Josiah's first trip Up North

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent MANY happy days and weeks "up north" when I was growing up.  I know that to some the term "up north" is not a specific location but to me it has always meant Minocqua WI.  Last weekend Josiah and I had the opportunity to venture Up North with Grandma Sissy and spend a few days at my aunt Jan's house.  Along with Jan, we got to spend time with cousin Courtney and her daughter Carly, and cousin Bill and his 2 kids Madison and Cooper.  It was definitely a crowded house with 5 adults and 4 kids under the age of 5 but we had a blast and made it all work as usual!  It took us 6 hours or so to get there but Josiah was an angel and we stopped once to eat and let him stretch his legs.  On Saturday, we headed to the casino to use their pool, it was a really nice zero entry so the kids went in and out by themselves and loved it!  Sunday, Courtney and I headed into Minocqua proper to hit up a few shops downtown, it is always a walk down memory lane for me when I go downtown and it was fun to share with Josiah.  We also visited Torpy park which we used to frequent when we were younger.  The kids loved being outside and swinging and running.  Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we had to head home on Monday.  We were happy to get to stop in Thorpe WI at the "famous" Thorepdo restaurant and catch up with Grandma's good friend Jackie while enjoying the good food.  The trip was so fun and we are excited to go again someday, hopefully soon!  I want to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to our hostess with the mostest, Jan!  Not only did she open her house to us, she cooked for us too and the food was DEEE-licious as usual!  Another thank you to Courtney who added her homemade mac-n-cheese to the menu, it is to die for!  Here are a few pictures from the trip:

All the kids with Grandma Sissy
(Carly 2, Cooper 9 mo, Maddie 4, and Josiah 15 mo)

Our best attempt at a group PJ shot

We headed downtown to visit a few shops I remember fondly including the Fudge shop where you can watch them make fudge

Carly and Josiah waiting to go into the "five and dime" store...a store FILLED with plastic toys and other things that parents loathe but kids adore!  I bought my first bottle of Disappearing Ink there, remember trying to get that out of my clothes mom...guess it didn't disappear quite as completely as the bottle said it would?!

Swinging at Torpy Park

The weather was gorgeous and the trees were turning so the view was stunning

I can't tell you how many games of Yahtzee these two have played, they are the Yahtzee QUEENS!

Carly pointing the fishing boat out to Josiah

Family:-)
(Sissy, Courtney, Carly, me, Josiah)