Bay Beach in Green Bay, Wisconsin

Friday we spend the day in Bay Beach, which is a children’s amusement park outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin. All the rides were either 25 or 50 cents and it was a very fun time. The weather was a little warm, but a cool breeze was coming off of Lake Michigan so it was very bearable. We got snow cones for $1; everything was a very good deal.

Coen’s first amusement park ride was with Marcus on the fire trucks. He even got to pull the bell.

Coen’s first ride all by himself. I was nervous to let him go alone, but Justin put him on and he did just fine. I kept envisioning him jumping out like he does when I put him in the shopping cart. Turns out that rides are much more fun!

 

On the second-to-last ride at Bay Beach. This train went past the lake and around the park grounds.

 

 

Wisconsin Time

We went to Lomira for Joshua Lee Whitenight (our nephew)’s baptism. We left on Wednesday and spent the night in La Crosse, which broke up the trip and made it much more bearable. Justin worked until 6:30 PM on Wednesday so there was no way we wanted to drive the whole thing that night. Last time we did that we had a little monster boy wide awake from 1-2:30 in the morning…

 

Coen was thrilled to play with cousins Marcus (6 1/2) and Karl (2 1/2). He liked to honk Marcus’s nose and get pushed over by Karl.

 

Katrina came for Coen’s birthday celebration Thursday evening! I’m so glad she’s close.

 

 

 

Me & the Coco Bean. He was hungry for dinner when we opened presents so it wasn’t the smoothest, but it sure was fast.

This is the closest thing to a good picture of the cousins that I got on my camera. Left to right is Marcus, Joshua, Karl, Coen, & Miriam.

 

Coen liked to touch Joshua’s hands and just sit and look at him. He was very gentle and didn’t even try to squeeze him. (He squeezes things he likes.)

 

 

 

Coen ate all the chocolate frosting off and left the rest for some carrots. What a choc-o-holic…just like his dad.

 

 

Talking vacuum from Grandma Vilski. Coen LOVES it and pushed it around for 15 minutes. He was sure to get around Joshua & his car seat, the high chairs, and in the bathroom. What a good cleaner.

 

 

Justin & his brother Tim.

 

 

 

                 Kelly & Aunt Vonni.

Birthday Par-tay!

The day after Coen’s birthday we had a party for him. We invited a bunch of people over for hot dog dinner and even more people for ice cream sundaes. Here are the attendees:

Dinner: Mitch & Corrine Burmeister, Nick & Katherine & Mia Schmoller, Justin & Stacy Shrum, Laura & Bob & Jamis Martens, Maria & Bryant Laude, Emily Heidtke, and Bill & Beth Fuerstenau.

Ice Cream Sundaes: Margaret & Ruth (neighbors), Wessel clan, Koelpin clan, and Brian & Donna & Kari Fischer, Carmella & Milan (Fischer’s grandkids).

It was a very good time. Coen was good about opening his presents and didn’t get bored after the first one—he showed each present an equal amount of interest since they were all new and exciting. It was so nice that everyone could make it and after Coen went to bed (screaming at 8:30 PM….too much excitement), we all stayed up talking and getting eaten by mosquitoes. So wonderful. Here are some pictures!

 

This was shortly before bed.

 

Happy First Birthday, Coen. We love you so much!

Coen’s Birthday & Animal Fun

Justin & Coen on his birthday on our way to the park to play on the playground and play tennis. Coen had just gotten over a few days of a fairly high temperature (102-103 degrees) so we were very happy that he was feeling better.

Mitch dressed for the occasion. It didn’t help him win, though…

 

 

Here’s the birthday boy! He enjoyed carrying the balloon around for a while until he got distracted by other, cooler presents. Mitch & Corrine got him a “laptop”.

 

Corrine and I on the way to the park

Coen was interested in eating the cake for a while, but after eating the MnM’s he decided that he preferred his grilled cheese sandwich. We think he just likes chocolate.

This is the cake I made. It’s a snake.

 

 

Here’s his present from Justin and me; a Tow Mater ride-on toy. He loves to push the buttons and push it around.

 

The next day we went to our landlord’s house to their “hobby farm” of sorts. Coen got to pet the dog, play with the kitten, ride the horse, and touch the sheep. Here are a few pictures!

 

 

(He’s saying “yee haw” ------------------------------>)

I did it!

I somewhat successfully gave Justin a hair cut! I followed the instructions that came with the razor and it worked. I cut the sideburns too short he said, but I think it looks good. Coen said that now he wants a hair cut. But just the curls in back. :)

Construction on Payne Street

Coen was thrilled when he found out that right outside our hallway window were many construction workers and trucks. He watched them put pipes down to move the fire hydrant water elsewhere. That was the first day, not all TOO thrilling.

 

But….

 

 

 

 

The second (and final) day was waaay cooler. They ripped up the road, dug a big hole, did something in there, then put it all (mostly) back together. Here’s Coen watching in the early morning and throughout the day:

It was interesting to watch and we both learned a lot about the construction process. And Coen found out if he screamed/yelled loudly enough out the window they’d look up at him. Oh boy.

The Soufflé

Bill & Beth Fuerstenau (first-en-ow), our newlywed friends, had us over for dinner last night. The sausage & cheese manicotti was delicious, and Coen especially liked the soufflé.

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Dinner & a Hike w/ Coen & Me

Coen & I were in the outdoorsy spirit, and thanks to Bill & Maggi we have a year-round Minnesota State Park pass now, so we went on a hike in Flandrau. Here’s the play-by-play of our nice evening.

He was ready to go! It was a cooler day, a high of 77 degrees. There wasn’t much wind so the gnats were terrible, but not as bad if we kept walking. We even bugsprayed!

 

All strapped in and ready to go! Coen took hiking seriously. He also seriously hurt my back. :)

 

We had macaroni & cheese for our dinner then played around in the grass until the gnats were unbearable. Coen enjoyed yelling and waving at the tent campers.

The weather was sunny & gorgeous!

 

One of the smaller trees that was knocked/blown down in the storms. We couldn’t take the hiking path to the picnic area because there was  HUGE tree (four times the size of this one) in the path. This tree was fairly easy to hop over.

 

We saw 12 wild turkeys—5 adults and 6 babies (turklets?) in all.

 

Oh, that only adds up to 11? The last one we saw was indistinguishable….

We smelled this one before we saw it. Yuck.

The walk down to the park is beautiful and it was very enjoyable.

This tree fell over and ripped up the sidewalk when it fell. It was about a 100’ tree. The rain loosened up the soil the day before the winds came, so a lot of trees tipped. God’s creation is powerful!

The Vilskis at Minneopa State Park

Hello all! It’s been a while. My new job is going well and next week I am done with training and on to the “real deal”. I was sent $100 for postage and the school’s brochures so that I’m ready to send out information.

Last weekend Bill & Maggi, Miriam, and Don & Vonni came to visit. I didn’t do the triathlon. We all survived tornadoes Friday night and torrential rain and more tornadoes in the area Saturday. Lovely Minnesota weather, huh? Friday night Coen & I headed to the basement for what we thought was going to be 15 minutes (I should have used the bathroom first….lesson learned) but turned into 3 hours. Some friends (and their friends and kids) came to use our basement because they live in an apartment above the stores in “downtown” New Ulm and don’t have one. It made it much more enjoyable and we got to see golf ball-sized hail for the first (and hopefully last) time. Our car has a few dings but nothing too bad. One of my friends lives on Lake Crystal and her boat was missing for a couple days. There were touch-downs scattered around the neighboring counties. I don’t like tornadoes.

Our garden sustained somewhat minimal damage, but our cucumber plant is now deceased. This is after the first day of storms.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a lovely day outside at Vonni & Don’s camp site at Minneopa State Park on Sunday. Coen thought Miriam was pretty funny. If he could live outside forever he would. Justin, on the other hand, got enough fresh air for a few years. :) Too bad for him, though—we’re going camping in August!

 

Our fam at the waterfalls!

 

The waterfalls look better in black & white because the water was dingy brown. There was a lot of flooding because of the two days of super-rain and I think a lot of soil got washed down. More pictures to come of the trees down at Flandrau in New Ulm.

 

 

It was very nice to see everyone and we’ll be seeing them again soon in a couple weeks. Shannon & Don (Miriam’s parents) just had a baby boy, Joshua Lee, on June 25th. We’re going to Lomira for his baptism and also so I can throw a baby shower for Katrina on Saturday, July 17th. Yeah for family!

Also, Justin, Coen, and I are going to visit Liane & Greger (my aunt & uncle) in October during one of Justin’s breaks. They live in Oxford, CT, and we can’t wait!! Liane was so nice and used her frequent flier miles to bring us out. I have never been to the East Coast and am VERY excited to see them. It will have been over four years!