Summer is here and, for us, that means camping!!

We love camping!  

All of us love camping! 

And hiking ...  

... this particular weekend that we went camping, the mosquitos were abundantly harsh!! 

For real, we sprayed mosquito and tick repellant all over ourselves, practically bathed in it, and it just wasn't enough to deter the battalion of mosquitos!

So, the hiking was kept to a minimum.  

Like ... 15 minutes max ... literally!! 

This type of beauty to be discovered and uncovered ...  

... well, it would just have to wait.  Like until the first frost!!! 

The overlook was pretty!!

That's Horicon Marsh in the distance ... 

... we "MAY" venture out that way, depending on the extreme heat index we're supposed to be experiencing on this particular weekend ... oh, and the mosquitos. 

We did venture out to the marsh.  We went earlier in the morning and anticipated only staying for a short bit ... just to say we saw it.   

This mammoth is constructed completely from pieces of hribar ... amazing!! 

The marsh area is actually quite nice.  It's pretty.   

The heat was not yet too unbearable and the mosquitos were not much of an issue at that time. 

We enjoyed exploring and walking around ... even being a bit daring ... 

We saw lots of different wildlife ... 

It was pretty cool to watch this bird convention ... geese, pelicans, herons... all hanging out together. 

Lots 'o Lilypads! 

A Leopard Frog ...he blends in really well --- we saw about a dozen of these guys throughout our walk.

Guess what??  We made it through the whole marsh area ... well, at least we walked around the WHOLE thing.  One giant loop ... came out to about 3.25 miles.  In the heat.  And humidity. 

So, then we went to a splash pad to cool off!! 

It was so cold ... but so perfect!! 

It was just what we needed on a very hot day ... and it was FREE due to the heat advisory!!  YAY! 

Jonah and Rees even took it upon themselves to wade through a nearby stream.  No shame! 

Then we took a walk through the West Bend Labyrinth Garden that was nearby. 

It was so pretty, full or gorgeous flowers and stone paths in a winding labyrinth. 

It was a nice weekend spending time with most of our kiddos.  We saw some great sites and enjoyed the sights as well.  :-) 

Molly's HOSA Competition

For those of you who helped our Molly-bug get to Orlando for the International HOSA Competition, I thought I'd share a little bit with you so that you know your support was not in vain.  

I'll apologize for the lack of actual competition photos ... they aren't really allowed to take photos during the competition but the photo below is the team from Molly's school, all wearing their HOSA/Disney World shirts.  

Most of the photos are from their intermittent adventures at Disney World, where the competition was held.  They enjoyed a little shopping ....

... a little light-saber dualing ...

... even two Disney amusement park rides!!

Molly and her partner of forensic science completed the first round but then did not advance.  There were 12,000 competitors and they only had 126 students advance to the finals.  One student from Molly's school actually came in first place for medical reading.  That's pretty cool!

Another cool thing is that Molly participated in a 5K run.  

They ran through the parks ... and Molly said the coolest part about it was that the US Surgeon General ran behind her and her friends the whole time.

The knew he was because he was one of their main speakers during the competition.

There he is right next to Molly in the photo below!

Oh, and then they, of course, got a photo with Mickey Mouse too!!

They all had a great time and it was a really great experience for all of them.  

They learned a lot and are excited to see what the competition brings next year.

Your support is GREATLY APPRECIATED!

It was an honor to have so many of you backing her and rooting for her. 

Thank-you SO MUCH!!