Welcome Home Jon!

My brother Jon had come home from another year of deployment in Iraq a few weeks ago, so we went down to my parents for a nice "Welcome Home" picnic and to spend some time with Uncle Jon! 

On the way down we saw this hot air balloon and the girls thought that was pretty cool.

An updated Mrnak family picture

Grandma & Grandpa and all their grandkids

The original 5 Mrnaks

The boys

Us 3.. lol

Aiden got to spend some time with his friend Jeremiah, they are 7 days apart.  It was nice to have some chat time too with his Mommy, Felicia.

Hailey and Auntie Mel reading books

Taylor thinks Jeremiah is so cute! and he is.. so so smiley and happy :)

These are all the kids that were at the picnic.. Dayne, Kaidynn, Brynn, Taylor, Chad, Jeremiah, Megan, Madi, Aiden, Hailey, Bryce, and Tyler

The little girl cousins. My cousin Lisa's girls, Kaidynn and Brynn, Tim & Mel's girls, Megan and Madi, and our girls, Hailey & Taylor

The girls had fun beating up on Uncle Jon Sunday afternoon

He set Hailey on the table and she thought that was a perfect opportunity for some sweets :)

The girls played in the kiddy pool before we left to cool down

and Aiden had some more Grandma time in the shade

take a break from swimming for a wagon ride

It was so nice to spend some quality time with family and we are all so relieved to have Jon out of the war! Only a handful of months left for him in the Army thank goodness.. world, don't do anything stupid in the meantime please! 

Aiden's First Haircut!

Aiden got his first haircut yesterday 7/10/11 at 3 months 10 days old!  Ben has been wanting me to cut it but I wasn't quite ready :)  It's growing in at different lengths (mostly on top and one side of his head since he rubbed off the other side) and it's coming in a lighter color so I decided to do it yesterday!  Here is Aiden's before hair...

Grandma held him and Uncle Jon took pictures

He wasn't too pleased with the noise and vibration on his head

It was really hard to cut! We tried getting it wet but that baby hair just didn't want to buzz!  I got most of it but snipped some with the scissors and think there are still a few long hairs that dodged the buzzers.

Here's his new hair! I love it :)  Daddy's pretty proud too that he has short hair like his now..lol.

I was worried it would make him look more like a baby but I think he looks older!

Taylor's First Dentist Appointment...

...went really well!  She loves the dentist and can't wait to go back! 

The hygienist took x-rays (pictures : ) of her teeth and showed them to Taylor on the computer. She thought that was pretty cool. The dentist cleaned her teeth and counted them (she has all the letters of the alphabet up to T- 20 of them!).  Then he gave her a fluoride treatment, a new toothbrush, paste, flossers, and a cool pink timer.  She's proud of her sparkly, white teeth and is more dedicated then ever to brush her teeth at least twice a day!  They were awesome with her, played games with her and goofed off the entire time. I'm glad! I was a little nervous of course.

Weekend Part 2, Ski Show, Fireworks, Cookout & Beach!

After the zoo, we followed Grandma & Grandpa M home to spend the rest of the weekend. We watched the ski show in Twin Lakes Saturday night, where we sat with Tim & Mel & family plus Gary & Karen & Jared were down visiting them. The ski show was fun, but it got pretty hot. We went home and cooled off a bit before heading back out to the lakeshore to watch fireworks.

Both of the girls stayed awake for fireworks this year.. barely. Hailey crashed before they were over and Ben had to try hard to keep Taylor awake. Aiden crashed and even the loud ones at the end didn't wake him up. I held one ear against me and his blankie folded up against the other one :)

The girls had fun on the yard swing at Grandma and Grandpa's.. swinging and climbing on it.

Aiden just chilling on the hammock with Grandpa

Add a couple more :)

Dad's brothers and wives came over for a cookout Sunday night, Uncle Ken and Donna, Uncle Tom and Auntie Jackie. And, Tim & Mel and kids came over as well. 

Tyler also thought the yard swing was a cool place to climb :)

Auntie Jackie went exploring with the kids and they found a mulberry tree. Hailey said she was trying to make paint :P

Must make smores when there's a campfire

Us ladies and kids had a blast at Lake Geneva beach Monday while the guys went fishing.

Aiden didn't want a ride just then :P

The girls are little fishies and spent so much time in the water. Taylor hardly got out the water and Hailey spent lots of time in the sand and shallow water!

Auntie Mel giving some of the kids a ride on the raft Grandma rented

Grandma and Mommy took turns in the cabana with Aiden, though he did spent a little time with his toes in the water. He liked watching the waves come in and out :)

Taylor had fun borrowing her cousin's kick board

One of 3 naps in the cabana, he did great at the beach.

Another fun, busy weekend is over! We all need a day to rest and this weekend we'll be back down to Mom & Dad's.  They're having an open house/picnic for Jon as a welcome home from Iraq on Saturday and we're excited to see him! He'll be home for about a week before a little vacation before heading back to GA to finish off his career in the army early next year.  Thankfully (fingers crossed) he won't have to be deployed again!

Weekend Part 1, Hotel and Milwaukee Zoo

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend with family!  Our weekend started at Best Western Midway Hotel in Brookfield where we met Grandma and Grandpa P for the night then went from there on Saturday to the Milwaukee County Zoo where we also met Grandma and Grandpa M!

Aiden fell asleep int he hotel room right before everyone wanted to go swimming so we hung out in there and watched from the balcony. He hadn't napped much all day so he needed it!

The butterfly exhibit at the zoo was pretty neat!

But the girls were scared to hold them

Aiden didn't mind!

He thought the reptile house was pretty cool :)

and these girls loved the snakes, goofy kids :) scared of butterflies, love snakes.. lol

The girls rode the ponies too, of course. One of their favorite parts.

I spy a monkey by the giraffes!

and they got to ride the carousel two times!

Sleepy boy on the train with Mommy

It was a hot, humid day but the humidity cut way down after early morning and it wasn't too bad!  I tried to stay in the shade with Aiden and the cool animal houses cooled us off in between, plus there was a breeze.  Thanks everyone for enjoying this fun place with us again this year! We even ran into Justin & Heather & kids, plus Jeff & Aleigh and Arianna.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Happy 26th Birthday to Ben today, a wonderful father and fabulous husband! We love you!