wautoma 2012

the annual wautoma post is here!  for a little look back click here or here. note to self: go back and finish 2011.  the littles officially outnumber the grown ups now and we are ever-so-grateful to have had everyone able to join us this summer.  last year matt's parents put on a beautiful addition to the cabin and we feel so thankful to have the opportunity to take over the joint for one weekend every year.  thanks, k & k!  there is an obscenely long video at the end, so I'll keep the words to a minimum and let the pictures speak for themselves. this year's highlights include:
happy travelers- our three boys were top notch riders. minus a diaper change that warranted an entire wardrobe change for the peanut on our way home, we made it there and back with nary a tear. success.

delicious food - as per our becker family vacations, this year we switched things up and everyone served an entire meal. it's fun to see what everyone comes up with and it makes it so you only have to prep/clean-up one major meal all weekend!

swimming - the air temperature was to.die.for all weekend, subsequently making the water temperature almost unbearable.  the dads were nominated to take the munchkins swimming (you're welcome honey!) and they weren't exactly pleased, but I'm certain that the smiles on the wee ones' faces almost made up for the near hypothermia.

boat rides - the cabin/cottage/lake home (choose your fave) is located on a small no-wake lake in the middle of wisconsin.  as long as the christian camp is not in session, it is super quiet and very peaceful. it also means there is no water skiing, tubing, wake boarding, or speed boats for that matter.  we are all still able to ride on the pontoon together and go for a nice early morning breakfast cruise or pre-dinner turtle watching excursion. a special thank you to the parents who took all the walking/talking tots out for a ride while the rest of us packed up the cars. amazing what can be accomplished when there are no interruptions lovely little ones running around.

optional: actual boat movement


nature hikes - [nerdy teacher alert] I arranged for the little guys to go out on a nature walk to collect special things that could fit in their bags. my teacher voice came on full force as I passed out each labeled bag and gave directions for what should and shouldn't go into their sack. after being out of the classroom since april and not headed back for another year, I was pleasantly surprised that I still had "it" - woo hoo!  alas, a little dinner bell was being rung by my favorite four month old and so I handed over my teacher duties to matt, sarah, and shawn. sarah clearly took her teacher role quite seriously...I'm so proud.  after a little post-walk-we-saw-poison-ivy, hand washing session and some dinner, I took the six oldest out to the deck for craft time.  they all listened and followed directions marvelously...except my own two. isn't that the way it always goes? argh.  the end products turned out more adorable than I could've imagined and, more importantly, they were all so proud of themselves!

slightly insane parents - eight adults, nine kids, need I say more?

binocular story: sarah is taking her turn checking out the man who is fishing out in the middle of the lake in a small boat with two other guys. why is this a sight you ask? he is wearing nothing more than a speedo swim suit. oh and nice of him to stand up and put one foot on the edge of the boat for all to see. I mean, one wouldn't want to get tan lines whilst catching their dinner now would they?

family shots - we somehow got away without a bansemar family photo...how did I allow such nonsense?


trios
we managed to have nine kidlets in little bundles of three and each trio just happens to have one odd gender.  ironic...you'd almost think we planned it that way.  here are just a few of the many attempts at a group shot with each set.
the babies

the middle ones

the big kids

adorable children - and now for one of my favorites of each little in order from oldest to youngest.

in lieu of an entire group shot, here is one of all NINE munchkins sitting still and facing forward (notice I did not say smiling...we don't profess to perform miracles here folks).

and just in case the barrage of photos above are not enough for you, here is a little video I threw together.

Wautoma 2012 from robin kroening on Vimeo.

kissing cousins

eli and reece are 15 days apart.

I can't wait to watch their relationship grow.

p.s. the caption possibilities on this one are endless!

paaar-ty time

months ago I had decided that I wanted miles to have a curious george party.  he loves george - the books, tv show, movie.  I had envisioned the invites, cake, food, and games.  but when I asked miles what kind of party he wanted, he said, "I want a pirate party mom!"  I admit that I selfishly convinced him that he should go with the george theme.  after all, I am pretty sure that this is the last year I will be able to even help him choose a theme.  he's discovering all sorts of big boy things and I wanted to enjoy one more "little boy" party theme.

I couldn't do it.  he lights up when he plays pirates.  he grabs his sword and shouts "avast, me hearty?"  I had to give up my vision of a sweet little monkey and go all out on a piratey celebration fit for a crew of sea dogs.

he sat on my sister's living room floor and helped me make up names for the food and put stickers on the labels. the rest was a secret. the look on his face when we started putting everything together that sunday morning was priceless.  my camera, of course, was safely tucked into the case so I missed the initial reaction. this "oh brother, take the picture mom!" photo will have to suffice.

oh wait, here's a little smile.

the weather was holding out for us. not too terribly hot, but certainly warm enough. we began with every little boy's obsession: tattoos. I have no idea what it is with those things, but I've never had a few dollars bring hours days of utter excitement to their faces. they love to tell everyone they meet about their tattoos, explaining each one in great detail. and really? what is a pirate without at least a couple of good tattoos, right?

we have stuck to family only parties so far. I figure that there will be years and years of crazy parties with at least a dozen little friends arriving with a present and expecting nothing less than a three day sugar high in return. for now, this means that GAME TIME is limited. miles is the oldest and a toddler can only do so much. but we love games here, so we went all out. it didn't really matter if everyone understood the game, they just have fun participating. first on the agenda was a good ol' game of "pin the eye patch on the pirate."

poor miles wasn't familiar with the concept and had a meltdown of sorts when he discovered that he had to be blindfolded and his patch wasn't perfectly placed on the pirate. he's definitely our child. sorry little buddy.

henry and josiah thought it was great, note to self: I certainly didn't need to offer anyone more than just one go at it. that was plenty.

everyone who completed the eye patch game received his (or her) very own eye patch. or if you were under the age of four, you were a lucky winner. low expectations here, folks. ARRGH!

we sent them all over to walk the plank and earn their hook. this went over swimmingly; we didn't end up with even one wet sandal. success!

what would a pirate party be without a treasure hunt? we outfitted all of them with compass and treasure map. kuddos to my awesome hubby for making each little pirate his very own map. love him.

I will let the photos tell the story of this one. pay attention to the finding of the treasure. what a sweet birthday boy.

the booty? pirate daggers for the three big boys, infant/toddler snacks for the little ones, and a bandana, sword, and stickers for everyone. contrary to the look on callan's face, they all seemed pretty jazzed about their loot.

a special thank you to my wonderful family members who volunteered to make some of the food.

the boys and I had just moved home less than two days before the party. I had purchased/planned most of the details before reece was even born; anticipating party planning with a newborn. I did not, however, anticipate it being quite this stressful. needless to say, I forced myself to let go of a few details...namely the cake and the invitation.  I am happy to report that the modified cake actually turned out better than my original plan.

the lack of an invitation is still a thorn in my side. I just love making them and it killed me not to send one out. I'm sure miles will never notice and in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal. it's about the memories, right?

opening presents is always touch and go with our little man. he doesn't like to feel like he's being laughed at and he's not a huge fan of having the spotlight on him.

we eventually had to move the presents and the birthday boy inside to avoid the impending rain. all that movement for a few little sprinkles. oh well, better safe than sorry. after all, we can't let his new wad of cash get wet now, can we?

our families are so generous. miles was showered with some really fun new things. a bike, books, bubbles, games, costumes, baseball game tickets, sporting gear, and a bunch of other toys. lucky little guy. he sure is loved.

celebrating our sweet boy with those who love him the most is such a blessing. we love having everyone so close and this annual cousins birthday shot makes it all worthwhile.

happy birthday mr. miles. you are a special little boy. we are proud to call you ours!

sunny much?
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remember those costumes I mentioned?