Wisconsin Trip

We had a great trip to Wisconsin to visit the Chryst family. The Chrysts are our friends who live in Racine and are Lena's godparents. We stayed with them for a whole week (like we did last September). Lena had a fun time playing with the girls (Bailey, 7; Helena, 5; and Morgan, 2 1/2), I had fun shopping and attending a Pampered Chef show with Brenda (she's a consultant), and Jim had fun at a pastors' retreat nearby.

Here are some pics.

On Monday, while Jim was at the retreat, the girls, Tom, and I spent most of the day outside. It was really warm and sunny. Lena enjoyed this cute little playhouse the Chrysts have in their backyard.

Swinging. That's Morgan on the left and Helena on the right.

Bailey convinced Tom to get the sprinkler out. The water was cold, but she and Morgan had fun running through it.

Then Tom dragged out the kiddie pool. I wasn't sure if Lena would be interested or not, but she went right up to it and stuck her foot in.

Helena doing what she does best: being a goof.

Lena and Morgan playing together nicely in the pool.

Adorable green bathing suit that Mama has been dying to see her in. It rained so much that she never got to wear it when we were in South Carolina.

She really liked sitting in the chair and kicking her feet in the water.

I have no idea what this pose is. :) I have found that terry cloth cover-ups work better on squirmy toddlers than towels.

She really liked this chair for some reason. She sat in it for a really long time.

That evening we took a walk and met some of Tom and Brenda's neighbors. They have kids too, so all of the kids were playing together in their yard. Lena liked sitting in this car and "talking" to Declan.

Eating a blue popsicle in the driveway. Even with a bib, what a mess!

Lena the street sweepeer watching Tom, Helena, and Bailey play frisbee. I have no idea why she was carrying a broom around.

Helena wanted me to take her picture with her baby.

On Thursday we all went to the Racine Zoo. It was Lena's first time at a zoo.

She gets a great view from Daddy's shoulders.

Miss Morgan Sassypants.

Daddy showing Lena the African Watusi Catte. (They look like Texas Longhorns, but the horns are even longer.)

Tom and Morgan.

The zoo is right next to the lakeshore.

Lena hamming it up on the little stage area they have at the zoo.

Checking out the meerkats.

"Don't drop her!"

This is the peacock I almost killed. It was begging for food so I thought I would be nice and give it a saltine cracker. I thought it would be able to break it up and eat it. Nope. He tried to eat it whole. I was afraid he was going to choke on it so I stole it back from him and broke it up into small pieces and he ate it that way. I think Brenda got a pic of me giving him the cracker.

Looking for the lions.

The zoo has a bird aviary filled with parakeets. For $2 you can buy a stick with bird seed on the end of it. The birds flock to you when you have that thing in your hand. Lena wasn't too sure about them.

She did touch it briefly. It was so funny.

Bailey and Helena got to do it too.

This bird whispered something into Jim's ear. :)

Lena was totally worn out by the time we left. She loved her first visit to a zoo.

Hanging out with the girls.

Relaxing on the couch with Bailey. Clutching another broom. What is it with this girl and brooms? Well, it should come in handy around the house when she's older!

Lena got pretty comfortable around the dog, Kiwi, while we were there. She has always been scared of dogs, and Kiwi barks a lot, so we were surprised that she liked her so much. Everytime Kiwi walked past her, she said "Puppy!" over and over again. Then she even started petting her.

Jim had fun playing "Guitar Hero" on the Wii. He was doing pretty well on it by the time we left. You know he's really concentrating when he's got his tongue sticking out like that.

The girls in front of the fireplace. Helena, Lena, Bailey, and Morgan in their Sunday best (it was just before church.)

Thanks so much to the Chrysts for letting come stay in your house for a whole week. It made for a really nice vacation!