August 2016 - Birthdays, Growing Kiddos, and Another Boys Trip

Wow, what a month!  We had a ton of fun this month, and there is a lot worth sharing, so here goes:

Forrest and I managed to fit in a trip to the Peoria Zoo and Emo's Ice Cream one sunny day when I was off work.  It was a good time, the Kid Wonder was really excited to see some snakes and was willing to pose for me on his turtle :D

Meanwhile Letty Bean keeps growing. She has joined us at the dinner table now, she really enjoys the communal time, and all the new flavors to try.  She's an adventurous eater so far, lets hope she keeps it up.  No matter what, gotta love that face.

Its not the greatest pic, but it is worth sharing.  Forrest had a fun birthday party at Gigi's house, complete with some time spent with Great-Grandpa Joe.  Its always good to see Forrest connecting with his family.

Happy Birthday Cupcake!

Little Letty is growing in other ways too.  Here she can be seen clapping her hands, her new favorite trick to charm all the adults in her life.

In Non-family news, I had what may be a final trip to the cabin for the year.  After we bought the place last year we were informed by our home insurance company that we would have to get a railing put on our deck.  It was a bit of a bummer, as we loved that view!  The construction was done by my cousin Jacob, who both put a new flooring down on the deck and put up the railing (pictures later).  Here are some photos documenting our trip:

First off is a picture of me with my best friend Mark.  Mark and I have been buds now for over 13 years.  Wow, that seems like a long time.  He has taught me much.  And in addition to being a best friend, he is the best business partner I could ask for.  Through his monumental efforts, Titan Games has grown to a roaring success.  Why this picture among the northwoods trips?  Because Mark came with of course!  This was his 3rd trip.

Mark was kind enough to indefinitely loan us his canoe so we finally have some watercraft on the lake.  Felt like some classic Americana vacationing tying it to the top of the SUV.

My friend Wes also made the trip up.  He and I are the early risers among the men at the cabin.  Morning swims in the lake followed by coffee were an everyday occurrence.  Wes managed to get some yoga done as well.  I passed on that part.

I tried to make sure everyone was well fed.  Breakfast time!  Thanks again to Grandma Grogg for hosting us a few times as well for all we can eat pancakes at her place!

In addition to the work on the deck, and morning lounging we also found time to go hiking at Amnicon State Park - this place is awesome.  The hikes are easy if you stick to the trail, and moderate if you veer off.  There are some great swimming holes as well.

Wes and I braved Snake Pit Falls - seen here.  I even took a leap into the pool below.  Wes declined (feel free to comment/ridicule below).

We managed to make it out to the Gordon Range.  It was a great trip, and we zeroed the Scar 17H out to 200 yards.  Still working on hitting that 300 yard target.  Wes and Mark hadn't fired a rifle that big before, it was a great experience.

Of course we can't forget the purpose of the trip.  Jake did (by far) the most work on the deck.  We assisted when he needed it but the credit goes to him.  It looks great, and the composite deck covering will keep us splinter free for many years.  And as Jake would put it: "That looks like some HGTV s*** right there!"

The car was packed, and we were headed home when we stopped to take an end of the trip selfie.  2016 was a great year to own a lake home.  I am glad that I got to enjoy it with my family, with Forrest on our Father-Son trip, and twice with my friends.  By the end of the trip though I was ready to be home.  I missed my children and they missed me.  Its hard to leave them for more than an evening.  Not only does my heart ache when I am away, but it is unfair to put Mandi in that position too often - these two kids are a ton of work.  My genuine thanks to her for going solo on the parent front for those 6 days while we worked, played, and traveled.  You're the best, Chinch.

Leaving paradise is tough, but its much easier when you're coming back to these two ;)

And the best wife/mother-of-my-children that I could ask for.

And puzzle time with the Kid Wonder.

:)

Stay Healthy!

The Big Lake Trip - 2016

Aaaand we're back!  The big family vacation for 2016 has now come and gone.  Our pilgrimage to the Lake House was a LOT of fun.  We discovered some new things, and found comfort in the familiar.  We swam, we sunned, we enjoyed great company, wonderful food, and time together.  Take a look:

On our first days we had some stellar weather, which led to lots of beach time. Thank you again to Letty for being such a gracious host.

Grandma had a great time at the beach, and playing with her namesake Little Letty Bean.  Bean was a real trooper on this trip. She did about as well as a 7 month old could be expected to do.  She also handled the change in routine like a champ.  I think she would say that the trip was worth the trouble - she sure seemed to enjoy watching everyone playing in the water, and even getting some splashing done herself.  

Morning swims are the ONLY way to greet the day.  Our house faces the East, and so the sun greets us early every day, reminding us to get up, get out, and have fun!

Forrest continued his tradition of building Dino Depots.  His nostalgia over the green Sinclair (tm) Dino makes me chuckle.  He gets it second hand from my nostalgia of the Dino, courtesy of my Grandfather's nostalgia of the Dino.   

One of our best discoveries this trip was Duluth MN!  For those who saw my posts from June, you may recall that Forrest and I went to Canal Park before picking up my sister Sarah from the airport.  While there, I had noticed that Canal Park had a few local eateries, shops, and curiosities.  It has long been a tradition that on sub-par weather days our family has trekked over to Hayward WI.  And don't get me wrong, Hayward is a great town.  Tremblays is hard to top.  But for the past few years Hayward has always been so crowded as to be somewhat less than enjoyable.

Duluth on the other hand was gorgeous.  We went on a sunny but cooler morning (forecast in the mid 60's).  When we arrived it was 65 F, and before an hour was up it was 72 F.  We shed our jackets and sweatshirts and hiked around the Canal Park district.  This place was amazing!  Not only does Duluth boast larger and more numerous small shops than Hayward, but it also has some awesome restaurants.  We went to Grandma's Restaurant, and made a stop at the Amazing Grace Bakery.  They also had a Vietnamese joint, several Italian spots, and even a Sushi bar!

All of this, with views of the largest body of fresh water in the world - lighthouse included.  I can't say enough to my family, skip Hayward.  Take an extra 15 minutes in the car and head to Duluth.  Stop at Amnicon on your way home.

We got to spend some time with my sister Betsy, her friend Renee, and her daughter Ava.  Forrest found a fast friend in Ava, and they had a lot of fun together.  Above you see them departing for their "Safari" to the channel that connects the lake we spent our time on with a neighboring lake.  They saw Lions, Tigers, Bears, Foxes, and of course, Snakes!  (disclaimer, they saw none of these things).

Forrest got the hang of swimming in his life jacket thanks to some encouragement and teaching from his big cousin.  Thanks Ava!

Bean and I took a more "R&R" approach to our fun :D

Forrest had been practicing burying my feet in the sand.  BONUS: when I remove my feet it makes for a really handy Stegosaurus cave.

Here The Kid can be seen braving it off of our dock on Whitefish.  We don't have a beach exactly, but that doesn't mean I can't create our little slice of paradise with a few towels and a beach chair. 

Father/Son selfie!

And of course, our summer tradition, the Departure Photo.  Grandma has a bench out front where we gather for a picture of the crew with the Grandparents.  This year was bittersweet.  Grandpa's absence was palpable.  This picture, for as many years as we have been doing it, included him, but not this year.  But, we must first count or blessings.  The trip was wonderful and the chance to visit with Grandma is priceless.  Grandpa would have wanted it that way!

July 2016 - More Summer Fun!

The summer fun continues at the Sawlaw household!  We are getting our new engineered hardwood floors installed this week in our Peoria home.  Mandi is thrilled.  I like them as much as I like any surface that I am going to walk all over :P

Since getting back from the Father/Son trip, I have really been enjoying some time with my best Girl:

Little Letty Bean came to visit me at work yesterday.  What a treat!  The nurses thought she was precious.  What a coincidence, so do I.  Managed to get a full on belly laugh going from her this week as well:

Big brother helped with that one as well.  The effect of popping open a pink Easter egg and the "BRPP" noise was just hilarious... to a 6 month old.

I mentioned last post that I didn't manage to grab a picture with my Grandmother on her 80th birthday.  I regret this, BUT, I did manage to get a fun video of her and Charlotte:

Thats all for today, it is a short post to make up for my longer one previously.  More to come once we get back from our next cabin trip - we leave on Saturday!

July 2016 - Father/Son Trip to the Cabin!

Wow, what a month.  And it isn't even over.  July 2016 started out with a TON of work.  One of the many perks of my job is that my hours are very flexible.  They are great about cramming the first part of a pay period with most of my 80 hours, allowing me to take minimal vacation time when we decide to hit the road.  And hit the road we did :)  Below are the Chronicles of Joshua and Forrest as we made our way across Illinois and the great state of Wisconsin!

Our first stop was Rockford IL.  We hit up the shopping mall to stretch our legs and grab a snack.  They had one of Forrest's favorites: Superman Ice Cream!  We also stopped at a cool toy store, where he got some new letter blocks

Our next stop was lunch in Madison WI at the Journey Buffet.  My good friend Mike made a drive over from Milwaukee to see us.  It was great to catch up with this wonderful man, who I don't get to see nearly as often as I like.  Mike, if you're reading this, I can't wait to get together again :)

Next stop was the Wisconsin Dells, home of the Dino Depot!  This is our preferred gas stop, as you may recall from a previous post.  I figure if you're going to have to stop for gas either way, might as well make it somewhere fun!  We also took a break to go spend some time at Knuckleheads.  Forrest was rearing to burn some pent up energy after 4.5 hours in the car.  I was happy to oblige.

The Boy Wonder loves that airplane ride.  He also enjoyed bouncing on a giant bounce balloon, and running around in an indoor playground.

Our last stop before Wascott was at his favorite restaurant: Texas Roadhouse in Eau Claire.  We had a great dinner before hitting the road for the final stretch up Highway 53.  Next stop, the Lake House!

Obligatory pic :)  Forrest and I were away for a total of 8 days.  EIGHT Days of Father/Son fun! A big thank you to Mommy for loaning me her favorite little man for that long.  Mandi had a tough time missing both of her best dudes, but we made the most of it despite a mixed bag weather wise.  We spent a lot of time at Grandmas house:

Forrest loves letters.  His new block letters and Scrabble kept him quite entertained during those rainy days that we had.  There was also plenty of sun and lake fun to be had!

Forrest also had a blast recreating the Dino Depot with the building materials available to him on the beach.  We burned a TON of energy on that Trampoline.

We also had a TON of fun with the Rebmans and Warrens while we were up there.  Thank you to Jill, Chris, Cori, Chris, Cauge, Cainan, and Caylor for sharing some of their vacation time with us :)  We managed to hit up Spooner and an old Grogg Family Tradition: Go Carts! (Forrest and I managed third place, narrowly losing out on 2nd to Cori Warren who passed us in our final lap!!!)

(Note, also a Grogg tradition, we DID get yelled at for bumping and running into the tires too much.  YOLO)

We also had a fun day trip to Duluth.  We had to go pick up my little sister Sarah (Aunt Sarah to Forrest).  She flew up to spend a few days with us.  While we were there, Forrest and I made a trip out to the breakwater and the Canal Park Lighthouse.  Duluth is a great town, and it was a fun trip.  Forrest even got to throw some rocks into the largest freshwater lake in the world. 

 There is something so perfect about a little boy chucking rocks into a lake.

Sarah had some great weather on day 1 of her visit.  She enjoyed the Pontoon boat, tubing, and trampoline fun with her nephew.  I didn't get as many pictures as I should have (still feel new to this even after a year) but here are some highlights:

Sarah also had a ton of fun on her trip to the range. She struggled on the revolver and the pistol, but was a natural with the .308!

And finally, a closing video, on our last day there Forrest had a ball playing "Snakes" with his Great Grandma.  Moments like this are precious, too precious not to share.

A special thank you to (Great) Grandma Letty Grogg for, as always, being such an amazing gracious host.  That woman is an absolute inspiration.  Hands down she is one of the best.  We love you Grandma!

Back to work now for the next week, then another family trip up.  Hopefully we will have more pictures and videos to post soon!