Wisconsin 2013 Week 4 Fun and Home Again

 We knew our time in Wisconsin couldn't last forever - with our last week upon us, we really tried to "redo" some of our favorite activities. 

 This is a black and white photo of one of my dad's field on the farm in Wisconsin.  I could spend hours just sitting out in the woods/field and listen to all the sounds of nature - well if it weren't for the darn horse flies I would :o) 

 We also took our nightly 4-wheeling rides - figured I'd snap part of the trail we road.

We enjoyed watching the birds on the feeders in the morning and at night.  Lukkas is quite the bird man - he was just fascinated by them and the birds were as equally curious about him.  In fact, one bird and Lukkas went around and around the feeder checking each other out - it was amusing!

Grandma spent time with kiddos in the morning and Grandpa took Leif and I out fishing.
 Sunrise over Deer Lake - our last fishing trip.

 We celebrated Great-Grandma Arlene's birthday with a special lunch at one of her favorite spots.

 We helped Grandma make a No-Bake Cheesecake!

We made homemade play-dough cookies and pretended to cook them in the oven.

And of course we helped Grandpa feed the cows each night.  Don't misinterpret Leinna's face- that is a huge smile of joy as "Norman" took the treat from her hand!

Lukkas was as equally eager to give the cows treats- check out "Jed's" tongue!  Amazing how animals can sense young children and be a little more gentle.  I think I've said this before but I'll say it again, if Lukkas could have found a way to get into the cow's fenced area- I think he would have been the happiest little boy ever! We couldn't get him to wave 'bye-bye' to anyone but the cows! 

This decorative rock in my mom's flower bed sums up our trip - simply JOY!  

So many great memories and special moments shared.  

I certainly realized how much I miss the "Lower 48" and look forward to the day when my family and I can move back and be closer to everyone.

Now - for the trip home...

As you may recall, our trip TO Wisconsin with our Little Mister was none to pleasant. A short recap - he screamed the entire time and man does he have a set of lungs!  So, I had several friends and family saying extra prayers for us as we made the journey home.  Our drive to Minneapolis Airport was pleasant for the first hour because Lukkas fell asleep - after that - the scream was on. Really?!? This kid loves to ride in the car and he's cranky already?!? 

Thankfully, many prayers were answered and after about 20 minutes of various 'games' on the airplane - he curled up in his car seat and slept the rest of the flight to Seattle.  I was so amazed - I didn't even think to take a picture but enjoyed the time and did some knitting!  

After our 4 hour layover in Seattle, we are at our gate ready to board in about 20 minutes and WHAM! He wasn't even running/goofing around - merely walking over to the window to watch the plane land and tripped and went head first into the window seal which had a very hard edge.  After maybe 30 seconds of cries - he was up and ready to go - showing all the other passengers he is a tough kiddo.  My coaching/teaching training kicked in as I watched for any signs of concussion.   I kept him awake about 30 minutes on the plane and then he was so tired he just curled up and went to sleep again!

  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who said prayers and thought positive thoughts for our journey home.  I know the prayers were a huge part of our successful travel with Lukkas, but I too prayed for wisdom about how to travel with him.  It dawned on me that his shoulder straps in the car seat force him to sit in one direction and when he sleeps he likes to lay on his side or his stomach.  So I didn't even buckle him in once we were in the air and that way he had the freedom to curl up on his side to sleep  :o)  

Leinna is a great little traveler and was so tired when we finally arrived in Fairbanks - 10:30pm (which is 1:30am in Wisconsin) she curled up on the bench and fell back to sleep while we got our bags and car seats loaded in the car. 

We spent a few days in Fairbanks with Leif's mom and dad.  Leif helped his parents with some projects around house and built us a new TV stand (will post pictures when I blog about rental in Eagle River ). My job was to keep kids busy and out of the way.  So we found ourselves playing at the park and enjoying the sunshine!

Finally, we headed "home" on Thursday.  The kids were so excited to see all their toys and books. Keep in mind they haven't seen these since end of May/beginning of June when we packed up to leave Cordova.  

It's good to be "home," finish our unpacking and settle into our new lives in Eagle River.