Our summer trip!

Mommy's first check-up with Dr. Ertel was first before making our way to Wisconsin. She was 9 weeks pregnant and got her first ultrasound this morning. Everything looked great and her due date remains at January 3rd!

Now, on with our summer trip!

We made a long weekend trip to the NW tip of Wisconsin a mini-vacation. We were going to Hudson, Wisconsin (about 20 miles from the Twin Cities/Minnesota state-line) for a HS graduation open house for our cousin, Taylor. On our way up, we stopped in Chicago for a late lunch at Giordano's for some awesome stuffed pizza....boy do mommy and daddy miss that! We also drove by their old house to see what had changed there.

Next, we stopped at Wisconsin Dells for a night of water park fun!!! It was a blast and we all loved it. Grammy, Gary and Great Uncle Jim were with us. I loved the water slides and was pretty brave. By the end of the night, I was going down the big tube slides and everything! There was so much fun stuff to see and do but we were there less than 24 hours. We will HAVE to go back and spend more time. This was about a 6 hour drive from Indy.

Welcome to Wisconsin sign

I got mommy to go down the tube slide with me after daddy and I tested it out first.

We were in the car a lot so that is where we took our naps!

 Friday night, we met our family at their house in Hudson after getting checked into our hotel. We played there for a little bit and went back to the hotel to swim in the pool before dinner. We were pooped and all went to bed at a decent hour.

We had another BIG day on Saturday! First, we went to the Mall of America that was less than a half hour away. It was pretty overwhelming and AWESOME!! I loved the amusement park portion and all of the rides. Vivi was too small for many of them but she really enjoyed the carousel and watching me! We only had about 4 hours to spend here but I don't think we would've lasted much longer than that anyway. The shopping looked great but there wasn't enough time (or energy) for that.

Daddy and Uncle Jim took me on the water log ride. So fun!!

Next, daddy and I went on the swings!! I think this was my favorite!

Good thing these things don't make daddy dizzy because mommy couldn't handle it!

The bumper cars ride was HILARIOUS!! I can't believe other kids deliberately try to run into you. I also can't understand how to go any direction other than in a circle!

We all enjoyed the carousel....especially Uncle Jim!

Vivi was pooped!

 We had to hurry from the mall to go straight to the open house. It was a beautiful summer day and the party was outside so that was perfect! Vivi carried Grammy's purse around that she was obsessed with. She didn't want to give it back to her...even when her phone was ringing inside.

They had a digger in the playground, so I dug me up some dirt!

Mommy with cousins Nick and Taylor (graduate)

More cousins - Alex, Andrea, mommy, Nick and Taylor

Grammy and Uncle Jim with their first cousin's Amy and Tom (daddy of graduate)

Great Grandma Susie's brother - Tom, Sr.

Relaxing at the hotel after a huge day

The drive home was very long but we made a special stop in the middle for lunch. We visited mommy's friend Melanie in Madison and saw their new house. Her kiddos Colin and Kate were awesome and even though I met them when I was younger a couple times, I didn't remember them. They had never met Vivi but played with us just the same. We didn't want to sit still for pizza because we had been cooped up. So, mommy and daddy enjoyed their lunch with Melanie (Doug was away on a trip) and catching up. They took our pizza to go and we were  hungry as soon as we got in the car. The stop was only about an hour long but it was a nice break.

Oh, and we decided that we need a bigger car before the baby arrives. The Jeep is just not going to cut it with three in the middle row. YIKES!!