Brothers

Weekend picture round-up....

First stop - The World's Largest Brat Fest, which, conveniently enough, is less than a mile from our house.  Close enough, in fact, that we could hear the live entertainment all day and into the night.  Good that we like that sort of thing.  You gotta embrace all the sounds of the city if you're going to live right smack-dab in the middle.

Anyways, we went, 2 1/2 times.  Friday night, we went with some friends/neighbors.  Kids had a great time.  We adults laughed and enjoyed ourselves too.  We left probably earlier than we wanted to because the sprinkles were getting bigger and the sky was looking more ominous.  Saturday night, just the five of us went back.  One requested that he turn in his date night with me so that the entire family could enjoy the brat fest (actually, the rides on the midway) a bit more.  Sure, we responded, feeling generous and a bit foolhardy with our money.  

All three boys enjoyed the Gravity Jump, or whatever it was called.  As you can see, cautious Mr. One decided to wait until the end of our time there (when it was dark) before giving it a whirl.  He was the only one to do a double-flip, mid-air.  They all made it look so effortless and fun.  It was hard to be a curmudgeon about the obscene amount of money we spent on the rides.

On Monday, we decided to join the rest of Wisconsin (and half of Illinois) at Devil's Lake State Park.  It was a bit tricky finding a parking spot, but with patience and good humor (at least by the driver), we persevered.  We set off to hike and rock climb and have some good old fashioned family fun (damnit).

 But seriously, it was a great day.  The kids really enjoyed climbing around on the huge rocks.

We got halfway around the lake (Mark, for your orientation, we parked on the North side, took the Tumbled Rocks trail on the West Bluff, and followed the lake, counter-clockwise) and landed on the South Shore.  Although we had packed food to grill out, it was stuck in our car, halfway around the lake.  I was prepared and had my wallet in the backpack, so we decided to eat at the concession stand.

Kids were happy but tired.  Bob and I strategically started our "what are some of our family values?" discussion, and it didn't go very far.  But, we had already decided to have low expectations on it.  We ended up agreeing on one value (Brothers Stick Together - which is something I've been hammering away at them for years, and I'm certain they just agreed to it to move the subject along).  Bob and I tabled the topic for then, suggesting we can bring it up again later.  It felt so good to be flexible and reasonable, sometime I think we parents (at least, the two of us) lose sight of sometimes.  So even though we didn't get as far on the discussion that day as I would have liked, it has started.  We will pick it up as we march along in life, adding more values to our list. 

After our lunch break, the kids asked to play in the water.  Bob and I found a shady spot and parked ourselves while the kids happily played catch together with a little football.  And there it hit me - the obvious truth.  Our kids fight each other, sometimes really bad.  But, they do have their times when they get along, sometimes really, really well.  I will not be able to extinguish the fighting all together.  I need to focus on the positives, on those sweet moments (however rare) when they like each other.

As the afternoon started slipping away, we decided to keep moving.  We followed the railroad tracks along the East Bluff towards our car, this time, shirts (and shoes) off.  Three has taken to wearing a green "Merry Christmas" band (like those yellow LiveStrong bands) around his ankle.  I don't get it, but he sure is cute.

 I caught this a moment too late, but I'm keeping the picture as a reminder as to what was.  One and Two made up and played an elaborate game of hot lava/railroad tracks, which included, for 100 steps, One carrying Two on his back, piggy back style.  They were lost in their own world, laughing and playing and avoiding the hot lava.

 It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful trip.

I call this one, "They DO like each other!"