June 08, 2021

Summer Fun!

At the end of every school year I always have a mixed bag of feelings. I am relieved that I made it another year and yet sad that I won't see my students whom I have formed relationships with all year. The stress of the year melts away, but the nervous excitement of teaching day in and day out is also gone. As tough as it is to say goodbye to all my students, the thing that I cherish the most is the ability to spend a ton of time with Liv and Sam. We look forward to our daily adventures as we anxiously await for mom to return home. I know someday they won't want to be all together during the summer anymore and they will have their own activities and friends that they want to do more. So, we try to cram as much in as we can in the summer! We started our list tonight, here it is!

Titletown The first thing on the list of things to do was to hit up Titletown and go to the parks. So many great activities for the kids here.
	Ashwaubomay Lake One of the closest beaches to our house. Kids love that there is a playground right on the beach and it is made for sand!
Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve This is a fun nature preserve in Appleton. Kids love it because there are a lot of "workout" equipment stops on the hike.
	Point Beach State Park Do you like to throw rocks in the water? Then this is the place for you. Not your typical sandy beach. You'll want to bring water shoes. Lots of awesome, smooth rocks. Great for painting.
Potawatomi State Park Did you just say you like to throw rocks? Another favorite. This one is just before Sturgeon Bay in Door County. Lots of easy hikes. Beautiful scenery right on the water and wonderful spots to throw and skip rocks.
	Thousand Islands Environmental Center This area is in Kaukana. Boardwalks wind over the river and make for some very scenic hikes. If you follow the hikes across the rock and up the hill, you'll find yourself in a pretty cool Maple forest. Lots of awesome logs for building forts.
NEW Zoo Always a favorite. We always seem to notice something new. Kids loves animals. Duh.
	Botanical Gardens I am personally very excited to always go to the Botanical Gardens but the kids love to see all the new flowers that are blooming and to play in the children's area. Exciting things happening in the gardens as they plan to expand the children's area with forts, splash pads, more kid friendly gardens, and a playground.
New Parks! They want new parks! We have been to several in the area and of course we don't actually know their real names. We have the "spider web park" in Ashwaubenon/De Pere. We have the "elevator park". The "purple spaceship" park. And of course "Grandma's park". We are always on the lookout for new and exciting playground equipment!
	Wildlife Sanctuary Another favorite of the kids. Always fun to try and catch the wolves howling!
Trampoline Park You know what's more fun than one trampoline? 30 trampolines all connected together.
	Door County Summer fun would not be the same without Door County to our family. Egg Harbor beach is a short 1 hour away for some great sand time. The Farm is fun, hands on experience with all kinds of farm animals and short hikes. We will most likely hit up Grumpy's for ice cream as well.
Water Balloon Fight already got a few hundred stocked up. Just waiting for the perfect day.
	Maribel Caves One of only a few cave systems that are easily accessible for people in Wisconsin and only a short drive from Green Bay. There are several caves you can walk up to and some get in a little bit. There is one large cave that gives tours on certain Sundays during the summer. An easy hike that loops around the whole park and gets you down by the water. A definite favorite.
Mini Golf A hole in one gets you ice cream. What a deal.
	Bay Beach Amusement Park As the kids get bigger, so does their appetite for the more thrilling rides. We'll see where that takes us this summer.
Fishing recently up north we all went fishing off the dock for the first time and caught a perch, bluegill, and pumpkin seed in about 10 minutes. They were small so we threw them back in but the kids were pretty excited. Hoping to get out again!