July trip to Wisconsin

From Maryland, the kids and I sent Doug back to New Hampshire to write a grant proposal and we took off for Wisconsin. While we missed having Doug join us, we had a great time in Wisconsin and enjoyed time on Lake Superior, watching fireworks in Cable, canoeing down the river, visiting Great Grandpa, and having lots of small parties at Mom and Dad's house and Ray and Malu's house!

My new favorite picture... This is the background screen on my computer. Every time I open up my computer I smile and think of how much these two love each other. 

 One of Lily's two favorite places at Great Grandpa's house - her other favorite place is the candy drawer.

 Nicholas, Hael, and Donovan catching a ride from Great Grandpa.

 Party at Ray and Malu's, with Hael, Nicholas, Donovan, Neel, Grandpa, Grandma, and Lily.

 Funny faces from the great grandkids: Nicholas, Hael, Neel, Donovan, and Lily with Great Grandpa.

 Great Grandpa and his girl.

 Nicholas, Uncle Ray, and Neel - Looks like they are heading for some sort of trouble....

 The Donovans - with Aunt Sarah in the background.

 Aricca and Lily

 The Dums girls: Aricca, Lily, Grandma, Aunt Malu, and Aunt Sarah.

 A few too many marshmallow sticks: Lily, Neel, Nicholas, and Heal

 Fireworks at Grandma and Grandpa's house: Ray, Hael, and Grandpa

 Checking out the sewer vent on top of Grandma and Grandpa's house... I'm not sure why all four of the boys think this is SOOOO funny...

 Lily, Donovan, and Nicholas watching the Fourth of July parade in Cable with Aunt Kris, Uncle Ernie, and Grandma.

 Donovan and Sarah's new house is looking awesome. Just this weekend they got the roof on...

 Donovan has done an incredible job learning a new building style and making a beautiful building.

 Donovan

 Lily - sitting down on the job.

 Ready to head out on the boat.

 The toothless wonders: Neel and Nicholas had such a fantastic time together.

 Donovan passed out in Grandma's lap...I think this is the first nap he's taken in months.

 Fishing off the pier: Nicholas, Hael, Aunt Malu, Donovan, Neel, and Uncle Ray

 A trip down the Namekagon: Uncle Ray, Hael, Neel, Nicholas, and Aunt Malu

 Donovan and Uncle Chris (Lily was sitting at the front of the boat in front of me).

One of the most amusing and crazy Dums parties started off "normal" and ended with a dance party and sleep over. : ) While the Van Citters kids do lots of jumps and flips, Neel has awesome dance moves. Clearly he has learned/inherited some skills from his parents.

Lily demonstrating a dance somersault.

 Donovan - perhaps demonstrating a robot.

Nicholas demonstrating the high jump.

I wish I had thought to use the video feature of my camera to capture Neel's fancy moves.

 Nicholas, Neel, and Hael in the rafters (this is Nicholas' favorite place at Grandma and Grandpa's house).

 The sleepover gang: Nicholas, Donovan, Lily, and Neel.

Fascinating destruction of a tree caused by a lightning stike. Equally amazing were the gullies around the tree that were formed by the lightning.

 

 Nicholas and Donovan came home with small tackle boxes of lures given to them by Grandpa and Great Grandpa.

Lily's first haircut and style (including glitter hairspray)! She waited so patiently in the salon while Malu, Mom, and I got our hair cut - and was so happy to have her turn. : )

Grandma packing Nicholas, Lily, and Donovan all sorts of airplane treats.

As usual, the kids were amazing travelers. After lots of flight delays, and an emergency medical landing (for someone else) in Albany, we made it back a couple of hours after expected and were in our beds in New Hampshire as the sun started to rise in the East... Ugh!

For more pictures from Wisconsin, click here, or see the slideshow below.