Saipan Hawleys: October 2007

Summer in Oshkosh!

We spent a good part of two months in Oshkosh this summer (as well as Ohio, Door County and Oregon). We are so lucky to have both of our families based in Oshkosh. The kids were surrounded with love, attention and affection from so many family members and friends. The next 24 photos are of fantastic friends, loving family and some of the many adventures we had during our days in Oshkosh. Enjoy!

Here are 7 of the 8 kids that 'belong' to me and my two best childhood friends. Sera Ann, Mary, Max, Tayah, Lily, Danny and Isaac (Joey was at soccer practice). Every year we all get together - and we always make sure to take a photo of all the kids together - fun to see how they all have grown!

Nate and the kids getting ready for a canoe ride in the channel and out to Monkey Island. I grew up with that canoe and have many great memories of my time with friends canoeing around the area and Monkey Island.

On the train at the Menominee Park! It is a yearly ritual to take a ride on the train. I think that I like it as much as the kids do!

Tayah and Sera Ann on the train...

Summer in Oshkosh!

Our day in Madison...Nate, Nick, Tayah, Sera Ann, Jess, Jon, Dan and Max. We had just come from the ice cream shop - notice all our smiles!

Cindy and Kerry - my two best friends from childhood. We have gotten together every time I am in Oshkosh. It is always so much fun to get our families together for a BBQ, let the kids play and catch up with eachother. I miss you both so much - but I am so very blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Kerry's youngest - Mary, with Sera Ann.

Cindy and I...
Kerry had gotten these (very) old St. Mary's jerseys that were probably volleyball or basketball jerseys...only Kerry would think to take them - but Cindy and I were soooooo glad to have them! What memories of St. Marys! Those were the days! Crazy thing is that 22 is my lucky number! Thanks Kerry...

Summer in Oshkosh!

Max and one of his many catches! Max takes after Bapa and loved to spend his time casting off the dock waiting for the fish to bite.

Guessing from Tayah's expression, she didn't really want to hold her catch! Good thing Baba came to the rescue and set the fish free!

The Wagon! This was our (Mary's and mine) wagon when we were kids. Now Tayah, Max and Sera Ann love to pull eachother around in it at Grami and Bapa's house.

Our day in Madison...in front of the captial building. It was fun to walk around State Street and reminisce about the old days and show the kids where I used to live.

Summer in Oshkosh!

I couldn't help putting this picture in...Max would be so embaressed. A few pictures down, I describe how he got his 11 stitches and how I would use bobby pins during the day to keep the hair out of his cut (which he was fine with)...but at night, when I knew the bobby pins would fall out, I put a pony tail in to make sure that absolutely NO hair would get caught in his cut. He could not stand the pony tail. However, he just looked so cute that I had to include a photo of Max in his p.j.'s, ready for bed after his cut was cleaned and medicated and his hair was pulled up.

Grami, Tayah, Max, Sera and I went to the Children's Museum and had a blast. It was a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon.

At work in the Water Works part of the Museum...

This was Max's favorite part of the Musuem- he spent hours gathering balls and putting them back into the tubes and tunnels where they would once again shoot back out. The whole room was filled with these tubes - it was great fun to watch Max be completely enthralled in this fabulous 'hands-on' science.
It was days like these that make me so grateful that I have this wonderful home (Wisconsin/Ohio) to come home to. Saipan is a magical island - but does not offer some of these opportunites for the kids. How lucky these kids are!

Summer in Oshkosh!

One of the kids favorite things to do at Grami and Bapa's is to hang out in the back yard...pick raspberries, swim, lay in the sun, run in and out of the hot tub, etc.

Max and his 11 stitches...
The day after his 5th birthday, Max and a corner of a wall had a fight...the wall won. Poor Max; Grami and I raced him to the hospital where he was very brave and got 11 stitches (not to mention ice cream and a popsicle from the doctor). While we were at the hospital, Bapa was at home trying to figure out just exactly the best way to get blood out of his white carpeting! (hint, hydrogen peroxide).
I didn't want to cut Max's hair short because we had Aunt Jess's wedding in two weeks, so Max was such a good sport and let me put bobby pins in his hair to keep it out of his cut.

At the Menominee Park Zoo with Grandma...

Still at the Zoo - Sera Ann saw all the green algea on the water and must have thought she could 'walk on water'. Before we knew it Sera was surfacing like a hippo from underneath the algea. She had seaweed hanging from every curl in her hair. I was picking seaweed out of her clothes for hours that night!

Summer in Oshkosh!

Tayah, Grandma and Max at the Menominee Park playground.

Sera Ann on one of the bikes that the Herolds lent to us. The kids had a blast on all the 'bikes'! A big thank you to the Herolds!

Sera Ann and one of her many expressions...a look of confusion??? Or maybe just a look of disguist for her mom..."must you always point that thing at my face!?"

Max and Tayah in front of Grami and Bapa's hot tub (where they spent many, many hours this summer!)

Summer at Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom's

This picture was taken at a Nature Preserve near Ada, Ohio. We spent almost two weeks with Aunt Mary (Uncle Tom was in France for work) at her house in Ada. This was our third summer in Ada and the kids and I had a blast. We have friends that we have seen every trip and also new friends that we met just this year. Mary's house is perfect for the kids - with a big yard and great patio. Tayah and Max celebrated their birthdays with their Ada friends, we went to the little ice cream shop just up the road from Mary's, went hiking, played in her yard, played at friends, went to the community pool with friends, went to the park and tons of other great summer adventures!
The bridge here is a suspension bridge and I must admit, a bit scary! But the trail was beautiful with lots of things to explore...and we ended the day with a picnic lunch in the preserve.

In the Nature Preserve...

Since we go to Mary's in the early summer, the kids always look forward to helping her pick out and plant her summer flowers. Mary is much more patient than I would be - and the kids love to help take care of 'their' flowers during their visit.

Summer at Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom's

Strawberry picking! Our friends took us to a family farm where they buy their eggs and milk. The family who owns the farm was very welcoming and showed us their cows and chickens and let us pick some strawberries. The berries that we picked were hands-down the best strawberrys that I have ever tasted. They practically melted in your mouth. The kids couldn't get enough! We will never foget those strawberrys.

Aunt Mary with the kids at the farm...

Our friends gave us some of the milk from the farm - and when we got home we made real whip cream to eat with the strawberrys (and blueberries). Nothing tastes like summer better than fresh cream and berrys...a little slice of heaven!

Aunt Mary and Sera Ann at the Nature Preserve - getting some fresh water at the pump.

Summer at Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom's

The kids had a blast - the water fight was the perfect thing for a hot summer birthday party. Max and Tayah were so glad to have such good friends to help them celebrate their birthdays in Ohio. And a few water shooters, a blow-up pool, a hose and what seemed like a few hundred water balloons was a great way to keep everyone busy!

Aunt Mary, Tayah and Max made an awesome 'beach theme' birthday cake.

Everyone taking a break from the water to enjoy some lunch and cake with ice cream. What a great day with great friends! We were truely blessed to find such wonderful friends at Aunt Mary's - thanks Aunt Mary and hugs and hello to everyone!