectional and the kids no longer fought over seating, because every seat is comfy as you can tell by the photo below.  The entire family fit on the sectional, so if my daughter doesn't have any more kids, and my son never marries, we should be good for a while. 😀

4th of July

4th of July was a scorcher this year, making it a little more difficult to enjoy, but we managed.  We took the kids to a nearby city for their 4th of July celebration, but we didn't stay long because of the heat.  They really enjoyed the inflatables; especially the water slide.

We struggled to find a spot in the shade for the parade, but we managed to squeeze on this corner. 

The kids love the parade because they give out so many goodies!

The boys always enjoy the big trucks and tractors, although the noise seemed to bother Elisha a bit.

Grandpa got us all malts from the VFW booth to cool us all down.  They were delicious!

We don't have marching bands, big balloons, and all the other bells and whistles the big city parades do, but Buffalo City is sure creative with their parade entries.  This big teddy bear on the gurney was the cutest!

We loved these blow-up farm animals too.

They gave so many things away at the parade, including this plush beanie baby.  Isn't that incredible?

What's a small town parade without a small town princess?

Love these Dalmatians!

The grandchildren loved the frozen popsicles they threw from the floats.

Atticus and Alethea eagerly waiting to see what's coming next.

Later that night we went to our local fireworks.  I bought the grandkids a bunch of phosphorescent toys to play with as they waited for the fireworks to begin.  I love these toys! So much safer than sparklers.

Even Baby Lazarus enjoyed the glow sticks.

We were super impressed with the fireworks this year.  They had ones that landed on the lake and then twinkled or exploded.  Those were everyone's favorites.

I've included lots of short videos for you to enjoy if you wish.

 Next week, I will start my Door County series.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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