WI Part II - The Riddle Challenge!

The kids are very lucky to have an insanely creative Grandma.  Last year?  It was the pirate hunt and the Hootinanny.  This year?  It was a riddle challenge!

I took advantage of the opportunity and took Rosie out to scope out the path and then the ultimate destination.  Once I found a spot that I thought would work, Opa and I went out on Rosie to scope it out again so that he could mow the path and then mow the picnic spot.  Once that was done, Josh was in charge of setting up the picnic and then hanging the piñata. 

And, of course, no riddle challenge would be complete without tattoos and sunglasses! 

 

So, the rules were that we would all walk down the path and along the way, each kid would have to answer a riddle.  If they got the answer wrong, they couldn't proceed any further and would have to go back to the house and eat all by themselves.  Ha!  Kidding.  Clearly, we tailored the riddle to each child and made it so they could answer it.  We're not out to have our children fail here. 

 

 

Avery was first....

 

Then, Annabel

 

Then, Charlotte.  Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't really feeling the riddle challenge at this point of the game.  Don't worry - she had some lunch and pepped right up again.

 

 

Then, the Al-Man

 

And....we made it to the end! 

 

Once we got there, the kids all took a turn hitting the piñata that Grandma had stuffed for them.  Needless to say, this was right up Al Man's alley.  And, thankfully, for once, there were things that he actually liked in the piñata - not just candy!  Someone knows her grandson!

 

 

 

After the piñata adventure, we had our picnic lunch, which was delicious. 

 

 

And, after lunch?  The kids played on Rosie. For, like an hour.  It was delightful.  No crying.  No arguing.  They just played and made up stories about where they were going and had fun.  The best part?  This meant that the parents could all sit around and eat and drink in peace.  It was wonderful. 

 

 

Slowly but surely, the kids started to get tired, so it was time to go back. All of the kids piled into Rosie and Uncle Will and Grandma drove them back to the house for nap time.  It was a fun day had by all and another fun memory for all of the kids (big and small)!  

WI 2014 - Part I

Can't believe it has been over a month since we were in WI celebrating the birthdays.  This is what happens when I come back to work during a busy time!  Blogging takes the back burner, unfortunately.  Anywho...


We managed to get a non-stop flight from BOS to MKE on Friday night this year.  You can only guess what our first stop was once we landed...

 

Yeah - that would be Culvers.  And, yeah - I did eat a butter burger, fries AND custard.  Welcome to Wisconsin! 

The Davie clan didn't get in until Saturday night, so the kids spent the day testing out all of the fun toys that Opa and Grandma had ready for them.  Including, but not limited to, their new pool (and the water squirters to go with it, of course)!  What a great surprise!

Later that night, we went to the 4th of July parade in Princeton.  I have to say, it was pretty impressive for Princeton, WI.  Of course, we came to find out a few days later that it is nearly identical to the Green Lake, WI parade, but really - what can you expect from small town America?  The best part?  I bought 3 beers for Josh, Mom and I for....wait for it...$8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thought for sure I heard her wrong when she told me the total.  You would pay that for ONE beer in New England!

 

The kids also each took home an entire bag of candy, which they promptly went home and sorted into piles to share with their cousins.  Not sure who they got this sharing thing from...

 

That night, the cousins arrived!!!  First stop?  The cubbies that Grandma sets up for each one of them filled with fun little presents...

Next stop?  Playing with all of the presents!

Later that day, we took our first boat trip.  Unfortunately, the Davie's luggage got lost and hadn't arrived yet, so they were stuck wearing our clothes, but all in all, it worked out just fine.  It was pretty wavy that day, so the furthest we got with Opa and Grandma's other new toy - the "Big Bertha" - was sitting in it next to the boat.  The kids had fun on it regardless.  But, don't you worry - it was taken out later in the week.  More on that to follow.

 

 

 

 

The kids all got really good at just jumping right in this year! 

 

And, mom continues to be really good at bobbing.  Preferably with a beer. 

 

 

Ever since Charlotte was a baby, the boat has put her to sleep. 

 

 

 

Next up?  Strawberry picking!  I'm not kidding when I say that Charlotte ate her weight (and then some) in strawberries that day.  Gotta love Wisconsin farmers - they flat out said that we could eat as many as we possibly could while picking. And, they meant it! 

 

 

The farmer was then nice enough to let the kids (including the big kid himself) sit on his pride and joy.  He was getting ready for a trip where he was going to drive this thing from Wisconsin to California and back.  Talk about wind blown!

 

And, that, ladies and gentlemen needs to be the end of this post considering I still have about 700 other pictures to look through and use on the rest of trip and I clearly have a hard time choosing.  Stay tuned for the riddle hunt, sinking the bismark, scooters and more!