Mines of Spain

Saturday, July 28 we decided to head to the Mines of Spain for some hiking and a picnic lunch. It was such a beautiful day compared to some of the rather warmer days this summer. It was a great family outing!

All the kiddos after walking a 1/2 mile trip down a hill and getting ready to walk on the train tracks!

The crew walking along the train tracks! They had lots of fun finding things. Especially, railroad nails!

Everyone trying to balance on the tracks!

We walked down to Catfish bridge that was being repaired and had fun throwing and trying to skip rocks into the river.

Making our hike back up the hill.

                  After we got back up the hill, we had an enjoyable picnic lunch with good conversation.

Cooling off in the Sprinkler

What else better to do on a hot day then run through the sprinkler to cool off! A bunch of cousins had a good time with water gun fights, the spraying of the hose and running through the sprinkler! 

Grandpa Berning getting a drink of water with some of the girls .

Willa running through the sprinkler for the first time. She provided the flower sprinkler!

Josie getting ready to take a jump!

Tessa enjoying the day and getting more comfortable with the spraying water!

Connor hopping over it.

Emma jumping over.

Karley running through to get back in line to go again!

Summer Treats

Enjoying some great summer treats this warm summer!

Buggy Ride

The kids enjoy going for a buggy ride when they get an opportunity!

Matching Outfits

Emma and Josie both have American Girl Dolls that they enjoy playing with. Here they are showing off one of their new matching outfits that they each got for their birthdays!

Summer Birthday Party

On June 30th, we celebrated the summer birthdays in my family: John, Pierce, Tina, Emma, Grandma, Josie, Matt and Carter. This is an event everyone looks forward to every year. Kristen's parents offer to host it and everybody has a great time!! There is always something for everyone to do and lots of good food! This year the night ended with fireworks!

                                                        Birthday girls: Emma 9 and Josie 7

Josie's cake

Emma's cake

Karley splashing in the river.

Josie making her way back to the dock.

Connor jumping into the river from the dock.

Tessa enjoying a piece of Josie's cake!

Emma kayaking.

9th Birthday

Emma is in her last year of single digits! On June 29, she turned 9 years old! She is growing up so fast. She spent her birthday at the farm because I had a class to attend. While at the farm, she made homemade cookies, got lots of phone calls and enjoyed spending time with some cousins and Grandparents. After we all got home, we went to Yo So Sweet for some frozen yogurt and then finished with a trip to Walmart to pick out her new bike! 

Anniversary Celebration

On June 10, my aunt and uncle, Marilyn and Jerry Berning, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! It started with mass in Cuba City and then their was a reception at Sunset Hall in Dickeyville, Wisc. The kids had a great time dancing to music with their cousins! It was fun to see them all dancing.

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42nd Anniversary

On June 6, Mom and Dad celebrated 42 years of marriage, and Matt celebrated his 35th Birthday! The day before Mom celebrated her 62nd Birthday! Below are some pictures from our evening out at Cat Fish Charile's. We had good food and drinks and great company. We gave them a Blessing Cup for their gift! They really enjoyed it. I feel blessed to have such wonderful role models in my life and to see two people love each other so much! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Matt sporting his new birthday hat!

Dad sporting the new look!

Penny and Matt toasting to a birthday shot!

Mom and Dad: Becky, Stacy, Jolene, Tim, Matt and Penny

Sisters

Karley and Tessa enjoying bowl of applesauce while wearing matching swimsuits!

7 Year Old

On June 8, Josie turned 7! She is growing up too fast! She got to celebrate most of her birthday downtown Chicago where we all got to go to the American Girl Doll store (Emma and Josie got to pick one outfit out for their dolls as part of the birthday present. They were very excited!). This girls especially LOVED it! We also did some sight seeing. Because we weren't home she didn't get her 7 shaped pancakes, but we stopped for ice-cream on the way home! After we got home, we went to the movie: Madagascar 3. She had a fun filled day and was waiting patiently for the June birthday party to receive some presents and have some cake!

State Tournament

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Des Monies for the U 10 State Baseball Tournament. The Red Sox played extremely well. They lost a close on in the semi-finals, but ended up placing 3rd. All the parents were very proud of this group of boys! The girls enjoyed the weekend also because they got to go swimming and stay in a hotel for two nights!

Outside Fun

To cool off in the summer, for the last 5 years or so, we have put this pool out on the back cement. Though the kids keep getting taller each year, they still spend hours playing and doing a little swimming in the water. It is used from early morning until later at night on some days. Tessa has really been enjoying the water this year and watching her siblings splash around!

Three in a row

Here is another one of the many different sleeping arrangements at our house. The girls divided the bottom bunk into three separate sections to sleep with their dolls. This arrangement lasted for a couple of nights!