Hayward Cabin & other fun

Warning: Long post with lots of pictures!

We spent last week in Hayward, Wisconsin with Jeff's brother Steve and his family. We had a really fun time and stayed in a beautiful cabin the Totagatic Lodge, which we rented from a family who happen to live about a mile and a half from us. It was quite large and could easily fit my whole side of the family which now numbers 20. It faces westward, so we saw beautiful sunsets every evening. We also enjoyed daily campfires thanks to my nephew Jonathan, did some fishing, went boating and swam at an island called Sand Island (which you will see from the photos is aptly named). We went into Hayward a couple of days and ate lunch, shopped and went mini-golfing. It was a perfect 2 hour and 10 min drive for us, but a bit longer for Steve & Angie who came up to our house first from Chicago. It is definitely a place I would consider renting again, especially if there were more people to share the cost with.

The Totagatic Lodge

Angie & Steve enjoying the sunset

The great kitchen (and better yet, Jeff cooking!)

living room

Connor (note his favorite pose in all photos!)

Jonathan & Allie on the water trampoline

Beautiful sunsets

Jeff & Connor on Sand Island

Jonathan & Allison on Sand Island

Porter & Jeff snuggling by the campfire

Ghost stories about Jim O'Shea (inside joke)

Jeff & his handicap

Family photo

Connor sinking a putt

Jeff in Porter's glasses

Allie at the wheel

Other things we have been doing lately:

We went to the Minnesota State Fair last Friday after we returned from Hayward. I love going to the fair which I believe is the largest State Fair in the country. It's really the same thing year after year, but I just love the tradition of it. We didn't stay as long as I would have liked (darn those kids messing up my life!! :)) but it was still fun! We also checked out Woodbury Days on Sunday and had quite a fun time there too.

Too much walking

Mmmm ice cream

Connor loved the ride but said it hurt his crotch!

We are getting ready for Connor to start kindergarten next week! We had an Open House at school tonight and found out who his teacher is and who will be in his class. He was hoping that his friend Nick from hockey and his girlfriend Emma from preschool would be in his class, but they got in the other kindergarten teacher's class. Our neighbor and good friend Olivia is in his class though, and also a friend Noah who he met at a Lifetime Fitness camp the last couple of summers. It so happens that Noah's parents went to Creighton University with me and his dad graduated the same year! Crazy. There will be a kindergarten family picnic tomorrow, so we will get a chance to know some of the families and teachers a bit better. I'm sure that will make us all feel a bit more comfortable about Connor's first days at kindergarten, though the open house tonight helped to answer some of my questions and allay some fears.



Porter has started clapping and waving hi and bye bye and it is just so cute. I think he is cutting his 8th tooth too, so he's been a bit clingy and grumpy the past couple of days. He's very active and busy and is crawling everywhere very quickly. His new nickname is Mr. Speedy. He often is getting into Connor's Legos which need to be moved to higher ground!

Making out with Glow baby

Porter and his brother (who we found at the concentration camp)

Whew! Thanks for scrolling all the way through. I gotta go to bed now!