Trick or Treating

Well it's not quite Halloween yet but we already had Trick or Treating in Gurnee on Sunday. It was freezing and windy out but the kids still had fun. Gavin made it for about 40 minutes before he was ready to give up. We only took Morgan out for about a 1/2 hour because of the weather. But Carson, he was ready to keep going and going. I guess once you turn 6 your goal is to fill your entire bag with candy- which he did. Here are a few pictures of our Policeman, Fireman and warm Butterfly.

Wisconsin Dells Getaway

We had a wonderful time on our Wisconsin trip earlier this month. We left on Thursday, 10/9 and checked in at a Residence Inn in Madison WI. We stopped off at a family farm and played on all the kid attractions and then did a small corn maze. The kids had a blast! Then we did some geocaching in Madison and went to two local playgrounds. We finished the night with swimming in the hotel pool.

The next morning we woke up early and headed to Wisconsin Dells. We checked into our cabin by 10am and unloaded everything. We stayed at Kathy's Kozy Kottages right on Lake Delton (or what was Lake Delton until the lake drained in June 08.) You will see in the pictures that Lake Delton is just damp in spots but all the water is gone. We learned that they are going to start filling the Lake again this December with a slow fill so by next spring/ summer it will be back to normal. We were amazed at how many construction people were working on the repairs of the Dam the entire weekend.

The cabin was a cute 2 bedroom, full kitchen and bath cottage that we just loved. The weather was absolutely perfect while we were there ranging from 70-80 degrees! While in the Dells, we did some hiking at the state park, went on a boat ride in the upper dells, mini golfed two times, ate out a lot and found 26 geocaches. We also got extremely lucky and met two ladies on our boat tour who offered us free water park passes at Chula Vista water park so we took the kids there on Saturday and Sunday evening for hours of swimming! The boys (and even Mommy!) braved the water slides. It was a wonderful time to spend together as a family.

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Fun Weekend

Last weekend we went to the annual Cubs/ Brewers tailgate and game through Al's work along with 40+ of our closest friends and family. It was unusually hot but a lot of fun. All three kids were great during the game. On Sunday, we went with the family to Apple Holler and had so much fun. This is a tradition for us that I absolutely love. It is just great to go with a big family and spend time outdoors. Afterwards, we ended up again at Texas Roadhouse for a yummy lunch. Here are a few of my favorite pics from Apple Holler.

House Addition

As many of you have already heard- we are in the process of a MAJOR house addition/ renovation. We are pushing back the first floor of our house to expand the kitchen, add a breakfast room, add a mudroom and expand the family room. In addition to these upgrades, we are also adding basement since we were required to pour a crawl space anyway. So, we will eventually gain a guest bedroom, full bath and 2 storage rooms in the basement as well! YIPPEE! So far, we have had the concrete company dig out the whole basement and they have made concrete walls as well. We are still waiting for the floor to be poured which will be this week. Then- the real construction can start! We are going to be broke- but it will be so worth it to have a larger home for our family of 5. It will be set up so nice for all of us and will be perfect for entertaining. Too bad it won't be done in time for the annual halloween party! Our kitchen cabinets are being hand made from the Amish and then a guy in the Quad Cities who did Dick and Mary's new kitchen. I can't wait to see the finished product! We ordered our new Granite counter tops and and have bought our new flooring. I am so nervous about picking paint colors because I want it to be just perfect! I guess I have awhile before I get to that point!

As you can see- Carson and Gavin are loving our dirt mountain in the entire backyard! They have been climbing and sliding it down it for a couple weeks now!

Updates on the Ghys kids

Ok, I have been bad about updating this blog but mainly because I have been spending most of my free time updating my surrojourney blog instead. As a refresher- that blog address is: http://www.theirbunmyovenourdream.blogspot.com/.

So, here goes trying to catch up on everything else in our lives. The boy's started school a few weeks ago. Carson is in 1st grade and is loving it. He has 3 other boys in his class from Kindergarten so he already has good friends. He really likes his teacher and is doing so good in school. He is becoming a strong reader and really seems to enjoy it. I am so proud of him! Here are a few pics from his 1st day. Carson is playing soccer now and is very busy "running around the ball". He loves the sport but is definitely not offensive at this point. His speciality is definitely baseball. The other day at Carson's school, there was a Cub Scout recruiter in the cafeteria asking the kids "Who wants to join the Cub Scouts", Carson replied saying "No, way, I am not a Cubs Fan." What a funny kid! Also, the latest accomplishment for Carson is Daddy taught him to ride his two wheeler without training wheels. Too bad summer is over now!







Gavin goes to preschool on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's. I am not kidding when I say he is the smartest kid in his class. He knows every letter sound and can tell you what many words start with. He was never nervous about school and is excited to be there. He is lucky to have one of the same teachers he had for Blossom's and Buds and another teacher who he likes a lot too. What a big 4 year old!!! Gavin is such a sweet kid. He just has the most amazing facial expressions and knows how to work it for sure! When he is in trouble or getting yelled at- he will look at me all sweet and cute and say "I love you mom". Awwww, my heart melts every time!










Morgan is doing great at walking and talking. She says about 10-15 words now and knows more than 10 animal sounds. She is such a sweet baby girl! I can't believe how fast she is growing! :( She loves being outside and playing with her brothers. Between the three of them- they must run around the circle of our first floor at least 20 times a day chasing each other. Morgan is right there with them and just loves it!

Princess Morgan is Walking!!!!

She did it! She finally started taking her first steps last week and is now officially doing laps around the house and everywhere else. We waited 15 months for this and are so excited to watch our little wobbly girl. She looks so cute and is doing so well with it. Good job Morgan!

Alyson's Baby Shower

Last weekend we hosted a baby shower for my sister Alyson who is expecting a little princess around 10/12. She is feeling well and loving pregnancy. She received tons of great gifts but she still needs one major thing.......... a name for little angel! :)