Weekend in Wisconsin Dells

Jason was in Minneapolis Wednesday and Thursday for work training. Ryan and I met him 1/2 way home on Friday in the Dells for a long weekend.

Typical Kim, I waited until the last minute to book a hotel room and we ended up staying at the Atlantis in a 'Mermaid Suite.' The decor was of course, Mermaids, and the room was complete with a large seashell headboard, jacuzzi tub and cheesey blue star lights above the tub and the bed. The pools were great for Ryan though - two were perfect height for him to be able to walk around along the wall.

I really intended to avoid the tourist-trap antique pictures, but when I saw that they had a 'vintage baseball' scene, I couldn't resist. The picture lady wanted us to be true vintage and show our serious faces, but Ryan gave such a great smile, that we couldn't resist choosing this pose.

We tried to get a good view of what used to be Lake Delton, but it was difficult. The main road to the Lake was washed away with the water and other access points have all been blocked with orange police tape. One of the locals told me that it's a $600 fine if you cross those lines. She also told me that they've definitely noticed a reduction in business compared to previous summers.

All in all, it was a nice weekend getaway.

Jason's 31st Birthday

Jason turned 31 today! I can give him a hard time because I'm still in my 20's for the next 7 months!
We walked downtown Naperville (from John/Cathy's) last night to eat at Lou Malnati's. Good choice, Jason! Then we opened gifts this morning before he was off to Minnesota for training for work.

Cousin's playdate at the sprayground

I'm on vacation this week (whoo hoo!!), so Ryan and I are on the go. On Monday we went to the sprayground in Geneva with 'the cousins.' We had a great time!...especially because we don't usually get to participate.

Here's my poor attempt to get a picture of all 5 kids - Jack (blue hat), Abby, Ayden, Matt (red hat), Ryan (crawling away).

Aunt Amy with her boys - Jack & Matt.

Ryan loves the water! It'll be better when he can walk and get around by himself.

Jack learns to maneuver the water gun so he could get the bigger kid that kept shooting him.

Illinois State Fair

Ryan and I went to Springfield to visit my parents and to see the State Fair. For those of you 'north of 80', the Illinois State Fair is held in Springfield, which is also the capital of Illinois :)

My Dad won 1st place in the professional art exhibit and was one of several artists asked to showcase all of his work in the Artisian Building and to be present to speak with fair-goers. He'll be there all 10 days of the fair.

My Mom, Ryan and I saw many other things - Butter Cow, wine tasting, Ryan was fingerprinted (digitally), cows, horses, sheep, pigs. But mostly we ate.....cream puff. corn dogs, fries w/ vinegar, funnel cake, lemonade shakeup. Ryan ate a whole corn dog and loved the other stuff too!

I hadn't been to the fair since the last year I worked in the Dairy Building, so it was interesting to see what was still the same, and what was new.