Wisconsin 2012 part one

Ahhhh. . . . my happy place. 

You know that old exercise where they tell you to close your eyes and imagine your favorite place in the world? A place where you feel peace? A place where you feel like yourself? Well for me, this is the place. 

Sadly, Simon had to work and couldn't come with but we were on a mission. The kids and I hopped a 4 hour flight to Chicago, followed by a 7 hour drive up to the cabin. The travel was long, but boy was it worth it. 

The flight

The colors. There's just nothing like it. It is breathtaking.

A special weenie roast with the whole family down at "Bill's Pit."

 

Lucy, Henry, and I made this very special faerie tee pee while we were there. Lucy dragged the sticks out of the nearby woods and I carefully placed them. Lucy decided she was the "wooder" and I was the "puter." We spent a lot of time on this little house, but I think the faeries were pleased.

When bad pirates attack good kids. . .

When bad pirates attack good kids. . . 

. . .it looks like this:

http://youtu.be/IxLuVCYPeYM

Happy 5th Birthday Lucy Christine!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY LUCY!

The temperatures were predicting triple digits so we traded in our bounce house for a waterslide for Lucy's Peter Pan party. We splashed and laughed and played. . . all to celebrate a very special 5 year old.

We paused to read a story . . . only to be interrupted by a gang of very familiar pirates who brutally attacked with water balloons and herded the kids to the front yard.

Pinata time!

Presents

The cake! My mom did it again with a double whammy rainbow cake!

Papa was a willing model for the impromtu beauty salon that sprung up in Lucy's bedroom

The fiercest pirate of them all!

Cousin love!

Thanks to everyone for making it such a great day!

“You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan