Joey and Sam's Blog

Before we get to the back to school part, we had a little fun first!

We went to the Milwaukee Zoo with Uncle Jay, Aunt Amanda, Maebel, Grandma and Grandpa.

It is such a huge zoo; I think we were there for almost 6 hours!

Grandma, Joey, Sam and I did the sky zip line (can't remember exactly what it was called). You can see Uncle Jay, Aunt Amanda and Grandpa on the ground if you look closely by the pole. They were putting Maebel to sleep (and it worked!).

Sam's not quite as big as the bat!

It was a pretty warm day so the boys had to go check out the mister...and by boys, that included Uncle Jay.

Maebel rode the carousel!

Back at Amanda and Jay's house playing...

Now on to school. We had Sam's sneak a peek night. It started out that Joey was more excited to go to it, but Sam quickly got more comfortable with it. He found a pink scarf there and decided it went very well with his camo.

Joey's first day of 2nd grade!

Got a picture in front of the sign at school!

Sam had to take some selfies with Piggie, and by some I mean about 100.

We celebrated Maebel's 1st birthday! She is such a sweet little girl.

She color coordinated a bit with G&G Hyland...

Aunt Amanda and I took the boys and Maebel to Discovery World. Aunt Katie's attempts at having Maebel stand in front of the aquarium didn't pan out. Good thing she's adorable whether standing or sitting.

Joey helping Sam out with the pulley...

Joey did the bed of nails like he did last year.

Sam had a somewhat "hair-raising" experience.

Sam got to drive a simulated front-end loader.

Sam did the bed of nails for the first time. He was brave and while he bypassed it the first time when Joey did it, he wanted to go back and do it himself.

We didn't see this display last year, but found it this year! Joey and Sam both got to fly a plane. I think Joey crashed on land and Sam in the water. Needless to say, they did not get their pilot licenses while we were there!

It was a Cheese Days year! G&G got some Cheese Days attire, and everyone was all decked out.

Joey matched his G&G.

Sam's shirt from 2 years ago still fit so he wore the one with the cow butt. This was the only way he would pose for pictures.

During the parade, a girl came and gave Sam a cape.

This is the life! Is Sam spoiled by his Great Aunt Mary or what?!

Maebel got to meet Wedgie. She was cool about it. Oh and her shirt says "Little Curd". lol

We have so much to update. Hard to believe that summer is almost over, and school starts in less than a week!

Here's a look at what we've done the end of June through end of August...

Joey learned how to ride his bike on 2 wheels at the end of June. I was mowing the lawn, and Matthew came back and told me, "Joey is riding on two wheels." I went out front, and sure enough, he was. Laura had helped him stay steady and then it just clicked with him!

One of Sam's projects from Tot Lot. The directions were to put the paper ON the elephant. We are in trouble with this one!

Maynard the Mallard came to my work. I had to take a picture with him outside my office to show the boys.

We had a birthday party for Grandpa Rikli. The boys made him "poop" cards. They were nice poop cards (if that is possible).

G&G Hyland were in Canada for the 4th of July so we were left to our own devices instead of going to Monroe. We tried out Deforest on July 3rd, and it was a win! I think it was good to go the day before the 4th instead of on the 4th because I'm guessing it would have been a lot busier.

They had free pony rides, bouncy structures and then some games to play too.

We roasted hot dogs for the first time in the backyard. Of course, smores were up after that!

We tried out fireworks on the 4th of July. We stayed at the truck instead of going to a park, and once we found a spot, it was great. The boys enjoyed the whole process!

Joey and I took a little walk down the path while we were waiting...Joey danced a little more than walking.

We went to Concerts in the Park, and discovered it had been cancelled because of a chance of rain. We ended up going to another park to eat our picnic and then going for a little hike at this park.

We tried out the Deforest splash pad. The splash pad was pretty small, but it was attached to a nice little park.

We went to the pool a couple of times. Mommy didn't get pictures at the pool,but this is in the play area attached to it.

We celebrated Grandma Hyland's birthday!

Another Concert in the Park, another face painting. This was zombie face.

Sam chose pink flowers.

Maebel and Uncle Jay came to see us and we went to Taste of Sun Prairie. We only had about 45 minutes before the rain started, but that was enough time for Maebel to get to try a crepe.

Here comes the rain!

Joey got his face painted like a gorilla there. The rain and heat were a little hard on it, but it still looks cool!

We took Maebel to see our library. She seemed to like it!

Sam put on a puppet show for her.

We went to the farmer's market with G&G Hyland. We had to make a visit to the Capitol like we always do. See Joey and Sam?

We went to the observation deck for the first time. Here is Sam checking out Lake Monona (I think).

Joey was a little nervous for this picture.

Joey and I went to a Mallards game through my work. Even though it was super hot, we had a blast!

Joey and Landon tried out these bubbles that then went into a pool to run and spin around in.

Joey was a goofball in them!

Joey got to run the bases at the end and got a ball from an umpire as he was leaving. Pretty good day!

We made our now annual trip to Little Amerricka. It was a great day to go. Not super hot and not super crowded. Win!

Daddy and Sam being cheesy!

John and Joey are in the last car of the roller coaster with their hands up!

Sam wanted to recreate a picnic from one of his Mickey Mouse books, so we did that one night. Hot dogs, sweet corn, fruit salad and a special lemonade drink were on the menu.

We went to Legacy Academy for the annual NMB party there. Sam jumped off the platform for the first time.

The boys really like shuffleboard!

Last Concert in the Park. Joey went for Pirate face this time.

Sam got purple flowers and an extra on his arm!

Costco got their costumes, so we are set for Halloween already. They happened to have exactly what the boys had wanted to dress as. Kylo Ren and a Stormtrooper.

We surprised Aunt Amanda at her work and took her lunch and flowers on her birthday. Here we are in the conference room in the back.

Maebel loved following the boys down the long hallway crawling...and then stopping to play with the mini blinds a bit to hear the cool noise they made.