2012 was a RUSHES year! Grandma Nettesheim tries to get us all together every three years and A LOT of us made it this year. We travelled on Monday (to Lincoln NE) and Tuesday arriving in Mukwonago, WI at Rick and Jen’s around 5:30pm. We spent the 4th of July with them and then went to a Brewers game on the 5th – it WAS 100+ degrees. We went to Kopps on Thursday and Friday nights and then again on Saturday morning as we left for the Rushes. We stopped at Lambeau field and Renards Cheese and the grocery store before checking in at the Rushes. We said hi to extended family and swam that night. Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting at the branch and the rest of the week was spent at the lake, on the playground, playing sports and eating Custard. We each took a night to feed the family and it worked out great. Suggestion for next year is less night meetings so we can enjoy the evenings all together. Mom and Dad went all out and got us each our own condos this year! I thought it would be lonely but it was really nice!

Brewers

Lambeau

Kangaroo Lake

The average reader should stop here because this will get long.

Benji spent his time playing games with his cousins (and Packer), mostly games with secret powers and make believe. He got pulled on 2 different tubes behind the boats! He loved eating the candy bars we brought. He finally decided to join in on the baseball games and got a few decent hits. He liked the paddle boats. We felt comfortable letting him go from one condo to the other and being the oldest at the playground. He seemed to enjoy that freedom. I just asked him what his favorite part of vacation was and got this list: brewers game, treasure hunt, inside pool, outside movie, beach. The neatest thing for Benji was watching him really swim on his own. As soon as he got to the pool he asked if he could go to the deep end with the cousins. I said not until we go and test it out. Ben went with him and he killed it. Jump in, get to the side and do it again and again and again. He even managed to play sharks and minnows with everyone.

Packer had a good trip, besides peeing his pants twice on the drive home! mostly his parents fault, we don’t like to stop unless we REALLY have to and he doesn’t say the pee thing until it’s too late. Packer loved his Nature Hike with dad. He loved going to the playground whenever he wanted and checking for cousins there. He loved the sand, any sand: beach, playground or volleyball court. He was afraid of the water snakes at the beach but got over it by the end. He did the paddle board and went on the sail boat with mom. He pushed his limits in the swimming pool, learning to do jackknives and cannonballs and he can swim down and touch the bottom!

Cali loved the beach. Everyday I asked who wanted to go to the beach and she would jump with joy! We would run to the water and she would go right in repeatedly dunking herself. She is our social girl and had fun saying hi to everyone and getting their attention. She also enjoyed the freedom of going to different condos to find cousins. She spent time with Anna and Mia but she also clung to Savannah and Julia as they babied her. Cali liked all of the farm animals except the little pig that bit her. She learned to jump from the side of the pool at 3 ft and jump swim her way back to the steps. We did suffer a few tantrums due to tiredness but such is the life of this three year old.

Rose is getting to be a lot of fun and a little less work when you can understand what she wants. She watched Blues Clues on my netbook for 6-8 hours each day of travelling!! She loved it and never tired of it. She still loves her bottle and usually needs it to go in the ‘beep beep” microwave before drinking it. She threw a fit at the Farm because she wanted to drink the bottle and not feed it to the little goats. She giggled with joy while getting pulled in the cousins wagon and she loved jumping off the side of the pool over and over again. Rose ate lots of sand, fought a lot with Christian, and cried whenever mom or dad were not right at her side.

Raymond is a whole new baby after this trip. I really feel like we brought a little baby with us and came home with a big boy. He turned 5 months on our last day. He is super grabby now. He learned how to roll. Like roll all over the room and turn on his tummy and really just get all around. I can’t put him on the couch or bed anymore or he rolls right off. Naptime will have to be in his bed now. He tried his first lick of cracker! He took the pumped milk really well. He is a constant thumb sucker which makes him a pretty easy baby 🙂 He got drug around wherever we went and took naps wherever he could. He won everyone over with his big smile and alfalfa hair.

Ben was in heaven during our trip. He loves the midwest. He loves his family. He has fond memories of going to the Rushes as a kid. Put it all together at one time and he is set. He ate lots of Kopps Custard. Got to go see his Brewers play. Stopped in Green Bay (enough said). He quoted Lampoons vacation going over The Mighty Mississip and drove with the windows down soaking in the Wisconsin air whenever he could. He was surrounded by his Grandma, Parents, Siblings, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews and US of course! Got to go fishing with his Dad and Bros. And topped it all off with official Chocolate Milk of the Packers.

I really enjoyed the vacation. Whenever Ben is around I have a little more freedom and a lot of fun. I love the water so being at the lake is just perfect. I went to the beach every day and stayed as long as the kids would let me. I even managed a couple runs on the kneeboard. I read two books and did a puzzle. I enjoyed being with family. Nettesheim’s are great. I loved not cooking dinner for 2 weeks and the kids had lots to do so that takes the pressure off of me. I finally got over my sickness while in Waukesha so that was wonderful. I docked my cell phone and used it as little as possible. I enjoyed the smooth car rides that did not entail the breakdowns of my youth (that is a story of its own). I would drive the 4 days in the car and do it all again in a heartbeat.

We had a really nice Easter Sunday. I love having my in-laws so close. Ben’s parents invited us all over for dinner and an egg hunt. We spent the day at their house after church with lots of cousins and grandparents. Rose played in the sandbox 90% of the time. Benji spent his time hiding out with older cousins. And Packer and Cali both have a pack of cousins their age that they played with. Each kid got to find about 20 plastic eggs out in the yard. I loved just relaxing and watching the kids have so much fun. I am grateful for Jesus Christ, His atonement and resurrection. Once again Ben and I did our best to help the kids recognize the reason for the celebration, which mostly consisted of asking the same question several times per day, “So, why do we have Easter?”