Labor Day weekend Fun - Cow Chip Throwing contest

 John and I decided to go to Sauk City for the annual Cow Chip throwing contest over Labor Day weekend.

It had been two years since we had been there and we felt it was high time to go back.

We were not sorry that we did.

On our way, we stopped at East Towne where I bought some new back to school clothes because everyone knows it is easier to go back to school if you have new clothes to wear!

We ate lunch at the food court while the rain poured outside.

After the rain shower, we took off for Sauk City.

We started out at the park, walked through the craft show, bought nothing, and then watched the cow chip competition.

I actually had to bring a few cow chips back for Mrs. Hathoway's class since they had been discussing them on Friday in school, not sure why that discussion was happening but I was more than happy to oblige.

 It was the 40th year for the cow chip throw, so all the cows had birthday hats on.

 They handed out cow pies at exactly 3:14  (pies at pii, get it?)

 Here I am holding the cow chips for the kids at St. John's.

 We stayed at Ganser's Motel.

Such a bargain for a nice room.

 We walked on the riverwalk before having dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant.

 The food was yummy.

After our dinner, we went over to a local bar to have a few beers and watch the Badger game.

We didn't know the start time and were an hour early, so by the time the game started, I was ready to head back to the motel.

The clientele in the bar did not help the matter either.

A lady almost pushed me off my stool at one point.

We bought a six pack and some snacks and enjoyed the rest of the evening in our room.

Badgers lost but even that could not dampen our spirits.

On Sunday, we took a bike ride around Sauk City and Prairie du sac.

It is such a great biking city for us because it is flat.

We biked for about two hours.

Shopped at Greenway Station on the way home and had dinner at Fazoli's.

Great fun weekend.

Now, one more day until school starts.

I feel ready, but am I?

An anniversary, an ALS challenge, and a new patio

 First of all, I want to give a shout out to Alissa and Nathan who are celebrating six years of wedded bliss on August 30.
They had a beautiful wedding in a chapel on the Illinois Wesleyan campus and a reception on the campus of Illinois State.  It was nice how they could bring both their colleges together for the celebration.
It was on the day after their wedding, that Courtney and Paul left to bring Tizita home from Ethiopia.
So much excitement in such a short time.

Happy Memories all around.
Alissa and Nathan just recently purchased their first home and we are waiting patiently for them to be settled so we can go down and see it.

Now on to the ALS ice bucket challenge which has taken social media by storm.
I really wasn't expecting to be nominated, but one morning as I checked FB I saw that Angie Uttech had indeed nominated me.
Since I was at Courtney's at the time, Tizita helped me with the challenge.
I am not able to post the video on here, but I did post a picture just to remember the moment.

After I did my challenge, Tizita did hers and Mallory also did it after I nominated her.
It is controversial in that the research for ALS supposedly uses embryonic stem cells, but my feeling is that you can still take the challenge to raise awareness of this awful disease and then decide where you would like your donation to go.
Some people even complained about the clean water being wasted to dump on heads.
That doesn't even warrant an argument.
Let it go, people!

And finally, John and I decided it was time to enlarge our patio.
We are quite pleased with the finished product and look forward to many happy times spent on our new bigger patio.

 John used my dad's old bricks from an old portion of the patio to make this cute little walkway.
We also saw remnants of my dad's old patio made out of rocks when they repaired a crack in the cement on the existing cement.
Happy memories of that man buried all over this house.

So, this weekend we are heading to Sauk City for the annual cow chip throw.
If John had never worked for Kapitan in Sauk City, we would never have known about this charming little town on the Wisconsin River where the cow chips are thrown each Labor Day.
I will be back after our weekend.

 

Another Exciting Weekend Comes to a Close

John took Friday off and we headed up to Oshkosh because you all know by now that we take any excuse to go up there and spend time with our precious little "girls."

We were going to Appleton to see Ron White on Friday night, so we made a day of it.

We started with a picnic by the lake in Menomonee Park, followed by the zoo, and a train ride for John and Soli.

Tiz and I had other plans which included a cake.

Soliana painted this beautiful picture on an animal house in the zoo.

 Tizita painted this cute bunny on the house in the zoo.

There were  slushies all around at the zoo.  They were so refreshing on this hot, humid day.

 While John and Soli rode the train at the zoo, Tiz and I went home to work on her cake.

Tiz loves to throw things together and create things.

This is her S'mores cake, no recipe, just Tiz's own concoction.

She used melted chocolate chips, marshmellows, and crushed grahams.

It was rich, chocolatey and really very good.

Perhaps Cake Boss is in her future.

John and I enjoyed our dinner and the show in Appleton.

We laughed a lot!

 And yes, we did finish this entire pizza!

 

On Saturday we took the girls up to Monkey Joe's and spent four hours having fun.

 They both love the big guy!

 WE had a great lunch and it included sodas.

 Soliana really enjoyed all the big slides.

 Of course, we had to buy a few tokens, play a few games, win a good amount of tickets, and pick out a few prizes.  Both girls were very happy with their treasures.

Soliana also enjoyed the area for the three and under crowd.

Here she is riding the Lochness Monster for her Uncle Cheddah.

 

We are home now and ready for bed.

It was a great, fun weekend of memory making once again.

 

Just cannot let the Summer Go!

I know I said I am ready for school to start and for the most part, I am, most of the time

What I am not so ready to do, is let the freedom of summer go.

I like being able to come and go as I please without needing to be somewhere at a certain time.

I really like being able to make plans and spend time with the girls without worrying about schedules and deadlines.

So, for a few more days, we held on to summer.

On Tuesday, Courtney and the girls came out.

The four of us went shopping, first at the Outlet mall and then at Walmart.

Both girls found some nice back to school items and also picked out some fun things as well.

Claire's was a big hit where they both scored some cute glasses, purses, and lip gloss.

After our shopping trip, we headed up to Oshkosh for dinner at Hot Dog Charlie's followed by some TV viewing and bed.

Yesterday we went to Bay Beach.

I hope everyone realizes what a gem that place is.

For ten dollars, both girls were able to ride rides for four hours.

We ate lunch there, too, and again, the prices are so reasonable.

It was a great day to be together at such a fun place.

Here are some of my favorite photos.

Tiz and I also completed the ALS ice bucket challenge but that post will have to wait until next time.

Kicking off Tizita's Second Grade School Year

John and I make it a point to take Tizita on a fun outing to end her summer and kick off her school year.

We both enjoy these dates with our oldest granddaughter.

It is always good to have special one on one time.

We will start the annual tradition with Soli soon, too.

Before Tizita started 4K, we took her to Build a Bear, Monkey Joe's, and mini golfing.

Before Kindergarten,, we took her to Little America.

Last year before first grade we enjoyed a day at Circus World Musuem.

This year we took her to the Dells to ride the Ducks and go to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory.

2011 before 4K - Build a bear, Monkey Joe's, and mini golf

2012 before Kindergarten - Little America

2013 before First Grade - Circus World Museum

And finally, this year's special outing to the Dells.

We started our adventure with a ride on the Ducks.

I always enjoyed riding the Ducks and I wanted to share that experience with Tizita.

Somehow when one thinks of the Dells, it is not the waterparks that come to mind, but the old attractions like the Ducks.

And some things never change, like the driver's jokes, still lame and cheesy, but Tiz laughed.

After the Ducks we had lunch at the little Tiki bar that is by the Duck's Dock.

Tiz was fascinated with this coconut.

After lunch, Tiz spotted the Dells Mining Company.

When our girls begged to go mining, we always said, "No," but a granddaughter begs in a different way and of course, we could not resist, so off to do some mining.

For a mere $15.00, Tiz got at least a half hour of fun our of mining for precious gemstones.

She found a bagful and was very pleased with herself.

Gem mining is another "old" Dells attraction.

After our mining fun, we hit one more "old" attraction, Tommy Bartlett's Exploratory.

Again, it is a place, I remember taking the girls when they were younger.

We were one of the only about three families at the Exploratory.  I am guessing most of them were at the ever popular waterparks.  Better for us!

Tiz really enjoyed all the hands on exhibits, as did John and I.

The Exploratory is showing its age, hopefully they can make some repairs and keep it going, it is a gem in the Dells area.

After the Exploratory, we went downtown and bought some candy and few soveniors.

Then we took the Merrimac Ferry across the Wisconsin River and met the rest of the family at Blue Moon in Lake Mills.

It was a wonderful, happy day and a great way to kick off Second Grade for Tiz.