Fox Lake in June

To start the trip, Nana and Papa bought Cassidy her very own roller suitcase to take with her.  Cassidy had been checking out this suitcase every time they went to the mall.  So they took her to the store where she lifted it up onto the counter herself, then told the worker "I don't have a suitcase and I need this because I am going to visit Sydney!"  So here she is in the airport, showing off her new suitcase.

I'm not sure why she is posing like Angelina Jolie at the
awards ceremony. 

For this trip, we flew to Atlanta, then on to Milwaukee.  We decided to try the short flight from New Orleans to Atlanta to see how Cassidy would do without her carseat on the plane.  We were concerned about whether she would be willing to keep her seatbelt on and stay seated and weren't sure if we wanted to fight that battle, or the one where she continuously tries to kick the seat in front of her which her feet are basically up against when we use the car seat.

On the airplane next to Daddy

She did great on the plane without the carseat, and taking it through the airport with the gokidz wheels as a stroller and gate checking it saved us the baggage check fee too!

In Milwaukee, we stayed in the same hotel by the airport that has an indoor pool with two slides. 

The slides were a huge hit, especially since this year Cassidy was big enough to go down by herself!

Cassidy's swim lessons are paying off!  She's pretty comfortable in the water now.  We used her "floaty" for swimming to encourage her to be independent even though they don't use them in her swim lessons.  She did awesome, swimming all the way across the pool. 

After an evening in the pool, I met up with a couple of my Milwaukee friends for a drink.  Our conversations have evolved to include talk of babies, divorces, working versus staying at home, and what our kids are up to.... when did we grow up?!

Our first stop the next day was Kopps for lunch and frozen custard... the flavor of the day was Red Raspberry, our all time favorite!  So delicious.  And this began the food extravaganza that was our trip!

After our night in Milwaukee, we were off to Fox Lake to stay with our friends.  Cassidy has been talking about her friend Sydney since our visit last year.  This year was even more exciting now that the twins are walking and into playing too!

The girls immediately bonded again and the idea of having a sleepover in Sydney's room wasn't enough... they HAD to sleep in Cassidy's travel bed together!  We grown ups thought that wouldn't work out so well, but sure enough, they slept there every night except the last.

The sprinkler in the yard was a hit and a game of spitting water onto each other quickly developed - kind of gross, but they sure had fun!

Cassidy had a bit of trouble sharing, but overall they all got along really well without too many tantrums or fights.

We spent an afternoon at a nearby beach, but we didn't let Cassidy swim because there was a problem with the water containing a high concentration of a microbe that causes swimmer's itch in 30% of people.   We decided intense itching and a rash wasn't something we were willing to face on the tail end of our vacation.

"Why can't I go in the water?  Sydney says there are no bugs in there!"

Sydney plunged right in and spent most of her time in the water. 
She luckily was not one of the 30%!

What a beautiful family!

We also got to go see Sydney play soccer while we were visiting.  She's a rockstar!  She scored 3 goals, and even stole the ball from her own teammate to go score a goal.  If you want something done right, do it yourself!

The girls made brownies with Aunt Jamie.  Cassidy thought this was way cool because Aunt Jamie gave the girls small bowls of batter to eat before adding the eggs.  Mommy just lets Cassidy lick the beaters which doesn't allow her to eat nearly enough chocolate.

We had our prized sushi date night at Jamie and Jeremy's usual sushi spot.  It's their weekly date night location, so they know the sushi chef/owner which leads to delicious complimentary appetizers and aspirations to create their very own sushi roll for the menu.

The J and J roll 1.0!

As always, we topped off the sushi with a trip to Culvers for frozen custard. 

As always, we nearly peed on ourselves laughing so hard!

For Father's day, we spent the day in the yard and grilled out.  Mmmm brats! 

We also got to see an old friend from Chicago and meet his fiance and son!

We topped off the trip with dinner at Noodles and Company for Mac and Cheese.... my favorite!  They have a new menu item called truffled macaroni which Jeff got and was also pretty awesome. 

And we topped Noodles off with ice cream!  A LOT of ice cream!

And Sydney lost her first tooth while eating her ice cream!

Thank you Jeremy and Jamie for another wonderful visit! 

We had a fabulous time and can't wait to see y'all again!