Day Six - Keeping it Low Key

We contemplated going somewhere again today, but we decided to just stay in town and enjoy our last day at the house. It was the hottest day of the week, so we took out the kayak and all got in the lake, finally. It's been looking much better since earlier in the week--we've had some windy/choppy days to freshen things up and, most importantly, the dead fish is gone. :)

We had to run out for a few things this morning and stopped at the playground one last time while we were out:

 Bye bye, play!

We tried for a nap after lunch, but Lewis wasn't having it. Instead, we had a dance party:

 

 :)

Lewis' favorite album from the house's CD selection is Paul Simon's Graceland, specifically The Boy in the Bubble.

Kayaking time:

 

 

 Look out, Lew is behind the controls. :)

 Hang ten, little dude.

He pulled most of the rafts and floats out of the storage shed and insisted on trying each one. I think the surfboard was a favorite because it was the most stable for him.

 

Fishing with Dada

That was short-lived because he just wanted to figure out how to pull the bobber (ball!) off the line. He liked watching us cast, but otherwise he was trying to break it.

After our lake time, we tried nap again and were successful (hooray!). The car is mostly loaded and house is mostly cleaned, so tomorrow we'll start the trip south. We are spending the day/night in Milwaukee before heading home, so we're looking forward to checking out the city, a Brewers game, some brews, and some final Wisconsin cheese curds. :)

Day Five - Back to the Beach

We decided to go to the beach again yesterday and wanted to make a day of it this time (playground, hiking, picnic, etc. in addition to beach time). We looked into other parks, and we ended up choosing to go back to the park from the other day. It was the nearest to us and was warmer than another park we considered. So, we loaded up the car and headed back to Kohler-Andrae State Park for the day.

First stop, the playground:

 Lewis hit the ground running (he's in the blue shirt)

 

The slides were the tallest and fastest we've seen!

Lewis was flying down and plopping into the sand below. He loved it.

Next, we took a hike:

 Lewis, reading the signs to us

His reading voice sounds a little like Bill Cosby. :)

 :)

 Cool, gnarly tree

A perfect spot for a picnic

Lew sat still to eat for about 10 minutes, and then he was ready to go play some more on the playground. Then it was time for the beach:

 Surfing on his 'boat'

 He wanted us to take off his floatie, shirt, shorts, etc. We drew the line at his shorts. It was such a beautiful day when the sun was out, but when it went behind a cloud, it was kind of chilly. Lew had goosebumps when he was in the water, but he seemed pretty unphased.

 Building sandcastles

 

Whoops! (as Lewis would say)

He and Kevin walked down the beach a few times, and Lewis would come running back. On one of the occasions, he happened to bite it right as I was taking the picture. :)

 I was trying to take a nap...

He kept coming over to pry my head up off the sand and would sit very close to me. :) No nap for Mama.

 Lewis' Epic Car Nap

He never has been one to nap in the car, but yesterday he slept for over 2 hours on the way home. He had a full day of fun, AND he'd woken up at 4:30am WI time (5:30am KY time) yesterday morning (ouch). [Hence, the reason I was trying to catch a nap on the beach.]

We took the long way home and visited the other state park we'd been considering, just out of curiosity (it was sort of on the way). The park was much smaller (mostly a campground) and no one was at the beach there! We feel we made a good choice going back to the same one we'd had a good time at the other day. Another fun day!

Day Four - The Building for Kids (Appleton) and Back to Menominee Park for a Train Ride

Yesterday and today were the coolest days of the week, so we planned non-water activities. We woke up this morning to a very chilly house--the owner mentioned turning the heat on or lighting the wood stove when we arrived, but I didn't think we'd actually need to. :) The news said some areas woke up in the 30s this morning (we were in the 40s). It's supposed to start warming up again tomorrow (Thursday).

 Started off the day snuggling with Dada, watching videos from yesterday at the amusement park

We shopped a little in Oshkosh this morning and then headed up to Appleton (about 30 minutes away) for lunch at a place Kevin wanted to check out, Stone Cellar Brewpub.

Kevin and his flight of beer samples

I had a pint of their vanilla stout which was good. I tasted a few of his, too--they had a blueberry wheat which I liked, and their root beer was really good.

After lunch, we headed to The Building for Kids Children's Museum in Appleton. It was, again, free with our Science Center membership (best investment ever!), and it ended up being a pretty great place for Lewis. There were some Y campers kind of running the place at first, but there were a lot of age-appropriate activities that Lewis enjoyed. They had a water table area that he ran into for a few minutes, but then he left to explore other areas (we were kind or relieved because I hadn't brought a change of clothes in with us). :) I forget how long we were there--somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, and I'd say Lewis spent 75% of that time running from exhibit to exhibit. 

Balls!

They had baskets and tubes and all sorts of other obstacles for the balls to make their way through. 

 Vegetable steps and stage

A tomato slide 

We've seen a billboard for an event coming up in September that I thought Lewis would like--something to do with a quarry, rocks, and an excavator. Lucky us, they were doing a sneak peek at the children's museum this week:

 Digging for treasures

This little boy was not a fan of Lewis.

Lew was scooping rocks into the boy's bucket, which annoyed him. We got Lewis his own bucket, which he put a few scoops into. Then he went back to filling the other kid's bucket. I was dying on the inside :) 

 Fire truck!

(Lew is in the passenger seat.)

 :)

I was cracking up here, too...the same kid from the quarry area was washing this car, and Lewis hopped in the back seat and started smiling at him. :)

Lew fell asleep for about 20 minutes on the way back, but that was just enough to make him not nap once we got home. We hung at the house for a bit and then headed out for a couple more stops:

 Cookie Monster

We went to a shop that had over 20 kinds of cookies and let Lewis pick one--he chose the iced sugar cookie with blue sugar sprinkles. :)

We then headed back to Menominee Park to ride the train there. When we were there the other day (so early in the morning), the train wasn't open yet. Today we got there just in time to catch the last ride of the day and had the train all to ourselves:

 Lewis is ready!

 

Our sweet boy

Since we were right next to the awesome playground from the other day, we headed back there for a little bit before dinner:

 Ti-ters (as Lewis would say)

Neat wooden head (with a Lewis Pete leaning out of the mouth)

So that was today! Tomorrow we're heading out for another beach day since it's supposed to get up to near 80 degrees. We picked up some sand toys and a 'boat' (float), so we're prepared this time. :)

Day Three - Bay Beach Amusement Park and a Bonfire

Today we headed up to Green Bay to the Bay Beach Amusement Park. It's an old (like 1892, old) amusement park right on the water, and it was great! Ride tickets were only 25 cents each, and most rides (of Lewis' level) were only 1 ticket. We had a hard time using our $5 in tickets (I think we left with a couple still in hand), and we had a really good time. It was about an hour drive each way (a little longer on the way there because of road construction).

 Dada and Lew on the train

 Wishful little buddy

He really wanted to ride the bumper cars, but this was one ride he wasn't tall enough to ride.

 Ride horsey!

We did have to pay an extra $2 for a pony ride, but it was well worth it. He totally loved it. 

 Race cars

 Riding the big slide in a potato sack with Dada

 He was so happy flying and shooting the gun on the planes.

And was sad another minute. :)

Luckily his tears lasted less than a lap--I think he looked down at the highest point in the ride and it spooked him. He was fine the rest of the time and rode it a few times after that.

Here he was on one of the other turns. :)

 

Hiiiiiii!!

The evolution of the boat ride:

Ride #1: Really wanted to ride the boats! Tried to climb under the fence while we were waiting in line, but would not get in the boat once it was his turn.

 

Ride #2: Got in the boat, but climbed out before the ride started.

Ride #3: Was pretty happy, sitting with two older girls who were kind of over it. :)

 

Ride #4: LOVED IT!!

 Ride #5: aka The Time Where He Started in the Back Seat and Climbed up to the Front Seat While the Ride was Going...

Lewis was happy as can be, but the kid sitting next to him seemed pretty annoyed. :) I tried to tell him to sit down, but he climbed up and over with ease (the boats were the only ride without lap belts on them).

It was a great park! And today's weather reminded me of a perfect fall day back home--sunny, but cool (even chilly at times). I loved it.

Before leaving town, we had to make one last stop:

 Lambeau Field

Back at the house this evening, we grilled out and had a bonfire:

 Rolling out the firewood

 Throwing some wood on the fire

 :)

Me, trying to take a picture of Lewis The Blur, lounging in his lawnchair 

:) Though he's washed out, his hair cracks me up. It was blowing in the wind as he ran around the yard. :)