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.

family of four

to celebrate one of our last weekends as a family of four, we headed out on a mini-vacation to the twin cities.
first stop: the children's museum
[CAUTION: photo overload ahead...you've been warned]

it is heart-warming to see your children having so much fun. they were so engaged in every activity - eating up every moment they had to play pretend in an over-sized way. the first born tentative to try something if another child was watching, but when he thought no one was around, he was lost in his own little world. the little one oblivious to the other kids and ready for action. [insert annual family membership purchase here - thankyouverymuch]

second stop: the apple store
although we are late in jumping on the band wagon, we are now the proud owners of an iPad. I fought the idea for months, but have fallen in love with that thing. what I didn't fall in love with was the thirty minute search for a parking spot at the mall of america on a saturday afternoon so my dear hubby could battle the crowds and go to the apple store to get the iPad. yes I know they will ship it for free, but we were in the neighborhood. what's that you say? there is more than one apple store in the twin cities? duly noted. seriously. our extended time in the car did, however, offer an opportunity for the little buggers to snooze.

third stop: hotel
I have such fond memories of weekend getaways to a hotel in the twin cities with my family. ours almost always consisted of the embassy suites, mr. bulky's candy store, and fuddruckers (self service cheese sauce available to preteens...mmm hmm). certainly the highlight was the swimming pool. clearly this is still the case as evidenced by the slew of pictures from the pool and nothing else.

ah, so now I know why our parents chose hotels with kid-friendly pools; they have the power to induce extreme drowsiness in small children.

the chance to spend time alone as a family of four just weeks before becoming a family of five was priceless. it will be engraved in my memory always.