A trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum

We took the girls to the Milwaukee Public Museum on Saturday.

We love the museum and we are teaching Soli and Tiz to love it, too.

We have taken Tiz every year since she has been with us and this is Soli's second visit.

I was so excited to see it through their eyes again.

We met Courtney and Paul in Milwaukee and made an exchange of cars and two girls in their car.

They spent the day in Milwaukee while we did the museum.

We started out in the butterfly area.

Last time both girls loved that area, but this time Soli was very scared of the butterflies and Tiz was not too fond of them either.

 Once out of the butterfly area, they both had fun in the hands on exhibits.

We chose the dinosaurs next, what were we thinking?

Again, Soli was not happy in this area, but Tiz does enjoy the dinosaurs.

The girls both enjoyed looking at the gems in this area.

Soli was happy when it was time to leave this area and have some lunch.

That seemed like a safe choice to her.

 We all did enjoy our lunch and it gave us renewed energy to continue our museum tour.
Both girls had watch the movie, "Night in the Museum" with me a few weeks ago and this is Dum Dum who wanted gum gum in the movie.
They were both pretty excited to find this large head.

This lady was always a favorite of Courtney's so we had to show it to the girls.
Tiz decided to post like the statue.

A hut much like the one that Tizita lived in when she was in Ethiopia.

 As you can see, Soli enjoyed the rest of the museum much more than those butterflies and dinosaurs.

 Tiz's favorite part was the mummies.

Of course, we had to visit the igloo, which was always a favorite of my girls, too.

The girls really enjoyed looking in all the windows of the European village.

We made our stop at the town storyteller.

We have a picture of Courtney when she was about three on her first trip to the museum right here in this exact spot.

We ended our fun day with dinner at the Texas Road House.

We all enjoyed it very much.

It was indeed a great day.

 Here are a few photos from our trips in the past years.
In the above photo you can clearly see that both girls liked the butterflies.

 Here is the story teller with just a very young Tizita.

I think this was her first visit with us.
She didn't mind the butterflies at all on this visit.

This was her second visit with us.

Here we are in the igloo.

Apparently I wore the same outfit two years in a row.

Fun to look back at these old memories, but even better to make new ones.

Admirals Game

When I bought our tickets to the St. John's Gala, our names were put into a drawing for four free tickets to a Milwaukee Admirals hockey game.

I, who by the by, never win a thing, won the four tickets.

Now, I may have been the only one who purchased tickets early enough to be put in the drawing, but I won't go there.

At any rate, I gave two tickets to our school secretary, so she and her husband could go to a game.

I figured one would be good game would be plenty enough for John and I.

I had not been to an Admirals game for at least twenty years and I must admit I had forgotten how much fun they were.

Our tickets were in an awesome spot, just five rows from the goal net in a group of season ticket holders which really made it interesting.

 The T shirt cannon shot this shirt right at John's feet.
As a side note, I have a preschooler who goes to Admiral games and he calls them the Skeletons.
I couldn't figure out why until I got this T shirt.

 This cute little blimp flies around dropping coupons and other goodies on the crowd.

 There were three fights, but two were broken up right away.
John tells me that there is always one staged fight each game because people expect it.
This one went on for a good two minutes.

.I really enjoyed all the entertainment during the breaks.

I need one of these big beach balls for my preschoolers.

After the Admiral victory, we were entertained by Pat Mccurdy, a comedian singer.

All in all, it was a great night and I look forward to attending more Admiral games.

I really like that the periods are only 20 minutes long with very few time outs.

That is my kind of sport, it moves fast so there is little time to get bored.

Go Admirals!

Visiting Jack and MaryAnn

Yesterday John and I took a road trip to go visit Jack and MaryAnn (John's mom and dad) in their final resting place.

They are in The Southern Wisconsin Veteran's cemetery in Union Grove, Wisconsin.

First challenge, finding a good way to get to Union Grove.  We had never been there before, so we were traveling on some virgin roads.

We headed out to Whitewater where we had lunch a Rocky Roccoco's, one of our favorite places.

We took Highway 12 to Highway 20 through East Troy and on to Union Grove.

The cemetery lies outside the town in a very peaceful area that exudes honor and respect.

Since they were both cremated, they are located in a columbarium wall.

The cemetery actually has a computer type locator to find any name you might need.

I am not used to such a high tech cemetery.

We located Jack and MaryAnn and were very pleased with the look of things at this, their final mark left on this world.

As in all military cemeteries, the stones are lined up perfectly except for some ground settling.

 I find it very humbling to walk up and down these rows and read the names of the heroes who gave up so much so that I could enjoy so many freedoms in this wonderful country of ours.
How do you begin to thank them for such sacrifice.
Many of them did not die in battle, but they still, like John's dad, gave up many things to go fight on foreign and unforgiving soil and came home with nightmarish memories.

This area is dedicated to the fallen soldier.
This statue of a soldier's empty boots, gun, and helmet dates back to the civil war when soldiers used it to mark the spot where a soldier died.  It was a simple way to honor them.  The empty boots signify the fact that they will never be filled again.
Very moving.

 Here is the entrance to the cemetery.

The chapel which also has public restrooms which are open from sunrise till sunset.
I found that to be a nice feature at a cemetery, too.

 John's dad fought in the Korean war and here is a memorial to that forgotten war.

 One last look.

 I know John's dad would have been very pleased and proud to be memorialized among so many heroes and friends.
It is a great honor to him, his courage, and his service to our country.
So anxious to take the girls to see where Pops and Mamaw "are", although we all know they are really in heaven.
I can't wait to give them a history lesson on these brave men and women.
RIP Jack and MaryAnn.

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