Small delay, but here are a few pictures from our visit to Milwaukee. It was so nice to be back, we really enjoyed seeing so many friends that we miss SO much. We drove past our old house many times... it's very surreal. I think we'll feel much more settled once our house is done. The neighborhood seemed very quiet, definitely not the same w/o our girls running around all day. One of the mornings we spent a few hours @ the Zoo with a big group of our favorite friends. It was so much fun to have the big group together. It felt like we had never left.
Margaux w/the big fish...

Look @ all these girls... not one boy in the bunch. So much fun!

Marin couldn't stop hugging her friends while we were getting ready to leave. She definitely misses them.

Our friend Colleen had this 4-wheeler for the girls to ride @ her house. It was a huge hit... we may need one!

A few pictures from our visit to the Botanical Gardens. I thought it would be a so-so trip, but it ended up being great. I had no idea they had a huge kids area, complete with a giant tube slide & watering garden that the girls just loved. Lots of photo opportunities but it was just WAY too hot. The girls weren't interested & I couldn't blame them. We'll definitely have to visit again once the weather cools down a bit.

They were more than happy to pose for pictures on the giant frog...

Definitely progressing & we're excited!

This was the beginning of last week...

Mid-week...

Sitting in her future room...some walls up (end of the week)

In the kitchen w/ Daddy Saturday morning after they framed the rest of the house, including interior walls...

Today...

The roof went on yesterday & it finally looks like a house, minus the windows which they haven't cut out just yet. We can't wait... I'm overwhelmed with all the decisions. Not sure I like this whole building a house thing. Although, I know we'll be so happy with the end product.

(p.s. Gram- my camera does still work... we've just been busy! xoxo)

Yet another mini-photo shoot with the girls. YES, they do get sick of me taking their pictures but I love them so much more than any picture taken professionally somewhere else. They really do enjoy it a little bit... lots of candy involved!!! We're getting ready for our first trip back to Milwaukee since moving. We'll be leaving Wednesday morning & coming back Friday afternoon. I'm so anxious & wondering what I'll be feeling once we get back to our old stomping ground. Should be interesting & very fun to see all of our friends that we miss so much. Pictures to come.... xoxo

Little Margaux just wants to be a big girl so bad! She gets an instant grin on her face each time she does something that she knows Marin does. Monkey see, Monkey do! She's obviously not nearly big enough to ride this bike but she was sooo happy to have Marin's helmet on & give it a try. (With Gary's help) She's just so stinkin' cute! xoxo

We have a basement!!! Things are moving along & we are so excited. I took this picture last night (Friday)... Marin was really not excited to take a picture in her pj's with Daddy. Hopefully the house is completely framed in the next week or so, which would be great. Then I can relax & not worry about the rain. Have a good weekend! xo

Our little cheesehead!

pipsqueak...

w/ Grandma & Great-Gram Betty...

This week we visited the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame. Not the best place for two lively little girls, we spent all of maybe 45 minutes there. The girls enjoyed it but it's really a lot of reading & a place for all die hard football fans. My parents are share holders, so they had free tickets. Definitely brought me back to the days I spent as a Lambeau Field Tour Guide!! haha It was fun to see it since I hadn't been there since it was all re-done. Gary missed out, he would have loved to have been there with us.

It's a start but still a LONG way from our completed house!! After three weeks of patiently waiting for the rain to stop, they finally got to scrape the lot this morning. Now we're just keeping our fingers crossed that the rain holds off for a week or so, that way they can dig the hole & pour the concrete with out any issues. We need this basement to be solid after all the Milwaukee basement floods!! I'm not sure we could handle another basement like that... way too much worrying EVERY time it rained!!! Hopefully more pictures this week showing progress! xoxo

This week we attended a special evening story time @ the library. Beach theme, so the girls arrived in their swim suits & sunglasses. Once the story time was done they had water balloons, sand, bubbles & a sprinkler set up outside for the kids to play with. Marin & Margaux definitely favored the water balloons. Margaux thought it was hilarious & couldn't get enough. The fun was short lived...it didn't take long for all 50 of the balloons to be gone. It was a great time & a fun change from the usual story time. xo

How cute are they? A few pics from a little photo session I had w/ the girls in a small little area in our new town. They both had so much fun on the old train, I think they would have sat there for hours. I wish they'd always sit this nice...they definitely do not always cooperate. We're crossing our fingers that the rain holds off this week so they can FINALLY start digging & get going with the house. We've been waiting 3 weeks now & the rain continues. Say a prayer for dry weather for a week or so. That's all we need! Otherwise, we'll be @ Jean & Jerry's for ever!!! xoxo

This is a new thing for Margaux. Any time I leave the room she seems to find a pen & go to town all over her body. I swear she's had pen on her feet & legs for a week straight. I keep hiding pens & she keeps finding them!

I also found her on top of the dining room table this week eating one of my mom's decorative fake apples. In her defense, they really do look real but it was too funny. I called my mom to tell her I owe her an apple.... apparently I need to feed her more!

Sorry for the delay in posting, we've been busy house planning. Hopefully (fingers crossed) the weather cooperates & they can start digging this week!

swimming

A few shots of the girls in the pool @ Shanna's house. She's been here for two weeks & leaves Tuesday morning to go back home to Australia. We'll be SOOOO sad to see her leave. It's been so great having her home & spending our days with her. Lucky for us, she'll be back for a few weeks in September. Too bad it may be too cold to swim in the fabulous pool come Sept. xo

Happy Belated 4th of July! After celebrating up north at the cottage, we drove back to GB for a cookout @ my Uncle's house. Tons of great food, I swear we did nothing but eat for days! Below are some pictures of the girls with their second cousins... so cute! We're looking forward to seeing them more now that we don't live so far away.

Margaux couldn't get her butt close enough to Caleb... she loved him...

From left... Marin, Sylvia (my cousin), Margaux, Addison & Caleb (My cousin's two children)

We had a great time @ my aunt & uncles cottage this past weekend. We stayed two nights & it would have been easy to stay a few more... it was so nice. Being on a lake with full sun makes for a great weekend. Marin was happy to see fireworks for the first time & Margaux did the usual...EAT! I swear she eats all day long & she'll finish anything that's left behind by others. Too funny. We're looking forward to some more time at the cottage this summer.

Fishing w/ daddy...

JUMBO marshmallows that I found for the girls...You can actually see the brownie that she ate right before this stuck in her back teeth. Very healthy!
1st time in the lake...

Little M driving the boat...

Tubbing w/ daddy...