It has been awhile...

So things have been a LITTLE CRAZY at work lately and I have noticed that it has been a whole month since I have last posted any thing. I figured that I would take a moment to sit down and write about the moments we have captured in August. I realized though while I remember a lot more than I took pictures of, at least you can see that the Gardows are on the go as always. I wouldn't know what to do if that wasn't the case. Thank god for our health that allows us keep on moving. : ) Enjoy the new postings.....

One last time.....

The kids were up at the cabin all weekend as Friday Jon and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary and Jon headed up to the cabin on Sat while I headed over to the cities for a little shopping with my sister in law Ashley. The kids had a blast with their grandparents and the 4 wheeling.
When they got back on Sunday we went fishing with the kids (picture to come later of Madie's 1st fish) and then a quite night in. Today the last day of Summer the kids jumped in the pool for one last time of fun before we take it down for the season.
Some great pictures of the kids and their smiles......

Getting Ready for School.....

As we are getting ready for school and we have already gotten the backpacks, the crayons, the markers, the pencils, and folders, one thing remains is the school clothes. Normally Charlie has never really cared to go shopping and never cared what clothes I have bought, I think I have found that I have a new shopping buddy in my daughter and she is a DIVA in her taste. LOL LOL
Check out the outfit that she picked out all by herself right down the matching belt and matching hat. I think I have a girl that LOVES her fashion. I am sure as the school year goes one we will have more pictures of the outfits.




Charlie wanted to join in on the fun of the pictures.

A Day on the Lake...

So I am at work and get this call about 3:30 in the afternoon..... "We are out on the lake, any chance you can leave work early and meet us out here?" Although I didn't leave work till 5pm, I still did meet Jon, Tom, & the kids out on the lake for a little fun in the sun and water.
Of course I was water skiing again and no one grabbed the camera but I was out there again. I told Jon that people are going to think I am making it up that I am going- Madie chimed in and said that she would make sure we get a picture- LOL my little diva!!



Look at the excitement on their faces...

A Day at Lake Michigan

We headed off to Ashland for Jon's State Baseball tournament. Unfortunately they lost the tournament but since we were so close to the lake we headed off to the beaches for the kids to experience one of the Great Lakes.



The kids jumped into the lake and found it was EXTREMELY cold!!! They had a blast anyway!!






Practice skipping rocks...


I don't know why but this is one of my favorite pictures- it just is so sweet!!

Attempting the new....

As many friends and family have told me I should go "pro" with the scrap booking, this year I considered toying with the idea. My girlfriend and I are considering a local craft show this November to start with and just see how well it will go. Thinking about "marketing" ideas, I thought not only would scrapbook pages be a good idea, cards would be a good start as well to going "pro". Being that cards are really not my favorite pass time and I am still finding my niche with it, I had to chuckle to myself as I completed this one. I realized it was a sign for me.......

Sleep Over

Madie had her first boy spend the night!!! Quite innocent at this age but I thought it was so cute as the two tuckers themselves out playing all night. :)

A Pool Party Weekend

This past weekend we visited family and had a blast with the weekend long pool party. You will have to watch the video for all the fun that we had, in the beginning you will see Madie was a little nervous to jump off the diving board, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to the idea. There were games of H-O-R-S-E, 1:1 basketball, diving competitions, enter tube contest, surfing contest, and lounging around. At night we had Wii games and then you will see the boys making breakfast for the girls, Smores around a campfire that night and some of us that got a little tired through out the night as well. :) ENJOY!!!!

Still feeling the LOVE after 10 years.....

As we approach our 10 year Anniversary, it was cute to see that when we did think anyone was watching we had a moments caught by the "paparazzi"....


Or the playful water fights........

Or the moments of pool side chats....

Here's to another 10 years.

A day at Como Zoo...

We visited the Como Zoo and saw some animals........

and tried to stay cool in the summer heat...

Went on some rides with Lauren.....

And posed for some cute pictures......

A day at the lake....

We headed out for the day to play on the lake and brought along the kids friends, Lucas and Ben to play. Below you will see Chuck and Lucas as they begged Jon to go faster and try to make the tube "flip" with the waves and the turns. We never did get the kids real wet but as Lucas said "we need more challenge".

Madie and Ben hanging out- we were just a little more carefull with the little ones which made me laugh as Madie said- "I want to go out of the waves like Charlie", it was fun watching the kids laugh each time they hit the waves.

Wind blown Hair and a little siesta for the younger ones.

Warming up as we head back across the lake.

Mom actually dusted off the cob webs and tried skiing again. Madie was a little worried for Mom as she had never see me ski and was "very concerned" that I would get hurt. Surprisingly I was able to get up on the first try and ended up dropping a ski as well. I didn't think that I could make it in and out of the wakes but did well - I did pay for the activity the next couple of days as my muscles were not use to that kid of activity.. LOL... it was great to be on the ski's again. :)

Happy Birthday America!!!

WHAT A WEEKEND for the Gardow Family!!!

We have the great freedom of living in the USA which has been given & protected for us by the men and women in the armed services who serve & protect our country (my brother included). We thank all of you for all that you do to protect our country & freedom and the Gardow Family made the most of the weekend celebration. From the cabin, to four wheeling, to baseball games, to fireworks, cookouts, and boating, the Gardow's were on the move all Weekend!!!

The NEED for SPEED!!!

Our kids love to go fast this weekend as we found out more than once. As you will see their hair blowing in the wind as we raced across the lake. The kids begged and begged to go faster and we were introduced to doing a "wheelie" in a boat. Something the kids repeatedly asked for there after.

Now THATS a WATER SLIDE!!!!

Have you ever seen something like this where one creative mind finds a great way to take ordinary slides and make one of the longest water slides for their kids. We got to try it out as Jon knows the owner and he told us stop on out- so we did.......

Mom and Dad tried it out too. Mom's picture is missing cus she was SO FAST that Dad didn't think to pick up the camera. What a slide, what a great idea!

Swimming at one of the beaches....

Swimming at one of the sandbars.........

Cookout and Fireworks at the Steinmetz house....

Who says Mom's never like to get dirty??

While up at the cabin Jon and I took a ride into town, while it was not muddy out, we still got VERY dirty. We had to take some pictures to capture the fun that Chuck and Mom had.

Now that is dirty!!!

Fireworks after the baseball game in Hayward.

Fourwheeling at the cabin for the kids as well.

Now I am not so sure how keen I was on the idea of the kids riding the four wheelers themselves, but was told I was being an over protective Mom and to let the kids grow up. Felt so much better though when Jon told me that he only taught them how to put it in LOW gear so the kids couldn't go very fast even if they wanted to. I guess I have to relax a little- just want to make sure they remain safe. :)

Now this one is from when the kids had just unloaded the trailer and were to drive it around to the corner of the cabin - helmets were a MUST at ALL times!!!