I saw a man who danced with his wife in Chicago...

Well, this was supposed to be billed as a relaxing family getaway, but it turned into anything but that (nothing like the song which of course Judy Garland sang once!). Poor attitudes, the heat and sassyness all contributed to a stay in Chicago we were all to happy to return from. Too bad, but over with now. From the looks of our pictures we appear to be having a good time, but what do they say "don't judge a book by its cover"! Anyway, I believe I may have been the root of the problem, I may have. I learned sorries don't count in text messages so I thought I would give a Blog a try...Sorry guys!

We stayed at the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive, this was the view from our room: the lake and Navy Pier.

We went to some shopping Mall on Michigan Ave. and they had a really cool Leggo store. We took way too many pictures, but it was so amazing I could not resist.

We also went to Navy Pier where we went to the IMAX and saw Fly Me To The Moon in 3D. It was very cute, I highly recommend it if you have small kids.

We were so close to the Lake the kids really really wanted to get their feet wet. This picture was taken 2 minutes after they got their feet wet. Then came the shorts, shirts and finally the hair. We were just about to leave town, so they had to drive the 2 hours back home wet and cold. Next time I told them maybe they will just get their feet wet like I tell them. Ha, I doubt it! They are kids and they did have lodes of fun.

Summer Camps

What a fun two weeks Kaitlyn is having! Last week she went to an Equestrian camp through the YMCA and had a blast. She wants to continue going and even someday be a counselor there (that is one goal I would love to support!).

She met many new friends and had fun with them while riding and also enjoying the activities of Camp life.

Of course the swimming, archery and wall climbing were fun, but the best was riding the horses. Here is Kaitlyn on Jimmy.

This week she is taking on a totally different type of Camp. She is in Orchestra camp for school. She decided to play the Chelo and is doing a great job!

She had her nails cut and Dad took her out to have them painted, don't they look nice?

I will admit, for what I was expecting a bunch of 6th graders who have never touched a string instrument in their lives to sound like, when I went to pick her up today they sounded pretty good. She is so excited now about learning, lets hope that continues.

A Piece of History

For a long time now I have been obsessed with family history, journaling and artifacts. I have spent many hours researching my ancestors. I enjoy reading about their lives, hearing stories from my Grandmas and being able to touch things that they touched. It all makes me feel like I am getting to know them and keeping them alive in some way. I can actually feel the anticipation in my heart for the time I will finally meet them in the Spirit World.
One line in particular is my Mothers maternal line, the Washburns. I have a journal form 1885 written by Ida which is my most valuable possession. I have stayed in the houses they lived in, I have shopped at the store which was once owned by a great great great Uncle. I have visited them at their resting places and talked with them and cleaned their headstones(with help from Kaitlyn and my Mom). I feel like I know them.
Then one day I got a phone call from my second cousin Carrie. She had acquired a box which has in it many letters and writings from our great great great grandfather William Washburn from Sebec Maine. She also has notebooks from our great great aunt Lucy which attempts to recount our family history. Aunt Lucy documented a lot of information which is amazing to me in the 21st century that she could have found all the information she did in 1906. I am boring everyone! Long story short, Carrie came over yesterday and I was able to see all the documents and I will admit I had to hold back my tears.

To see and hold those letters was amazing to me. I will admit my jealousy over our side of the family having none of that stuff, but she wants to share the information with everyone. I have spent 4 hours since our visit making copies of everything, and will spend the bulk of today doing the same. I am grateful this information still exists and that we are all able to use it to trace our ancestors and get to know them a bit. I hope they can feel our love, wherever they are. The letters written by William Washburn to his sons and correspondence back range in dates from the 1870's and 1880's. The letters are fun to read and play like a diary of life back then. I will enjoy learning more of them and feeling closer to them.

Finding these letters and old journals just makes me more passionate about us writing things down. Even everyday life is more romantic and interesting 138 years later!

Feeling Better

On July 31 Scott had his Tonsils and Adenoids taken out and his nose cauterised. He was very nervous about the procedure, but in the end did great. It has been a long week and a half, he has been a real trooper through it all and actually hardly complained (I guess it hurt to talk!). The required down time was much to his liking, he is always looking for a "day off" from our crazy schedule. He has taken full advantage of couch potato status! While Kaitlyn and I are not into video games, he has been playing with a friend Kiley the past few days. Kailey is both Kaitlyn and Scott's friend, so while Kaitlyn is at camp the two of them can have fun.

Well here is to no more Strep throat and bloody noses!!! I sure hope! I hate to see my kids in pain, so I am glad we are on the home stretch with this one, great job Scott and I love you.

The Guys Fishing Trip

Last weekend the boys embarked on their annual fishing getaway. They went up to Freemont Wisconsin and stayed in a small cabin on an inlet to the Wolf River. They had fun and caught 25 fish. Like the sportsman they are they released them all back not bringing any home :)

No fish were harmed in the making of this Blog Post!
What a fisherman! he loves to get out in the early morning. They were up and out by 6am.
Scott absolutely loved catching something larger than a pan fish that he usually caught up at the cabin.
They went out with the owner of the cabin and were able to catch some larger fish. Here is Scott's Northern, he was so excited!
There was a pool by the cabins, always time to pass off a requirement for his Weebelo's badge!

Carl taught Scott how to play chess. This was the one game he won. Later in the weekend he clobbered Papa Meyers which made him just as happy.

Here is Scott in the cabin. For those who never saw the cabins at Walts place this is a 100% nicer. It was another successful fishing trip. They can hardly wait until next year!