Our adventure with the "Junkins" begins!

Our last week of vacation was spent in Door County with our close friends the Johnson's (Junkins according to Elyse!). Our vacation planner, Doug, found this great log cabin in Sister Bay.  It was a great home away from home for all twelve of us. Yes, we Nimricks are not the only crazy ones who have four children! 

Our Sunday began with mass at the local church. I'm sure we looked like quite the crew. We met some new friends who encouraged us to check out Peninsula State Park. We toured a lighthouse, climbed a 75 foot look out tower, and hiked through the woods. There were so many mosquitoes I thought I was in the movie "The Birds". How many mosquitoes can one eat before getting sick? I can now say you should be fine with about seven. After that I am not sure. Despite the mosquitoes we had a great day. 

Holy Hill!

On Saturday we made a stop at Holy Hill National Shine of Mary, Help of Christians. It is absolutely breathtaking. Elyse climbed all 178 stairs up the scenic tower. She kept us all motivated saying, " Come on guys, we can do it!" and " Whew! Just a few more!". I was so glad we were able to attend mass at this beautiful basilica. For lunch, we ate at the Holy Cafe. Brooke was relieved to see they serve bacon for lunch! We ended our stay with a leisurely walk through the Stations of the Cross that are scattered in the surrounding woods. The kids were excited to see the different stations they acted out at school this past Lenten season. It was truly a blessed day!

Uncle Gary and Aunt Charlie's home!

Next,we headed to my Uncle Gary and Aunt Charlie's home! It was great to spend time with my family.  I wish we would have stayed a little longer. I really enjoyed visiting with them. I can see so much of Dad in Uncle Gary. My aunt Charlie has such a beautiful, warm heart. We spent a day at the Milwaukee County Zoo, which was amazing. The last night we were there all of my cousins came with most of their families. Their children are growing up to great people. It seems like just yesterday they were my children's ages. Cousin Mark was a huge hit with his scavenger hunt. He even helped Brooke lose her tooth! Thank goodness the tooth fairy found us in Wisconsin. 

Canoeing in Spring Green.

We said goodbye to the Dells and the Nimricks and headed to a campground in Spring Green, WI. Doug found a little cabin that we settled into for the night. The next day we piled into two canoes and traveled down the Wisconsin river. We had so much fun! We made one stop at a sand bar to play with the minnows.   ( Magi, if we only had some Cheetos for the kids toes!)