Okoboji Family Reunion

The Hoefer family celebrated Great Nana's 95th birthday with a family reunion in Okaboji.  It was fun to spend time at the lake with my kiddos since I have so many memories from past family reunions.  I don't even know where to begin describing the week so I'll stick with captions on the pictures for this post.  We are so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful family.

Drake and Eric on the dock with Grandpa.

Lilly, Sylvia and Phillip on the boat with John.

Enjoying the waves with my boys.

Uncle John patiently helping Drake drive the boat.

Extended cousins pile-up on the slide.

Eric likes to help Great Nana with her walker.

Enjoying some sticky s'more's with Adam and Grandpa.

We spent a lot of time on the Noah's Ark/Pirate Ship playground.

Eric and Noah attempting a game of Connect Four.

An evening out with my cousins.

The Hoefer Family 5K participants.

Eric investigated the boat lifts multiple times during the week.

Family "pedal" boat ride.

Eric and daddy's kayak trip.

The cousins all built flashlights with Uncle Lee.

Daddy is good at swings.

Sylvia's kayak trip with daddy.

Lots of cards and games were played in our lounge.

These two enjoyed the water all week.

Great Nana is good at sharing her snack with my boys.

Filling up buckets of water to take down to the beach.

Devil's Lake

This summer we took the kids to Devil's Lake, WI.  We were joined by some good company which made the trip even better.  Our family stayed in a large cabin which made our "camping" trip much easier on all of us.

We did plenty of swimming at the beautiful sandy beach.  Eric really wanted to go on a "pedal" boat but it didn't work out on this trip.

Thanks to Yuani and a buddy of his, we were able to take all the kids rock climbing.  It was so fun to share this experience with them.  Plus, Dan took the kids for lunch at the park and I was able to stay up and do some climbing myself!

We went on a hike through Parfrey's Glen with the Lanes.  The man-made trails have all been washed out so we got to walk through the creek and up boulders.  It was much more exciting that way.  Sylvia and Eric even got to stand in a waterfall with mommy.

We did some meals in the cabin but we also roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.  The kids all participated in a talent show organized by Beth.  Sylvia sang 5 Little Monkeys and called on Eric to help her with the actions.  Eric made up a song and dance on the spot for his performance.

Before heading home, we hiked to the the top of the east bluff.  All the kids made it to the top on their own.  We stopped for some pictures by balanced rock and Devil's doorway.

Oklahoma

We started our summer of with a trip to Oklahoma to visit Aunt Ginny and Uncle Stephen.  School got out at 2:00 and we were on the road by 3:30.  

The kids were thrilled when Ginny or Stephen would take them into the music room to play the tuba or flute.

The girls got to enjoy a little time out to celebrate at Ginny's baby shower.  Sylvia appreciated being invited to help open gifts. 

We took a trip to a cute little children's museum in Stillwater.  The kids had a blast and it got us out of the house for a bit.

Time at the house was spent playing with the dogs, going for walks and reading lots of books in the book nook. 

The kids helped Dan and Stephen get started on the new deck.  A lot of work was done in a very short period of time.

The kids traveled very well.  We watched movies, played with toys, ate meals, read books and made a long stop in Kansas City on our way home to break up the trip. 

Grand Harbor

We spent a weekend in January at the Grand Harbor Resort in Dubuque with our friends, the Baxters.  The kids loved playing in the pool and going down the water slides.  Sylvia is becoming quite the swimmer, Eric got brave enough to go down the water slides by himself and Drake had lots of fun going down on mommy's lap (I didn't let him try by himself although he was officially old enough).  Before heading home, we tired the kids out at Jumpin' Jane's.

My solution to early rising children while others were still asleep.  So thankful I packed breakfast.