First half of July

John enjoying Wisconsin life on the Chippewa River with coworkers.

Happy July 4th!  There aren't any parades but we did check out a festival at Carson Park.  It was a bit underwhelming so we went to a park and then had a campfire in the backyard.

Walking in the park on a trail

Silly Alec 

We went to Como Zoo in St Paul with MOMS Club friends.  It's a small free zoo and always fun.

The fun playground across the street.  This is a huge climbing hill and slide.

Riding the carousel of course

Jack was a little scared at first because his horse was so high.  I'm standing up.

Then they started getting poopy and didn't want to take a picture with their mommy.

They were out on the way back home.

We went to a Balloon & Ribs Festival with Heather, Ray, and Kayleigh in Wausau.  The ribs were good.  The kids enjoyed watching the balloons blow up and take off.  They were done before it was time to do the twilight glow.

The next day we went to Lake Emily and kayaked a little bit.  The kids just wanted to play in the sand though. 

It was shark week so Heather and Ray had all kinds of shark related crafts and food.

Picasso shark?

Then we took a tour of UW-Stevens Point.  We went to their natural history museum and saw all their taxidermy animals.  Here we are looking at a bunch of live reptiles in a huge room terrarium.

The next day, we went to an instrument petting zoo for kids.  It was put on by the music department.  They have a big Suzuki program.  Jack enjoyed playing the instruments but was a little impatient.  Alec *really* liked playing the instruments.  He seems a bit more musically inclined.

Then we went to a huge fun playground.  Alec is a little monkey.

Playing with Kayleigh's toys.