Kid Vacation!

The children spent all of last week splitting their time between their grandparents' houses.

Each of them had a backpack with whatever things they wanted to bring along. Finn couldn't fit everything he needed so he had a little extra to carry.

They got to do a lot of playing and exploring while spending the week in central WI.

Julia was excited to get to meet and hold Natalie, Amanda's cousin Leah's new baby.

Meanwhile, in another part of the state...
Amanda and I enjoyed going out to eat a few times without the extra cost of a babysitter and going on some long walks. We also took the opportunity to enjoy an evening at the Minnesota State Fair. Our only plan before going was to eat some interesting things, on sticks, of course. This was our menu of fair food that we ended up eating:
- cheese on a stick (like a corn dog, but with cheese in place of the hot dog)
- corn dog
- deep friend veggies on a stick
- fried green tomatoes
- corn fritters
- deep fried spam
- lefse
- sweetcorn ice cream
- slab of bacon on a stick

We had hoped to, but didn't get deep fried cookie dough, chocolate covered jalapenos, or deep fried candy bars. We didn't find the cookie dough and I decided to opt out of the other two at the end of the evening after listening carefully to my stomach. I think I made a wise decision because by the time we got home, I was feeling a little funny.

In one of the buildings they had several marker boards from CaringBridge to write words of support or in honor of someone battling an illness. I jotted down a quick note about Julia's outcome of her own cancer.

Here's a self-shot of the two of us above the state fair.

Although the extra free time in the evenings was nice, it was just as nice to get the kids back home on Saturday and be able to end the weekend with all of us back together.

The upcoming weeks are going to keep us busy. Amanda is already back at work, Julia starting back to school later this week, and Finn starts pre-school in a few weeks.