Devils Lake

On Sunday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to Devils Lake State Park, which is about 40 minutes from our house.  The park is so amazing and full of so much color this time of year.  We spent our entire day there and the kiddos did an amazing job with a five mile hike!!

 

*All of the photos were taken with my phone camera, so they might not be the best!

 

 

The park is known for its rock climbing.  Andy went back to his college days and gave it a try...

Of course Claire and Drew needed to try then

Andy was concentrating very hard on taking this family photo!

Claire our little navigator

Picking up colorful leaves as we walked!  They then wanted me to carry them in my backpack so they could save them for home.  This then turned into one huge leaf pile in my backpack and a MESS to clean out!

Love, love, love all the colors in fall

So I did not tell all three of them to pose like this.... there were TONS of eagles flying above this part of the lake!!  Claire then thought she might be taken away by one of them, so we moved on...

Mastered!

Drew has been working so hard on mastering how to tie a shoe and he did it!!!  I will have to say, he is actually really good at it and his shoe lace is nice and tight!  Way to go Drew!!

Yellow Stone State Park Camping Trip

This past weekend we took a camping trip to Yellow Stone Sate park (the smaller version located in Wisconsin!!)  The park was only an hour from our house full of lush greens, a huge lake, and wonderful trails.

 

We did a lot of camping while in Spain, however there you couldn't have a fire!!  So we were really excited to show the kiddos what it was like to camp with a fire!

Claire was a huge helper and unraveled 100ft of rope while we sat up camp.  She told us she was trying to catch a bunny, so how could we be mad at that!

After setting up camp we took a four mike hike around the park and lake.  The hike was really nice as it had really clear paths and beautiful views. 

We were extra proud of the kiddos as Drew did all of the walking and Claire did 3/4 of the walking. 

Their favorite part is trying to find the perfect hiking stick during all of the hike:)

The hike was really gorgeous and it really felt like fall with leaves falling off the trees.  Being away from fall for three years really makes you appreciate it after not seeing it for so long.

Claire also became warm and took her shirt off!

After our hike we went fishing.  Since being back in the states Drew and Claire are obsessed with fishing!  I told Andy he couldn't have asked for better fishing buddies as they would do it all day! 

Drew with one of his big catches!

Claire for a three year old does really well waiting.. and waiting... for a bite!

The kiddos loved wearing their head lamps once it got dark out and would find all sorts of fun bugs with them!  Of course we had to roast some marshmallows!

We had a great camping trip and look forward to our next one

Backyard Fun

 

Leaving Spain was hard enough and to have no backyard swing set as we did in Spain was awful!!  The other weekend we surprised the kiddos with a trampoline and I don't know out of us four who is enjoying it more!!  We LOVE it!!!  And it's a really good workout;)

 

Water gun wars in the backyard!

This past month we were so proud of Andy he pinned on Lt. Commander!  Andy was selected last year and it takes a year before you pin it on, so we were excited that the date had finally arrived!

The ceremony was at the ROTC unit here in Madison.

 

A tradition in the Navy is to have a family member take your old shoulder boards off and put your new shoulder boards on with your new rank!  Drew and Clarie each had a shoulder board and were more than thrilled to help!!

Congratulations Andy

First Day Of School

 

The first of school for us was this last Tuesday.  This was a BIG day in our house as it was the first day for Drew, Claire, and Andy!!  Our house was a crazy mess that morning and that explains why I have no photo of all three of them!

Drew has been talking about his first day of school here in Madison before we even left Spain!  He picked out his entire outfit, hat, sunglasses, and wanted to wear a sweat band, however that's where I had to draw the line!  Drew started kindergarten not even a block away from our house M-F from 8:30-3:15.  Drew had an awesome week!  He gave me a big hug and kiss his first day and never turned back!  I guess his shirt says it all starting a new school with so many changes and being so adaptable!

And on his way to school!  We love really close to campus, so just a quick bike ride in!

Claire was more interested in what was in her back pack vs. looking at the camera...

Drew and his amazing teacher Mrs. Robbins before school started

Claire is going to a little private preschool here two days a week for three hours on each of those days.  And was also BEYOND excited!

I couldn't have asked for a better school for Claire!!  There is fourteen cute little kiddos with two teachers at all times.  The room is set up very natural with tons of hand on activities.  The first week was themed "camping" with letters and numbers involved!

Claire jumped right in and started playing.  After her first day and picking her up, she even asked to stay longer!

End Of Summer Fun!

One of the many pools here in this great town has great water slides.  Claire especially loved this pool as she was able to go down the slide ALL ALONE!!  We spent the entire two hours going down the slides.. over and over!

Andy's brother Aric and his two kiddos Sunny and Skylar came up for a weekend.  We had a great time biking around.  We went to the National Mustard Museum with them which had over 500  mustard's that one could taste!

One of the huge perks to being back in the Midwest is the SWEET CORN!!!  I thin we buy it every other day!  Claire still isn't to sure about husking it!

Claire learning to hula-hoop at PaPa and MiMi's!

Claire is in flag football this year and can throw a mean spiral with his left hand!

Visiting another pool