my kind of town...Chicago is

Chicago...Navy Pier, the Tall Ships, Captain Jack Sparrow(seriously, it could have been the real deal),  Millenium Park....such a wonderful, quick overnight trip to Chicago! 

Chipmunk captured

One of the major accomplishments of the Summer 2010....Chipmunk Captured!

This poor little guy was surrounded by these crazed boys, captured and shown to as many people as possible.  The boys were thrilled!  These 4 boys have a "den" in the pine trees called "The Den of the Brave Boys".  I made sure the chipmunk didn't have a tragic demise in their den and was peacefully released from what was sure to be chipmunk hell!

Sonic the bearded dragon & photo contest

Juddy's 9th birthday gift has arrived and his name is Sonic.  Not to be confused with the burger or video game character....this is Sonic the Bearded Dragon.  May as well add to the menagerie of animals in the house!  Judson is beyond thrilled and seems ready for the responsibility. And I think he is really pretty cool too.

Judson took this cool photo of Sonic!  Which is being entered with the following photos in the Monroe Arts Center Photo Contest.  See below for Jud and Drew's photos!

Jud's landscape :

Drew's:

The last three all centered around our firepit in Minocqua!

i heart faces: beach fun!

i heart faces:  beach fun!

This is one of my all time favorite shots of beach fun...it is 2 years old and from our day trip to New Smyrna Beach.  A beach I have very special childhood memories of. 

Here, my son Drew is making his own memories! 

That excited expression says it all about beach fun!

summer in green county.......

These photos are from a session for friends of mine who asked me to capture their beautiful property in the four seasons.  I just captured summer...and just had to share the beauty!
I really enjoy nature, up close and personal....How I LOVE these!

anti-blog summer

Hey, so I haven't been much for blogging this summer.  Maybe it is because of the death of my Mac laptop....so sad.  And now I sit at a P.C. and don't like it.  Maybe it is because we have been traveling a little here and there.  And when I am not traveling I am chauffering kids here and there!  Maybe it is because the pool is calling our names most days, or my garden...but mostly it is because the little people are calling.  I LOVE summer.  The sun, the flowers in my yard, the water, getting people together by the pool.  I love it. 

There have been life's stressors.  Which is just generally annoying in the summer, right!? The remodel on our boat house has taken on a life of its own.  It has been a major stressor in every way.  And while it will all be worth it, creating this little haven for our family has been a challenge! 

And so I have been away from my blogging, which I do mostly for myself anyway to document our lives as a family.  I don't really intend on having a blog "following" like many, but hope to share with our family and friends that are far away from our everyday lives... and perhaps with a new friends out there.  So, if you are out there, here are some moments from Summer 2010....so far.  In no particular order....because, well, I am just too tired for that!

Cookie Daze in Ripon...all american goodness wrapped up in a day of cookie fun!

A trip to MN for the Van Dusen Mansion Grand opening....and a LOT of fun!

Mom, Tyler, Bekka, Krissy...we had a little too much fun.  ;)

Tessa was baptized.  Godparents Marcie Frehner and Robb Mathia, who both adore her!

Court day!

July 13th...the Green County Courthouse the day the judge signed off on our readoption in the US.  Tessa was already our daughter in the eyes of the Ethiopian courts and now in the the U.S. too. 

It's official...even though our hearts already knew that!

The lake

Boating fun on Lake Kegonsa as we wait for the boat house remodel to be completed.

Days poolside....

Judson's surprise pool party

 (This photo cracks me up)   And then the trampoline photo of Jack jumping in the buck at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Julie's house with his cousin, Jonah.  Gotta love it!

Joe...and the hanging of the bell with Jack.   I can ring my bell and call them all in and the whole neighborhood might hear it!  Joe has been around all summer helping us recover our yard from all the construction and septic system chaos from last summer.  He is a tremendous help to us!

Tessa's first steps!

Tessa started walking!  She loves it! And while I am a little bit sad that she is leaving baby-hood behind, it all means she is doing just fantastic.

I leave you with this image.  Bob meets toad.

I did not include photos of 5 weeks of summer school, adventure club, tot lot, fun-n-sun, baseball for 2 boys, camp invention, playdates with the Leuzingers, and trips to Dairy Queen.  This is just some of our summer in a nutshell.  It is a full life, complicated at times, always busy but I am immensely grateful for all of it...and frankly, don't feel much like blogging...especially without my Mac. boo hoo.

Surprise!

Now that is one surprised 9 year old boy! 

Yesterday we got him good.  Judson celebrated his 9th birthday on July 1st in Minnesota with family and also shared his birthday with his new sister.  Needless to say, he was missing the celebration with friends.  Finally, I was able to pull off a surprise party for him on short notice, via email and phone calls (getting a bit lazy with paper invites these days) and it turned out great!  The day before we had been to "cookie daze" in Ripon, and he and Drew spent the night (Omie's idea!).  Andy and I came home had all kinds of time to get things ready....the pool, all the balloons, etc!  Even the skies opened up so we could have the pool as the center of the party! 

Jud was so surprised that I think his initial response to the big "Surprise" was one of both shock and terror! 

He said, " You could have killed me!"  Good thing he has a young heart!

I heart faces is also having this week's challenge which happens to be "Surprise!"  How perfect.  This isn't a wonderful photograph technically, but I am just glad that balloon didn't land in front of his face as I took it!  I captured that moment of SURPRISE!