Making the Most of Milwaukee

My birthday was 6 days ago, and I'm just now sitting down to blog about it. I mean, it's not like it's the first time I've sat down, obviously. It's just that at the end of a (read: every) day, I find myself relaxing in a comfier place than at the kitchen table with my laptop. Anyway, my birthday was actually a little more drawn out than usual, which was nice. As I mentioned in the last blog, the kids and I visited my parents in Ohio the weekend before my birthday. My mom bought me some new pajamas (cute gray and blue polka dot pants and a blue shirt) that were sorely needed. I'm actually wearing them right now. She also got me some pretty silver statement jewelry. I'm usually not a jewelry kind of girl, but I want to be, so I need to figure out how to wear my new necklace and earrings without looking like I have no clue. On Thursday morning, my actual birthday, the kids and I slept in (at least I'm pretty sure they slept in too. haha), and since I...

First of all, I'm sorry it's been so long since I've blogged last. Remember when I said I was going to blog every single day? Hahaha. Apparently I'd momentarily forgotten that I have four children. Anyway, let's talk about my weekend. 80) The four kids and I went to Ohio to visit my parents and sister and brother in law for a long weekend. We left VERY early on Thursday morning (4:35 to be more precise). We drove for nearly two hours and stopped in Chesterton, Indiana at a Bob Evans. An aside: Bob Evans is like my family's favorite restaurant to stop at while traveling. Growing up, we'd been to countless Bob Evans restaurants in who knows how many different states. We all got pancakes. The kids also got sausage. Josie decided she needed to cut her own sausage. She worked very hard at it. Also on our stop, Piper got nursed, the older ones took a potty break, and the little ones got their diapers changed. Before we piled into the van, the ...

Yesterday, Josie's Daisy troop went to Swan's Pumpkin Farm. Piper and I tagged along. It was chilly and breezy, but also sunny, which makes for a quintessential fall day. We got to the farm shortly before 11, paid for our wrist bands, and promptly had the girls take a group picture by the giant inflatable pumpkin. L-R: Sawyer, Illiana (in front), Madeline, Mallory, Lexi, Josie, Kaylie, Eva Goofy girls! After pictures, we went on a hayride around the farm. That was a nice relaxing ride. It was also nice to chat with the other parents while the girls played with the hay. Then we went through the Spook House. I really played down the characters since we don't do Halloween, and Josie seemed apprehensive. Next we had lunch. I packed healthier alternatives for us, but the smell of the apple cider donuts was very enticing! I figured Justin would want us to grab some donuts on the way out anyway. A lame puppet show was next, followed by the corn maze. I...

This afternoon the kids and I met up with my friend, Sarah, and four of her five kids for some apple picking fun! We went to Barthel's Farm in Mequon, a town about 30 minutes or so from Milwaukee. We had just been to the same farm a couple months before for strawberry picking. We were originally going to go on Friday with a few other friends. Fridays are the best day for us to do fun activities since Deuce doesn't have school. However, the weather forecast says a really good chance of rain on Friday, and today was a perfect fall day - sunny and cool. We left right after Josie's Daisy meeting, stopped at Sarah's so she could follow us, and then headed to Mequon. We got there around 5, which was a little later than we wanted, but no big deal. There were still a ton of apples to pick! Today we had the options of picking Cortland and Pippin apples. Sarah said that she had a lot of luck with Cortland apples the previous year, so we decided to stick with those. With Pip...