This morning, Mike and Benjamin drove me to work and while we were in the car someone on the radio said something about Wisconsin and Benjamin's ears perked right up! "Wisconsin, Mommy?? Is that where vacation is?" I don't think he's ever grasped the meaning of the word vacation. Whenever we take our next vacation, I know we are going to have to explain to him why it isn't in Wisconsin or at the Jellystone Resort where we stayed. To him, "vacation" was the entire specific experience and I guess that makes sense.

We spent the holiday weekend in Wisconsin...on vacation...with Mike's parents, Joe, Jen, AJ and John. We drove to Warrens, WI on Thursday evening after work to the Jellystone Resort there. Cindy and Bert stayed there with us Thursday night and Joe and Jen met us all there Friday evening. The place itself was not exactly our cup of tea, but we really did have a great time. It was a nice opportunity for Benjamin to spend some quality time with his Grandma and Grandpa and of course, his best buddy, AJ. We did a lot of relaxing, swam around in the pools and waterpark, enjoyed a couple of campfires and celebrated Cindy's birthday. We didn't exactly make it out to any fireworks on the Fourth, which turned out to be a good thing. While leaving dinner that night, we caught some of the local display and Benjamin was NOT a fan. He kept saying, "I don't like fireworks, I want to go back to the car." So it was a good thing that we didn't invest a lot of time and energy trying to get a good spot to watch them anywhere!

Benjamin really enjoyed the waterpark. He is so brave with trying out new things. He rode in the Lazy River with us, sat in the hot tub, went on some waterslides and even endured the wave pool. That was all fine and dandy until I had to go and slip off the tube and take us both under the water while simultaneously scraping up my knee into a bloody mess. It took a while to settle us both down after that mishap! But not too soon afterward, he was back in the Lazy River with Daddy!!

Oh! We made a discovery this weekend! Benjamin has an imaginary friend...."Salty" (I know, we don't get it either). Bert and I were hanging out in our cabin with Benjamin and had an interesting encounter with his new friend. He was talking with him and asking Salty questions that apparently he answered back to. Ahh, the imagination of a child!!

This coming weekend we are going to be at the St. John's Blockparty on Saturday with my parents. St. John's is our church and they put together a really excellent music festival on the blocks surrounding the church. This year the headliners are Soul Asylum and the Bodeans. On Sunday, I am travelling down to Chicago for a work-related conference, which should be fun. It will be nice to be treated to a four star hotel and good food, though I know I will miss my 2 guys!!