Brat Fest 2012

Bridgette has discovered her love for corn-on-the-cob. She polished off an entire ear.

Having fun with her friend, Daisy.

Bridgette offered fashion advice, check her gums and gave her some emotional support. She’s a good friend like that!

And Daisy shared her awesome wagon with Bridgette.

Bridgette, you are such a good little helper. You love hanging out with papa to keep him company while he details the cars.

Our last day in Lake Geneva was perfect.We packed up the B that morning and headed out!

Our family walked along Geneva Lake Shore Path, which is a 21-mile trail  that allows hikers to literally walk through the back yards of striking century-old mansions!

Lake Front property, anyone?

I know, right!?

This beautiful property has a hand painted white fence along the trail. It is completely covered with inspirational quotes from historic leaders, authors and so forth.  It’s called the Expect a Miracle house.

There is a guest book that you can sign, along the trail, too. They also have this large bell that you ring after you make a wish. I thought it was hokey at first, but I left with a feeling of peace and inspiration.

These multi-million dollar mansions are incredible!

This manor is MASSIVE!! I just found some info on this history of this Stone Manor:

Among these are Stone Manor (officially Younglands), the 18,000 square foot magnificent Italianate palace with a 250′ veranda and an expansive lawn visible from downtown Lake Geneva. The estate was built in 1900-1901 by Otto Young, a man who made his fortune buying real estate along State Street in Chicago following the great fire of 1871. It was constructed for over $1,000,000 and features such as gold-plated fixtures, a basement bowling alley, and a third floor miniature golf course astounded even the wealthiest resident. The property was a single family home until 1939 when it was presented to the order of St. Anne to be used as an Episcopalian private school for girls. The school was discontinued after only a few years.  Later the mansion housed an elegant French restaurant Around the 1980’s the mansion and remaining property were purchased for back taxes, reportedly for $74,000. It has recently been restored and converted to 6 condominiums ranging in price up to $1.6 million.

We finished out the morning dipping in the pool at the Grand Geneva Resort Pool.

I think we have a little water baby on our hands!

Happy 13 Months Bridgette!

Lake Geneva is an absolute gem. We fell in love right away! It’s a beautiful charming town situated on a great lake and lots to do!

We walked around down town and enjoyed the perfect weather.

That afternoon, we hit the hotel water park for some time in the lazy river with the B. She loved it. Eventually.

Papa even took Bridgette down the big covered water slide on a tube.

 YAY! That’s our fearless B. (I know, she didn’t have a choice, but she sure didn’t seem to hate it!)

We started our 2-week vacation on May 7-th.  We originally planned to fly to Japan to see Rick’s parents for a week. Unfortunately, that would have broken the bank, so we resorted to some local travels!

Our 24-hour trip to Chicago was great! We stayed in a hotel near the Chicago LDS Temple and took turns that evening doing temple work.

On our way back to Wisconsin, we stopped at the Superdawg drive in on Milwaukee Ave for some dawgs..topped with golden mustard, tangy piccalilli, kosher dill pickle, chopped Spanish onions and a memorable hot pepper. Interesting.

We met Richard, Holly & Co at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva that afternoon.

We unpacked our bags, hit the indoor waterpark and gave B corn on the cob for dinner.

Bridgette, we set up your co-sleeper in the coat closet near the front door of our hotel room.  It was awesome. Like a baby bedroom.

Play date with Emmeline.

Emmeline is such a good supportive friend to hug you while on the potty! HA HA HA.

You both took turns pushing each other in the stroller, on our patio. So sweet!

Thank you, sweet Bridgette (and papa) for the cute little honey bee charm!

May 13th, 2011                                     May 13th, 2012

We love you Bridgette!

WE LOVE CAMPING!

(Yes, blow up mattress and all!)

Morning greeted us early with the birds singing and the sun shining.

We immediately fetched your walker so you could do your daily laps up and down the street.

Papa always cheers you on!

You and your friend Katalyn were fascinated by the little bugs everywhere.

After our dutch oven “mountain man” breakfast and breakfast s’mores (Oh, yes we did! With Reese’s pieces peanut butter cups!) we went on a little hike to a waterfall.

Papa carried you the entire time (.5 miles) and I cheered him on!

After our hike, we headed to the lake for lunch and you went to town on this massive apple. It was seriously some yummy eats!

We loved Governor Dodge and can’t wait to go camping again before we leave Wisconsin next Summer.

We’ve really been excited about going camping as a family.

We bought a 10 man tent (I know, we’re only a family of three but we hope to be a family of 4, 5, maybe 6 if it’s in our cards) and bought a state park season pass.

Governor Dodge is a beautiful state park about an hour west of our home in Madison. We loved our camp site and the beauty that surrounded us.

We arrived around 5 pm and set up our tent and started dinner. We walked up and down the street and we played at the park.

We found lots of caterpillars and other bugs!

Bridgette, you did great! You slept through the entire night and mama and papa snuggled to keep warm.

We enjoyed a hearty dutch oven dinner prepared by our friends that consisted of chicken, cheese, potatoes, carrots and a bunch of other goodness!

I made a cherry-pineapple cobbler in the dutch oven for dessert.

And as if all this wasn’t enough, we roasted marshmallows and popped corn in tin foil after we ate dessert!

Day one was great!

IKEA Go Car.

You went NUTS at the steering wheel! Your legs kicked up and down and you screamed in delight.

Simple Pleasures.

We enjoyed some family time at the park, desperately trying to fly the kite you got for your birthday!

We got it up a few times, only to see it come crashing down. We gathered our strings and decided to swing.