The Oak Leaf Trail Revisited

On Saturday, John and I rode the Oak Leaf Trail from Bay View to South Milwaukee.

We have ridden this trail two previous times, once in 2006 and then again in 2011.

It was time to ride this trail again.

We parked at Humboldt Park near the bathrooms as usual.

We rode the 24 mile round trip and really enjoyed it.

The trail runs along Lake Michigan and even in hot, humid weather, the cool lake breeze feels so good and the views are gorgeous.

We even had the added bonus of being able to see the Thunderbirds performing at an air show at Bradford Beach.  That was pretty cool.

We planned on rewarding ourselves with treats at the concession stand at Grant Park Beach in South Milwaukee, but, much to our dismay, the concessions stand was closed for remodeling!

Now, who planned to do this remodeling in the hottest part of the summer? 

To say we were disappointed is an understatement, but we did stop at the South Milwaukee clubhouse at their golf course where we had some sodas and chips.

It was a good snack.

Here are a few photo

 This is at Humboldt park before we hit the trail.

 Such great views of the Lake from this trail.

 This is not an airplane from the air show, but one that is going in for a landing at Mitchell Field.

 Some of the trail is so wooded and has nice curves and turns.

 The beach at Grant Park in South Milwaukee.

 We tried a few selfies, but we definitely need some practice in this fine art.

 Snacks at the Golf Course.

 Another attempt at a selfie.

 A break at South Shore Park to watch the air show.

And one last selfie to leave you with.

It was a great ride.

After we got back, we showered and headed to On the Rock for pizza and beer.

It was a great way to end our fun day.

Soliana's Vacation with Grandpa and Grandma

After our fun day at Little Amerrik-A, Courtney and Tiz headed home to Oshkosh while Soliana stayed here for a few days of Grandma and Grandpa Camp.

We had such a great time with her.

Her one request was to go to the pool, so on Friday after riding the elephant at Walmart, she and I went to the pool.

It was a hot, humid day, so the pool felt so nice.

St. John's Day Care was there, so Soliana had some of her little preschool friends to swim with.

 After our trip to Walmart.

Soli picked out a Barbie purse, sunglasses, and little phone for her toy of the day.

 Ready for the pool.

At the pool.

After the pool, we made some sidewalk paint and painted the driveway.

 After painting, Soli used the hose to wash the painting off the driveway.

Then she had the best time spraying and cleaning Gigi's car.

After our time outside, she enjoyed playing legos with Gigi.

It is always fun for the two of them to play together.

On Saturday, we had planned on a trip to the Madison zoo, but it was so hot and humid that we decided to go the Children's Play Gallery in Oconomowoc instead.

What a fun time.

We spent four hours there and could have spend even more.

Soli loved it all, but especially enjoyed the pirate ship.

 Ten o'clock and a Dr. Pepper, no where else but at Grandma's.

 The cool pirate ship.

 Grandpa checking out at Soli's store.

He does what any man does, turned his cart sideways to unload it.

 A tea party in the little playhouse.

 A birthday cake for grandma.

 Soli really liked this big doll house.

Lunch, what, more soda and snacks.

After we got home, we enjoyed some movies.

On Sunday, it was church and then taking Soli to the ice cream shop in Waupan which is our halfway meeting spot.
Hard to believe that our week with the girls was over so quickly.
I am tired, the house needs attention, but I miss them so much.
Till next time...

Little Amerrik-A

On Thursday, July 16, Courtney and Soliana came out to pick up Tiz after her visit.

Before leaving Soli with us and taking Tiz home, the four of us (C.T.S. and I) went to Little Amerrik-A.

It was a cool day with a few sprinkles which made it a perfect day for Little Amerrik-A because there were no lines and the rides were longer than usual, which is a good thing except when one is on the scrambler just waiting for it to stop!

I started out on the little rides with Soli until she got a taste of the big rides!

She loved the big roller coaster, tilt a whirl, and scrambler.

I guess it is good bye to the little boats, fire trucks, and cars.

Here are some photos from our day.

 Here she is still enjoying the boats.

 Soli liked the little ferris wheel, well, until she rode the real ferris wheel!

 The train at Little Amerrika-A is the best.  It's a nice long ride way out into the countryside.

 Still liking the Fire Department, as she called it.

 This is where the transition started.

Soli loved this little roller coaster and there was no turning back after this.

 We all enjoyed the ferris wheel, well, as much as one can enjoy that ride.

I always get nervous when we stop at the top.

It always seems to take so long and I am always thinking that it it going to get stuck with us up there.

So relieved when it started moving.

Tiz wanted to rock the seat, but I don't stand for that!

 Courtney and the girls went on the tilt a whirl first.

I should have left well enough alone, but I decided to try it out, too.

Ugh!

 Soli and I on the scrambler.

Look how nice it is until it started.

It moved so fast, at least faster than I remember a scrambler moving and it was the longest ride ever.

I just kept thinking, I will never be able to walk straight when it is time to get off.

But luckily they give you that slow cool down time and I regained myself.

 Here's where I got on the tilt a whirl.

Whoa!  There were times I thought that thing would fly right off the track.

My stomach was twirling for hours after the scrambler and the tilt a whirl.

 I opted out of this roller coaster although Courtney said it was a piece of cake after the other rides.  Next time I am not doing the scrambler and the tilt a whirl and going on this one.

Tiz was in the front by herself with Soli and Courtney behind her.

Usually this ride goes around three times but because of the slow day, it went around seven times.

Soli loved it just as much as Tiz did.

After our fun day at Little Amerrik-A, Courtney and Tiz took off for home.

Soliana stayed with us for a few days of vacation.

It was so much fun.

We loved having both girls here and having them separately was so nice.

Stay tuned for photos and notes from Soli's stay.

Tizita and her summer vacation at Grandma and Grandpa Camp

Tizita spent the last five days with us.

We had so much fun together and made so many new memories.

We were so busy each day.

On Monday John, Tiz, and I took a bike ride to the Dollar Tree.

Here are a few photos from our ride.

 We stopped to take a look at the dam on our way.

 We also stopped at Clark Park.

 John had to use the women's bathroom since the men's was locked, but it really was not locked!

This made us all laugh.

After buying some fun things at the Dollar tree, we stopped at Veteran's park on the way back home.

We rode about six miles and Tiz did a great job on the ride.

When we got home it was time to mix up some potions and lotions.

This was so much fun and Tiz loved it.

She loves mixing and creating.

 We had success making our lava lamps.

 We made sidewalk chalk which also was a success.

 Tiz decided to wash her clothes just like in the olden days.

Then it was time to mix the potions and lotions.

 

On Tuesday morning I had a meeting so John and Tiz went to the Farmer's Market and bought some goodies.

In the afternoon, Tiz and I shopped at Walmart.

We bought the makings for panda cupcakes which Tiz had found on Pinterest and we bought canvases and paint.

It was going to be a very creative day.

 The cupcakes not only looked cute, but they tasted delicious.

Now on to the painting.

Who really knew you could wash your canvas numerous times and it would still turn out nicely?

It was lots of fun to have such a creative day.

We watched Disney, played cards, and stayed up late.

 

On Wednesday, we went swimming at the pool and then headed to the mall with Mallory.

Another fun day.

We loved spending time with Mallory.

Tiz shopped at Justice for the first time, we are going back.

Today, her last day here, we went to Little Amerrik A with Courtney and Soli.

It was a great day, photos will follow.

Courtney and Tiz just left and now Soli is with us for a few days.

Love this alone time with each girl.