After a really busy 4th of July weekend we headed to the zoo with family visiting from NC for the morning. The boys requested a merry go round ride, as they always do.

John, ever the style icon, sporting his famous rainboots and pajamas look.

And here's just another day at the Brandstaetter Races.

John believes that safety is always his number 1 priority.

Exotic face painting with food, part I

My 4th of July mantle decorations. I get really into changing it up for the seasons.

I don't ever know who is more excited for Erik to get home from work, him or the boys. It's a toss up :)

Snack time!

Another successful visit to the dentist. Will is very proud of his clean teeth. This pediatric dentist is really great and they do such a wonderful job with the kids. Will is so well behaved for them. I can't wait to see how John reacts to it! John definitely enjoys playing while there. And eating the legos.

Brother snuggles in Costco. They remind me sometimes how much they love each other.

Snuggles call for group photos because this doesn't happen often with 2 little boys who are constantly on the go! John's expressions always crack me up. Will's smiles melt my heart.

My beautiful cousin Lori was in town with her family visiting so we went to Bastille Days with them! We had beignets (french donuts) and those were quite a hit. As was my Sangria. It was an overcast and slightly chilly July day but it didn't stop the kids from running around, doing the Kohls art project booth or playing with some cool puppets (that Grandma bought for them). It had been years since I had been to Bastille Days and I definitely want to go back again next summer!

The same weekend as Bastille Days there was a Hot Air Balloon Festival in Waterford. It was my bright idea to head there in the heat of the day on Saturday with the boys (quite a change in weather from Bastille Days). I was so excited to show the boys the hot air balloons after seeing lots of pictures from people on Facebook from the night before. But alas, as my luck always seems to go when I pick family events, there were no hot air balloons anywhere in sight when we arrived. Apparently they are up at dawn and at dusk. Do your research before heading to a hot air balloon festival, otherwise you will be sorely disappointed! Luckily the boys really didn't understand and had fun walking around the activities, doing a blow up maze and slide and eating some lunch.

We left Murf's parking lot and I told Erik that we should chance the hot air balloon festival again. I looked on the website (research!) and saw that they were set to take off early evening and would be lit up at dusk. I figured we could swing by in the car and catch them easily and pull off somewhere to watch for a few minutes. Well, that was silly of me. We got to Waterford and could see them still on the ground being blown up well after the designated fly time. So, we did what any normal family with 2 small children close to bedtime would think to do. We parked the car and headed to the field to wait it out. Brilliant decision. It pretty much guaranteed that the balloons wouldn't fly. And they didn't. The wind conditions were too severe (think only a couple mph) and it wasn't safe for them to go up. What seemed to us like a beautiful evening for it wasn't actually the case. But, they did blow most of them up so that you could view them. I imagine when they are in the sky and lit up its pretty beautiful. Luckily, the boys had a great time hanging out and we enjoyed the night. It was just unfortunate that we had 2 times on the same day that didn't work out as planned. Luckily, I'm used to being a Brandstaetter and things rarely go as planned! :)

John's attempt at wrestling Will from within the stroller. 

Look, there really were hot air balloons!

Daddy & Will shenanigans. Will may have been slightly overtired and hopped up on sugar from his custard...

I have no idea what John was even doing here.

Before Will was born I spent a Packers game making these pinwheels for his nursery. They hung up in there a long time before I finally took them down. Will still likes to pull them out and play with them occasionally. I walked in to our closet one night and saw that he had made an oval with them on the floor at some point during the day. He makes me smile when he does something like this.

The boys were mopping the windows so they could get a better view of the deer in the orchard.

We had plans to meet our group of friends at the petting farm this day. But, in transit, we started a phone call chain talking about how it was too hot to walk around a smelly farm full of animals. So, we chose a backup plan of hanging out at our friend Dana's house and letting the kids have some play time in the kiddie pool and their in ground sprinklers. It turned out to be one of the best, most fun days of the summer, complete with lunch on the patio and freeze pops for dessert. We are really lucky to have made these friends of ours, both the kids and the moms. No matter what, we always seem to have so much fun together.

Just how many kids can fit into a mini wading pool, anyway? Apparently 4... ha!

Freeze pops on the patio!

Nana and Papa came for a long summertime visit! We took them on all sorts of fun adventures while they were in town. We, of course, had to go to one of my favorite places that they had never been before: Costco! Lol! We did shopping, had lots of samples (Will's favorite) and Nana & Papa bought each of the boys a special book. Will picked a Mickey Mouse book that teaches him how to tell time. John picked an animal book with babies and the animal noises they all make. The Lion has proven to be his favorite. Papa and Will found a cool toy to play with on the way out. And Nana & Will read Will's new book minutes upon entering the house.

The boys got in some fun water table and kiddie pool play time in the back yard. I'm so glad its shaded on hot summer days!

We took Nana & Papa to the Harley Davidson museum to look at the cool motorcycles and to have lunch. This is a museum that is less than 30 minutes from our house and we had never been in all the time we have lived in WI. It's definitely worth a visit and was so cool to see the history there as well as the collection of people from all over the world that come to visit. We hope to get back there again sometime when the kids are a bit older and we can take some time to get a more in depth look at the motorcycles and the history.

 He had something very important to say here.

!) Will clearly got himself dressed on this particular day. 2) John appears to be plotting something. 3) There is no weekend complete without a pillow fight with daddy.

"I look like the great Sphinx in Egypt, Mommy."

(He learned that on Little Einsteins. The most annoying, yet educational show that is out there, in my opinion)

One of the great rhubarb harvests of the summer.

Exotic face painting with food, part II. Also, probably the best John face ever.

We had a playdate at my parents house when they went up north. Fenced in yard, kiddie pool, lots of shade and a patio for the moms to sit on while our kids run wild. All we were missing that day was a nice cold glass of wine.

The boys love the appliance aisle at Costco. Mostly because there is a movie about the LG Twin Wash washing machine. Apparently my children will watch just about anything that's on TV. It's also clear that they are being raised by an engineer and they like to see how things work. I love that John eventually notices I'm taking pictures of the 2 of them.