I was so excited for our first camping adventure of the season that I decided to try out the bed before we even left the driveway!

Yep, it works!

Luckily, the bed passed inspection, so I told Dad to set the GPS for Hayward, and away we went! 3 hours later, we had arrived at my happy place…. just in time to set up camp for the night and sneak in a late supper. I jumped and jumped and jumped for joy! The only problem was when you play hard, you sleep hard…

Oops.

But, the rest of the weekend was no accident. I went fishing, relaxed by the mosquito-free campfire, roasted S’mores, watched fireworks, cruised the Flowage, stopped for the obligatory ice cream cone, played at a park, tried out new tricks on my bike, ate our freshly-caught fish, and fell asleep to gentle rain showers and thunderstorms! I had so much fun that I probably don’t need to go camping again anytime soon…. said nobody ever!! See you next time, Hayward, WI!!

Teaching Dad how to fish.

Good job, Ashlee!

Awww… that’s a cute family of Geesers.

Here, fishy, fishy….

I caught one!

We’ll keep this one for breakfast!

Life is good.

Blue tongue from my Superman ice cream

Relaxing at Treeland Resort

Cory and Ashlee fishing

Whoa!

Teeter-tottering

[Ash:] “Want a S’more, Jaeger? [Me:] More of what?!

Silly selfie!

Look, no feet!

Multitasking

Eggs & chorizo! One of my favs.

Swing time!

Look, no hands!

Brrrr!

Snuggling with mom!

Saying goodbye to Great Aunt Mary.

On May 21st, my Dad turned 93 years old, as you can see from the below picture:

Just kidding! He’s only a young, hip 39-year-old. Fooled ya, didn’t I?!

To celebrate, we treated Dad to gifts, birthday cake, and a trip to Manny’s Mexican Cocina for non-alcoholic margarita drinks, Mahi Mahi fish tacos, and fried ice cream. It. Was. Good. Cheers to being 39 and not 93, Dad!

In the months preceding my 3rd birthday, I might have been classified as a silly-willy.

But since then, I’ve matured into a much older and wiser version of myself and I must say that three looks good on me!

As a 3-year-old:

• Some of my favorite phrases are:
  • “What did you said?”
  • “What did I did?”
  • and “Because why?”
• Once I get picked up from school, you’ll often hear me ask, “How was your day, mom/dad?”
• And on Fridays, I exclaim, “It’s the WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!”
• Currently, my main sport is basketball. I love to watch it, I love to play it, but I do get a bit traumatized when someone falls down on the court.
• I suddenly have strong opinions about my wardrobe. (Just put down the jeans, hand over my fleecey pants & light-up crocs, and nobody will get hurt.)
• I remain a silent pouter.
• I’ve improved on my nose-blowing skills.
• I’m a really good eater, especially when I’m presented with Ramen noodles, strawberries, scrambled eggs with sausage or chorizo, Cheerios, macaroni and cheese, cheeseburgers, pizza…..
• My eczema still bothers me, but it gets better as summer nears.
• I’m pretty good at sticking fruit loops and cheerios up my nose.
• Instead of being scared of storms, I now look forward to snuggling safely between mom and dad in their bed!
• I’ve gone from zero to hero on my gift-opening skills.

The list goes on, but as you can see, it’s good to be three! This year is sure to be triple the fun… just watch!!

Three at last, three at last. I’m finally, FINALLY three at last!

My first conscious moments as a three-year-old looked something like this:

The minutes that followed were spent on an Easter egg hunt, because although it was MOSTLY my birthday, it was also Easter Sunday!

After finding a gazillion eggs that were hidden around the house, I also discovered some birthday presents that I sweet-talked my way into opening early.

At long last, it was time to get my birthday party started! And guess what I got?! Lots of love, ballons (by request), lovely gifts, and my very own 4-wheeler!!

After several test-drives on my new wheels, it was time for birthday cake and candles (also on my list of requests)!!! Being serenaded by a bunch of loved ones wearing Mickey Mouse ears was just what I needed!

And just to maximize our day while soaking up the sunshine, we hit the trails in caravan-style and enjoyed everything our backyard had to offer. It was refreshing and beautiful and….

…..zzzzzzz…. and, it was a wrap!

When we arrived at the much-anticipated day-before-my-birthday, I was a little disappointed to learn that I still had to wait a day until my birthday. But, Grandma and Grandpa averted a meltdown by letting me open a couple gifts early: the fanciest Crocs you’ve ever seen and a Harlem Globetrotters basketball!!! It was love at first sight. You should see how my shoes light up and how I can do fancy spin moves with my new basketball. It’s quite impressive.

Next, my neighbors (the Nicolais) invited me to their house to color Easter eggs! Who knew I had a hidden talent for decorating hard-boiled eggs?! It was so much fun, but the best part was when we paused for a Cheeto break.

After I woke up from a nap I didn’t agree to, the parents and I traveled to La Crosse to pick up my Mickey Mouse birthday cake and then headed to Sparta for some of my mom’s favorite PIZZA! I love when we order pizza-to-go and take it to the local park. I get to slide on the slides and swing on the swings between every bite, and once I eat my pizza all gone, we go on a bike ride all around town! Final destination? Rudy’s Drive-In of course. Root beer floats are the only way to conclude my birthday eve.

Light-up Crocs!

Yes! A Harlem Globetrotter’s basketball!

A birthday card from Papa Florence in the mail!

Here. We. Go!

Alright, girls… here’s how it’s done.

Just follow my lead, Ashlee.

Harley came to say hello

Cheeto break!

Done!

A masterpiece!

Thumbs up.

You can have this one, Dad.

Rudy’s Drive-In

I love you, Root Beer Float.

The countdown to my birthday officially began on Friday. I arrived at school, equipped with Mickey Mouse bubbles and egg-shaped rice krispy treats (compliments of Grandma and Cortney) so everyone would know who the birthday boy was: ME! Although it was fun commanding all the attention, I left school early that day and was greeted by Jackie, who surprised me with a Mickey Mouse balloon and two fun books for my reading pleasure. Thanks, Jackie!

After that, we picked up Dad and headed to Rochester to meet up with the rest of the fam for dinner at Newt’s before experiencing the most entertaining basketball team I’ve ever seen: The Harlem Globetrotters! (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!) They were SILLL-LY!

The night was complete after I consumed my grape slushy, received a couple autographs, and memorized some new basketball tricks.

What a FUN day! I love turning almost-three.

Birthday treats for my buds!

Jackie giving me an early b-day gift

Books!!!

Dinner at Newt’s

Walking to the Civic Center

Cheese!

It’s a family affair!

These athletes are awesome!

We had awesome seats. 2nd row!!

Warming up

Ugh. That should have been me out there. It’s MY birthday.

Me and Dad

Whoa. What’s he doing up there?

Sign here, please.

Hi! My name is Jaeger and I’m your future teammate.

Slurp!

Last weekend we visited Papa Florence! I think he might have missed me as much as I’ve been missing him! We had a quick, but fun visit. First, I showed him my very impressive basketball skills and then we toured campers in Burlington. I found the one I liked… it was equipped with a playground on top of it (see photo below). SOLD! After that, we visited a newly developed shopping complex in Brookfield where they gave away free roses, chocolates, golf balls and teddy bears to people who were awake…. too bad I was snoring away, but at least I woke up in time to play at the local park. Finally, I learned how to drive Papa’s golf cart. Watch out squirrels! There’s a new driver on the lawn.

Looking at car magazines with Papa!

We’ll take this one!

Hang on, Papa!

Like Papa, like Jaeger.

Quality time with Sugar

Cruisin’ for a bruisin.

Weeeeeee!

To beat the winter blues, we decided to head south for warmer more of the same weather. But although Tennessee was experiencing an unwelcome cold snap during our visit, we still managed to enjoy our big adventure.

Our first stop was at Ride Royal Blue ATV Resort, where we spent our nights eating homecooked meals and watching movies at our comfy cabin, while our days were maximized by exploring 130 miles of rugged, muddy, and sometimes-not-what-we-signed-up-for trails.

We have arrived!

I’m ready for an adventure!

Top of the world

Family photo

Grandpa & Grandma

Catch us if you can!

What a view!

Our mean machines

Hangin’ with my dad

Where would you like me to take you, Grandma?

Our cabin for the week

Bearadise

I could get used to this.

Basketball at the cabin

The cabin’s driveway

Our view from the cabin

Ready to roll

A cold morning

Brrrr

Braving the cold

Weeeeee!

Mud

Stuck in the mud

We got a little muddy

More mud

Lunch

Good job, Grandpa! Can I have a side of fries with that?

Nothing to see here, folks. This is just my grandma, looking for that contact she lost. (Right, Papa?!)

Muah!

Throwing rocks into the waterfall

Beautiful!

Waterfall snapshot – Take 1

Waterfall snapshot – Take 2

What a cute tree! Oh wait, that’s me who is cute!

I. LOVE. THROWING. ROCKS.

INTO. THE. WATER. ALL. DAY. LONG.

Hang on, Grandma!

Yikes!

The Elk viewing area.

This was the only elk we saw on the trails.

Pretending to be a Wisconsin Duck.

A mountain adventure

Me and the ladies

Next, we traveled to Nashville to take in the music scene. When we ate at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, not only did I run into one of my college-student-teachers from UW-La Crosse, but I also had the opportunity to debut my very own singing skills when I requested the musicians perform “Twinkle, Twinkle!” Unfortunately, stage fright got the best of me and now we’ll never know if I could have made it big.

Cowboy Jaeger

Having dinner at Margaritaville

Live music on the stage where I almost made my debut

Nacho tower!

Nashville’s downtown

Looking over the Cumberland River, at the Nissan Stadium

Let’s do this!

Swimming lessons with Dad

Drying off

Dinner at Puckett’s Restaurant & Grocery

My new boots! (Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!)

The biggest boot

Listening to country classics at the Ryman

The band

Outside of the Ryman

Walking the pedestrian bridge

Cheese!

Looking for mud puddles to splash in

Grandpa & Grandma posing in front of the city skyline

Taking a snoozer at the Hyatt

Checking my emails and drinking green beer

Pizza!

More nachos for Grandpa!

Cheers for St. Patrick’s Day!

Overall, it was a super-duper trip! I always love where our travels take us, but my favorite place to go is home.

In the driveway – Melrose, WI

Cleaning off all the mud

Helping to unload/unpack

Dad’s #1 Helper

At home, I relive the memories from the comfort of my own parents’ bed. Some highlights I will always cherish are the “firsts” I added to my list of accomplishments: I pooped in the woods (twice!), peed in the river, and got my very own pair of cowboy boots! Other memorable moments include devouring Grandma’s chicken salad sandwiches, laughing at Grandpa’s snoring talents, practicing my 3-point plays with the cabin’s wastebasket, throwing rocks in the stream, meeting my new friend Quoia (The Hyatt’s best employee), getting free swim lessons from dad, and splashing in every mud puddle that Nashville had to offer.

Tennessee did not disappoint! In fact, I will likely return once I’m ready to share my Twinkle Little Star with the world. Get ready to be part of my fan club!!

One of the best brunches I’ve ever had was when I got to eat with Justin (one of mom’s favorites) and then was introduced to his beautiful partner, Mariana. We’ve been wanting to meet her for a while and now we can officially say that WE APPROVE!!!!

I tried my best to interrupt the conversation every 2 minutes or so, just to make Mariana smile. I also attempted to impress her by ordering my own food (for the first time) and eating my scrambled eggs all gone. MISSION. A. CCOMPLISHED.

Mom says not everyone is fortunate enough to know such incredible, compassionate human beings. I feel lucky. Thanks for spending time with us, Justin and Mariana!