Brooke Takes the Kids to the Fox Valley

While Scott was in Florida I drove to my parents to get my babies.

Theo: Mama I have a surprise for you in my bed.

Awwww...

I think this is going to be the last time he sleeps in the crib.

Viola or baby Chelsea?

Every summer trip to my parents house means a day at Bay Beach. We picked up some sandwiches to eat at the park.

Jello. I was stuck in the Florida heat and they were going to Bay Beach? Unfair.

Even though some of the rides require more tickets now, it's still the cheapest amusement park in the US.

I'm glad my parents were along to take my kids on the Ferris Wheel.

The slide attendant was explaining the rules while Theo just headed down anyway.

"Mama, take a picture with me and put your hand on my heart."

Mr. Afraid of Heights decided he wanted to try the big swings. The first ride he screamed the whole time and still wanted to go again.

Glad we bought our sticker when we did.

These cool kids got some new shirts.

The next morning I met up with my Little Chute friend Amanda for breakfast at Sap Brunch. My potatoes were so good.

I love that even though we don't see each as often it's as if time hasn't passed.

The kids were jealous that I went out for breakfast without them. So I made them walk to Seth's Coffee.

Theo asked for a bagel of course. When the server brought it out he says, "What?! That's tiny, I got scammed!"

I love that this place is still in business and busy.

My mom got an Instant Pot for Christmas. I had always wanted to try making a bundt cake in the Instant Pot. Turns out it works great.

My mom wanted to take Theo to the playground. She even went on the swings with him.

The kids hung out in the backyard all day. They could do this at home, but they don't. "There's not a deck."

Ugh...

Brittany has a membership to a trampoline park. Apparently on Saturday nights they have a glow night.

That's their cousin in the mask. FYI.

Usually we get all the wildfire smoke. I guess it followed us here.

Picking up the kids timed out perfectly with Viola's 1st Birthday Party. Chelsea held the party at a landscape nursery.

There was also a playground for the kids.

Happy Birthday Viola!

Comments

Iron Range Camping for Work and Fun

Scott had more shoots this weekend. This time it took us way up north. With Meadow back in school we left Friday afternoon. Luckily Meadow's teacher canceled their afternoon meeting and we were able to leave earlier than we planned. To break up the long drive we camped for the night at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park . We booked the last site, I can't believe people are still camping. When we were setting up our tent Meadow said, "Why are other people so close to us?" We don't go to normal campgrounds very often I guess. We set up early and went on a hike before dinner. We should have brought our canoe along, but a hike would do.

Meadow's 13th Birthday Party

We woke up to down pouring rain. Once the rain had slowed down, Theo and I walked over to the Kingfield Farmers Market. Theo picked another Bundt cake as his treat. I have never seen it so dead. I got some rhubarb to make jam and Israeli bagels that I wasn't expecting to be long. On our walk home we also picked up some free pots and a Minecraft book. Both of our vacuums have bit the dust. I was trying to hold out until Black Friday to buy another one when I saw there was deals thanks to Prime Day. Theo said he's never seen me this excited before, not even my birthday. I used up all of my gift cards I'd earned from Medica. Yeah, I know, it's weird. Walking for two years got us a vacuum. I had vacuumed in the morning with our old vacuum and then again with our new one. Ew. Usually I'm the one stressing out before guests come over but this time it was Scott. He was deep cleaning everything. We both have blind spots for different parts of the house I guess. We ...

Father's Day and Grandpa Birthdays Up at the Cottage

This summer we were making sure to get up to the cottage as often as we could. Even when I had a shoot out of state before Father's Day. While Scott was still in Illinois, the kids and I drove to the cottage on Thursday evening. Scott would be flying in to Rhinelander Friday morning and we'd pick him up there. My dad suggested we go out for breakfast before picking him up. We dried out R&T's "not so" Dinky Diner. I wish I could have went to their old location but this was a nice restaurant. They had games and a play area for little kids. I thought we'd just pick up Scott at the entrance when my dad said we should park and go in. I didn't think in 2026 that you could still meet people at the gate. I flew into Rhinelander since I didn't want to miss Father's Day up at the cottage. To my surprise, Mr. Mike, Brooke and Theo met me in the tiny terminal. On the way back we checked out my new billboard for the Three Lakes Area visitors bureau. As ...

Search This Blog