Wow, can't believe we're already back in AZ, our trip went WAY to fast!
Enjoy the AV smörgåsbord:Our vacation started on Friday by both of us getting off of work a bit early, picking Ro up from daycare then hitting the pool since it was 110°F. Then we packed up the dogs and headed over to Sasha's to drop the dogs off for the week, THANK YOU Sasha! We had Indian for dinner then enjoyed some wine and old school Karate Kid (wow, hadn't seen that in almost 20 years!) before crashing for a few hours. Sasha dropped us off at the airport at 5am and we were on our way!
Despite an extended layover in Chicago due to some thunderstorms, we were ready to go when we landed in Green Bay. We were greeted by an AWESOME welcoming crowd, complete with posters! It was so nice to see Larry, Deb, Jen, Taylor, Kaylee, Chris, Shell, and Jackson, we definitely had the biggest group waiting for our plane! Once we got back to Chris, Shell, and Jackson's we got a tour of their beautiful home (seriously jealous of ALL the space) complete with decorations for Larry & Deb's 40th Anniversary. After the tour we hit the backyard for some outdoor time and to wear the kids out, we succeeded, but only temporarily. We then enjoyed a wonderful meal put together by everyone but us:) It was delicious! We prepared some "accessories" for the honorees and then made them wear them while we watched a slide show of pictures over the last 40 years, there were some fantastic pictures! We completed the evening with lots of running around by the kids, s'mores by the fireplace, wonderful cake, and IOWA football.
Sunday we got up, had breakfast courtesy of Deb (mmm--monkey bread and breakfast casserole), and hung out with Jen and the girls before they headed back to IA. Shell, Mike & I went on a quick 6.4 mile run before the Packer game, it was a beautiful 65°F fall day and a great run, can't wait for more weather like that here in AZ. Our friends Pete & Beth Fritz drove up from Milwaukee to watch the Packer game, it was really great to see them and the next time we see them there will be another Fritz Packer Fan! The rest of the day was spent running around inside and outside as long as the mosquitoes would leave us alone, definitely don't miss that!!!
Monday, Jackson went to daycare and Chris had to work, so Shell, Mike, and I hit they YMCA for some weightlifting while Rohan enjoyed the kiddie play area. After the Y we headed over to Amherst to have lunch with my family. Shell, Larry, and Deb joined the Bacon crew of Dan, Holly, Roger, John, Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, and of course us! We can't forget Lucy, she seemed to remember us and didn't hold a grudge against Rohan. We had another wonderful meal and Rohan got a chance to get reacquainted with the Bacons. We even took him to the Farm to see the calves/cows, climb on the tractors, trucks, and anything else he could get a hold of. We headed back to Appleton to hit the mall with Chris and Jackson before meeting up with Larry & Deb for Jimmy Johns! Rohan took his first nap in 3 days--a whole 20 minutes on the way to Green Bay.
Tuesday Jackson stayed home from daycare so we could head up to Door County and get the boys some more outside time. They had a blast at the Dunes in Sturgeon Bay, Rohan's first time playing in Lake Michigan. We found sand EVERYWHERE, should have taken a picture of the tub after the boys were done with it! After "the waves" as Jackson calls it we decided to grab some lunch, unfortunately PC Junction was closed, next time. We ended up in Egg Harbor at Shipwrecked, a micro-brewery/diner with a naked Mermaid that kept Jackson's attention for quite a while. Rohan was so exhausted from the waves that he slept through most of lunch but woke up in time to have a picnic of leftovers at a little park on the water in Egg Harbor. Then we headed to a coffee place and in search of an apple orchard, we had success in finding coffee, not so much on the orchard, oh well, we had fun looking for one:) We got back to Green Bay in time for Jackson to go to swim lessons, Shell got a workout in, Mike & I did a 9.5 mile run, while Chris & Rohan watched Jackson swim. Thanks for watching him Chris, we had a great run and the swarms of mosquito's encouraged us to keep moving and not slow down for long!
Wednesday we woke up to a very sick Jackson, he had Strep throat and felt/looked miserable. Shell was able to get him into the doctor but he pretty much slept the day away. Larry & Deb came up to Green Bay and picked up Mike, Ro, & I to hit an apple orchard and petting zoo. Rohan enjoyed all of that but I think the highlight of the morning was being able to go on a real school bus, he loved it, and the driver even let him sit in the drivers seat! We picked up pumpkins to carve but Jackson slept the rest of the afternoon and Rohan ended up taking a nearly 3 hour nap too, so we didn't get to them. Thankfully the antibiotics and Tylenol/ibuprofen had kicked in and Jackson woke up from his nap feeling much better, just in time to go to the NEW Zoo, free on Wednesdays from 4-6pm! We all loved the zoo, it was awesome that we could feed the giraffes, Rohan wasn't so sure that was a good idea. Ro also tried very hard to get as close to the animals as possible, even going so far as to put his head through the railing and briefly getting it stuck on his ears. He was NOT happy! Jackson did great at the Zoo especially considering how crappy he had been feeling. When we got back from the zoo Larry & Deb volunteered to watch the boys so we all could go to the gym. Mike & Chris played a mean game of racquetball while Shell & I did some weights, cardio, then a 45 minute pilates class, it was awesome!! Mike & I even did a cool down run on the 2 miles back to Chris & Shells. I think we all slept well that night.
Thursday Shell had a work meeting in Peewaukee and we tagged along, dropped her off, and went to see some old familiar sights and to visit some good friends in Milwaukee. We, of course, headed right down to Alterra and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some breakfast out on their patio, it was another beautiful day, although a bit mugger than we are currently used to. We had some time to kill so we walked down to the docks to admire the yachts and Rohan had the chance to climb in and check out a firetruck, he loved it! Then we met up with Mike's old boss and some co-workers from MCW, it was great to see Nikki, Crawford, Tina, Christy, PJ, and Paul and to enjoy some delicious Indian food and one of our old favorites. After lunch we grabbed a quick treat at City Market and met up with some of our old co-workers from the BRI (where we met 8 years ago!), I haven't been back in 3 years and it was great catching up with Corbett, Hope, Brad, and Shawn. They were all excited to see Rohan, but he was exhausted and insisted on sleeping through our visit:) After all of our running we made it back in time to pick up Shell and her co-worker just as their meeting ended. We grabbed Jimmy Johns on the way home and spent the evening relaxing and letting the boys chase each other around.
Friday, Chris & Shell let us borrow their car and we headed back over to Amherst to stay at my parents with my sister and her family for a couple days. It was so awesome, when we got there, Sam came running out of the house, ran up to Rohan and gave him such a big hug his feet came off the ground! Too bad none of us got that on video! It was extremely windy (gusts to 40mph) and drizzly most of the day but we played outside with the boys, went down to see the cows and equipment and Mike & I even squeezed in a short 4 mile run in the hills with the wind/rain. It was a fun run, especially since it isn't weather we deal with much these days:) When the boys got up from their naps we ran into Waupaca to go to a park with lots of water, it was quite the challenge keeping the boys out of the water, including Mike! Then we picked up some supplies for a family get together that was to include a bonfire, but concerns over the Bacon's and their pyro side we decided to hold off with the high winds. It was really great to see more family and to watch Rohan interact with everyone, he is one super-social child! We had a lot of fun trying to perfect our indoor s'mores making via the microwave or directly over the flat top stove, mom wasn't a huge fan of the stove's use:) I think Rohan, Sam & Wyatt ran at least a mile worth of laps around my parents house, so fun to watch them chase and squeal!
Saturday involved more outside play, another trip to the farm and a visit to the cows/equipment. By the third visit Rohan was running at the cows and trying to touch them, he really warmed up to them, the cows were curious about him but wouldn't let him get to close. We were glad he had a chance to see some more animals. We had plans to visit JR's Petting Zoo in Waupaca, but it turns out I can't read and didn't realize Hours: 9-5 MD-LD meant they were closed Labor Day to Memorial Day, I am bit slow:) They offered to let us look at a few deer but we opted to head over to Turner's Market and do their Corn Maze. It was a lot of fun, not only is it a maze, they have a question/answer game that you have to find all of the stations for. Rohan once again, couldn't contain his excitement and fell asleep on Grandpa and was then transferred between Grandma/pa for the rest of the maze(don't think they minded). Sam had a great time leading us through and was quick to point out if we hit a dead end! After a lunch of Chinese we headed home where the big boys enjoyed some college football and we played outside some more, even had snack time outside. All 3 boys loved all the outdoor time! The wind died down enough in the evening that we could have a bonfire complete with s'mores and wine! I love a good bonfire on a chilly fall evening!
Sunday morning we got up early and packed up everything to head to Appleton and meet up with some of Mike's extended family that were in town for the weekend. We had a great breakfast and caught up, if briefly, with all of them. After breakfast we took Rohan to the VFW Legion nearby since they have 2 tanks, a WWII aircraft, and 2 giant anchors. He LOVED them and loved playing on them! We met up with Chris, Shell, and Jackson and went for coffee and to another great park. The boys and the rest of us had a blast climbing, running, playing on all of the equipment. When we got back to Larry & Deb's we took the boys over to play on all the diggers, bulldozers, and dump trucks. I think they had almost as much fun as Mike:) We enjoyed a dinner of salad and pizza, watched some football, and let the boys play until it was time to head to the airport.
We got back to PHX at about 1030pm Sunday and were home, passed out in bed by 1130pm. Rohan, unfortunately is on Central time still and got up at 4am ready for breakfast, I woke up to him sitting in his high chair, trying to get the tray attached:) Mike woke to a temp of 102°F and whopping case of Strep throat complete with exhaustion and body aches! We heard Chris is also a confirmed Strep victim, lets hope the rest of us are able to avoid that!
We had a wonderful, but too short, visit! Thank you to all for taking the time to see we really appreciate being able to see so many people in such a short amount of time! Thanks again to The Stokes & The Bacons for their hospitality! We really look forward to seeing family & friends, anyone is welcome to come to AZ anytime:)
Our Time with The Bacon/Aho Families:
Our time with the Syring & Stokes Clans (including the night before we left):
AND NOW FOR THE VIDEO PORTION OF OUR SMÖRGÅSBORD!
If you want to see ALL the videos (we had almost 50!), goto my YouTube Channel.
Rolling Down The Hill
The Happy Couple Cut The Cake
Jackson Giving Rohan A Trike Tour
Rohan & Jackson Beat Back The Waves
Rohan The Bus Drivin' Man
Rohan & his giraffe friend
Lions Playing
Climbing on rice bags at the Indian market
Imagine 2hrs of this going to Milwaukee
Finally getting tired of it
Rohan & Sam Drive The Cart
Rohan, Sam & Wyatt Running Laps
Strongbaby
Superstar Michelle
Rohan & Jackson Being Boys
Rohan Knocks 'em Down
