Mayberry of the North 2009

I will finally be caught up with pictures with this post! woo,hoo! Our usual trip north for the 4th of July was altered in a good way this year. We decided to go visit Pat's brother and family in Eau Claire before we headed further North to Pat's folks house and cabin. We had never visited them at their house since we got married and it was about time. I also had the idea that they were not far from Minnesota so the trip had to include a side visit to Minni Karen's neck of the woods.

We arrived in EC on Saturday and had some awesome hometown Pizza. Now, since we had all just seen each other in Mexico a mere 8 days prior, we didn't have a bunch of "catching up" to do so we ate some awesome food, and watched Wal-E (sp?) with Nick. We decided to meet up with Minni and fam at the Minneapolis zoo on Sunday. It was absolutely gorgeous weather...mid 70's/low 80's and we just had a great time.

Garrett and Nick had a fun time and kept us hopping and shaking our heads all day. They both have so much energy! Kaz warrior blood I suppose! It was so special to finally get our boys together! Can't wait to see them again, soon I hope!

We left Mike and Julie's on Monday morning and headed on up to Mayberry....funny thing was the temperatures were dropping as we drove. We had 40's and 50's for the first 3 days there....totally rocked. We had to adjust our schedules a bit but we adjusted. It did finally warm up to some good boating weather and usual fourth fun was had by all. Because of the chilly air, we saw an abundance of Movies. They were all good and we even took Nick to one...Up!...He talked a bunch but the theatre was pretty empty so we made it thru the whole movie. We also saw the Night at the Museum sequel, Transformers 2, and the Proposal. I was able to read 4 books as well. I love the slower pace of a small town. We had a little adjustment to our usual 4th proceedings and were able to spend part of the day with Pat's extended family/cousins at his cousin Jeff's house. They have a fabulous place on the lake (different lake than Pat's folks)and we enjoyed visiting with family we don't always get to see every year.


We returned home to KY on Monday after the 4th and collapsed exhausted from our Month long vacation/socializing extravaganza! It's great to have family and friends that you actually do want to visit and spend quality time with but I think we will try not to have that all occur in June next year! ha! Enjoy the slide show of Pics from Wisconsin.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I have been sick since the Monday we returned home with a mystery illness. Still have no diagnosis despite dr. visit, blood draws, and everyone's "opinions". So far, not swine flu, mono, or pregnant...could be just a viral "thing", long case of the normal flu, hep A, meningitis, beriberi, typhoid, or malaria....yeah, those last ones are from my parents...they are a little worried to say the least. So, I have had a 100-101 fever for almost 2 weeks and I am fed up! You cannot have a fever with a 5 year old. They don't really care and I just can't lay in bed cuz that's what I "feel" like doing so we have had playdates, bouncy place visits, and outings ...soooo don't tell me a fever put you to bed.....some of us don't get that luxury, being a mom is not for the faint of heart...although, I have felt like fainting. All I am saying is Nick has watched many, many shows this past two weeks. Luckily, he has spanish camp for the next two weeks so hopefully, I can mend and he cannot be bored out of his mind. He has been a trooper and so has Pat. I am glad my boys are there for me...I'm a lucky girl! It is one of those times you just want your mom though. She unfortunately has had her hands full with my dad who broke his tibial plateau (top part of your lower leg bone) after tripping over some carpet playing ping pong. Freak accident but a quick surgical repair and now he is mending well with really good Physical therapists by his side and my mom......lucky him!

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer and for us the unseasonably cool weather...no complaints from me especially since I am generating enough heat of my own. I will let you know what my final diagnosis was and I hope it doesn't require a "Dr. House" type doctor although I did enjoy the show in the early days.