Visits with friends...

How can you go to Green Bay without going to Bay Beach?

Especially with kids!

 We rode on the trains,

Had lots of giggles,

Went on all the kids rides 

and the big slide(I hiked those stairs too many times to count)

 Meg and I went on the 

 Zippin' Pippin'...scarier than I thought:)  

I only screamed for most of it.

I got a chance to see some friends who just happened to be in town

at the same time we got there...it worked out perfect.

It was so much fun catching up Stacy!  

Meeting everyone with their families is so much fun.

 I also got a chance to see Trisha and her beautiful boys.  

 Joey and the boys had a blast on the water slide!

 Megan and I made a trip to the Abby pond where 

our grandfather used to feed the ducks corn out of the shed.

It's so fun to see the wildlife and share the fond memories we had 

when we were kids.

We went for a barbecue to our friends new house.  

It was so much fun catching up...

it has been way too long!

Thanks Ashley and Greg for having us!

It was a blast.

The cousins came to Sparta!!!!

 We had such an excellent time with my sister and my nieces.

 My nieces were so impressed we lived in the forest.  

Coming from Florida, it would seem like it!

My wonderful sister braved flying with two children by herself to come and see us 

and I couldn't have been happier!

 We walked in the woods. 

 had campfires,

walked through tunnels, 

 had picnics,

 braved the tunnel on the way back,

 went swinging,

 had some dance parties,

 visited cows from a friends farm(for Floridains this is pretty cool)

 Speaking of cows...

 we had ice cream daily,

 and cheese curds,

 saw tractors on the rode,

 visited Ben Bikin'

 played at the parks,

 took in Oscar's first baseball game,

 watched him play mama's spot:)

 rode horses,

 thanks to my great friends,

the Florida family got to see almost everything

before heading to our next adventure.

It was so wonderful having her here in Sparta and that was just

the first part of the trip...

...to be continued.

The reveal...

for my dad. 

I love it!  

Thanks mom and dad!

My garden is growing...

 This year we planted a sunflower circle...

I'm hoping it works.

As you can see, 

we live in sand so I'm hoping they take root and grow.

 My peas are just starting to climb and I have beets,

radishes, onions and carrots in this garden bed.

 I have peppers, tomatoes, and a whole lot of basil in these boxes.

It's coming along good so far.

And I'm happy to have gotten some rain.

Fresh...

 Here is the glider that I just inherited from 

my mom and dad that was my grandparents. 

 It is my newest addition to my screen porch.

 My dad repainted this for my mom,

but it reminded me of a school bus a bit:)

I wanted to go with a more vintage look.

 Zach worked hard grinding off the excess flakes and rust.

Eventually, we will get it sand blasted to get all the rust removed.

 This is the color I picked out...fresh guacamole!

I had to take a picture of some of the other colors on here.

The other green color is when my grandmother had it and 

one that I remember...it was a bit more pea green.

 Zach and I got everything prepped and started in.

 I told Zach he looks so happy to be painting:)

Isn't that what a wife is suppose to do...

stop the hard working man

and tell him to smile.  

 It was fun painting...

 We did a second coat on the front and

here it is!  

I am so thankful to my mom and dad for handing it down and

so thankful to my husband for doing everything he does for me,

including dropping everything and smiling:)