A Trtip to Bloomington

We just returned from a great, fun trip to visit Alissa and Nathan in Bloomington.

We were able to take Tizita and Soliana along with us.

We started our visit with a trip to a pumpkin patch farm near them.  I wasn't sure if Illinois would be able to do a pumpkin farm as well as our beloved Waldvogels but lo and behold, they did!

I think all pumpkin farmers must got to the same place to learn what kind of activities to offer at their farms because most of the activities were very similar to Waldvogels with a few added attractions.

The girls enjoyed all of it very much.

Their favorite was the corn pit, always is, and Tiz I liked the big jumping thing.

After the pumpkin experience, we stopped at White Oak Brewery for a few beers.

The girls had fun playing in the outside area and made some money from Uncle Cheddah for doing stunts.

We went back to their house and ordered pizza, watch Double dare, and a few movies.

One of the highlights was when Nathan made the stairs into a big slide for the girls.  The crash pad at the bottom was the best.

Today we got out the wii and had so much fun.  I think I had the most fun because I love that wii.

I came in first place on the running activity.

Yea, Me!

We ate at Steak and Shake and had a great drive home.

It was a great weekend all around.

Celebrating a tenth Tiziversary!

This past weekend we celebrated our tenth Tiziversary.

So hard to believe that it's been that long since we first met you.

In ways it seems like yesterday and in ways it seems like you have been in our lives forever.

We wanted to surprise Tiz so we took her and Soli to a women's volleyball game at Marquette.

It was a really fun event and both girls enjoyed it a lot.

We dropped Soli off at home and took Tiz to Five Below for some much needed make up and then to Chick fil a, her choice for dinner.

Then she came home with us for a sleepover.

We bought her a new camera that she wanted to we spent lots of time taking photos and videos.

After church on Sunday, we watched a wild and crazy Packer game that ended in a tie against the Vikings.

After that we headed to a chocolate factory in Waukesha to meet Courtney, Paul, and Soli.

It was a great Tiziversary!

Fun, Busy WeeHopkend

My first week of school for this year is in the books.

It was a great week.

Working just the morning three year old session is very nice, although I went home at noon this week to mopping our flooded basement, so there is that, but I am happy to say that it is dry once again and hopefully it will stay that way for a good long time.

John actually worked from home (so glad his company allows him to do this) on Thursday so he could fight the water. He had been up most of Wednesday night fighting it, too.

But we finally won!  Take that water.

The river is still at flood stage though and is very high all around Watertown.

The mosquitos are fierce, too.  we cannot go outside without our spray on!

Anyway on Saturday we headed into Ikea to get the rest of our kitchen table.  

We met up with Kev, Vikki, Nic, Tiztia at a place near Cathedral Square for lunch.  They had come in to visit Nic and see how his first days at MSOE were going.  We happened to be meeting up with Courtney at her farmer's market at Cathedral Square so it all worked out very well.

John left after lunch for his class reunion in Muskego while I had a nice late lunch with Courtney, Paul and the girls at the Water Street Brewery in Oak Creek near their gym.

John and I met up again at Courtney's and brought Soli home with us for a sleepover.

It was a great night for all of us.

On Sunday we went to church, the Budreau kids sat with us, then on to the new teacher brunch.  After that, Treyton, Kaliyah and Harmony came over.  The kids had fun playing with Soli.  Later Courtney, Paul, and Tizita came to pick Soli up.  We all went to our new Ice cream place in the old Froggy's.

It was a fine Sunday all around.

Tomorrow it is back to the grind at school. Hope week two is just a good as week one.

 Packers are on for the first time tonight.  Hope they beat da bears!

New stuff, Pat McCurdy, school starting, and oh, yeah, more rain!

Labor day weekend 2018 is coming to a close.

It had some really great upbeat times and then is had a few low moments, too.

Let's start with the good stuff.

On Friday night we tried out the new Cherry Bomb Burgers here in Watertown;

They offer a whole bunch of unique burgers.  I wanted to just try the plain hamburger, but pressure got to me and I ordered an Octogan Burger which is a burger with haystack onions, bacon, and bbq sauce.  I did not like the bbq taste since it covered up the bacon and burger flavor, but it was ok, next time I am going with the plain old hamburger!

John said his was the best burger he has had in his whole life and that is a lot of burgers.

It's a very nice place, a remodeled old biker bar, hope they do well.

After that we went to the drafty cellar for a beer.  I hope they do well, too.

On Saturday we hit up four furniture stores in Milwaukee in search of a new sofa and a new kitchen table and chairs.

We looked at Steinhafel's, Colder's, Built Rite, and Ashley.  The last two were very pushy, following us around the store.  The first two let us look on our own.  I so much appreciate that.

We decided to head over to Ikea, so glad that John agreed to that trip, he almost drove right back away when all the parking spots were filled up, but we did finally find one on the street.

We headed straight to the sofas to see if there was anything better than our favorite at Colder's, but no.  Then on to kitchen sets where we bought a table and four chairs.  They had the chairs in stock but we have to wait to pick up the table until next week.

Now can we get them together?

After Ikea we went back to Colder's and bought the couch we liked, it's a dark gray and only cost us $300.00.  It will be delivered in a week.

We looked around at a few other places for pillows and area rugs, but I will go to Amazon to find those.

On the way home we had pizza at Marty's.

It was a nice day.

On Sunday, after church we headed to Lucky's in Okee to see Pat McCurdy.

It was a great, fun show.  At one point it started raining sideways, but John and I were under the shelter of the bar roof so we were okay.

We enjoyed a nice lunch and some beers.

After the show, John agreed to a trip on the Merrimac ferry, our last for the summer.

We found that if you go from Okee to Merrimac as opposed to the other way, the wait is so much shorter.

After a tour through Sauk City, we headed home.  We drove through torrential rains and we knew that meant that our basement was going to be leaking yet again and sure enough, after our great fun time, we spent the rest of the night mopping up water.

John stayed up most of the night tending to the water.

Today, actual Labor Day it is still coming in at a good rate.

John put our four chairs together with no problems.

Other than that, it is a nice last day to summer.

Tomorrow I am back to school.

I pray for no criers! 

Stay tuned for details.

Nailed It

What a fun weekend we have just had!

We met Courtney, Paul, and  the girls in Nashotah at the Picnic Basket for lunch.

Then we brought the girls home to have a "Nailed It" contest with some cooking and decorating challenges.

It was so much fun.

We plated food in designs, frosting sugar cookies, made and decorated cakes and cupcakes, and made pancake dogs.

It was a great time and it took hours and hours.

After that fun we played some Trivia Pursuit and watched Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

It was a great, great day and night.

Today we took Gigi and went to Courtney's new church Garden Homes in Milwaukee.

We love the church, so welcoming and friendly.\

After church we went out to eat at the Highlands restaurant.

Yummy food.

We brought the scenic route home and visited the dead at the cemeteries.

Great weekend, all around!

Summer is winding down

Tomorrow the girls start their new school in Milwaukee.

We celebrated all day Saturday with the Van Auken family.

The girls planned what they wanted us all to do.

We started with a hike at the Hawthorne glen Nature area which are very cool.

We ate tacos at the Blue Sombrero in Wauwatosa.

We toasted the new school year over sodas there.

After that we stopped at the grand opening of Pete's Pops, a new popsicle shop in the Van Auken neighborhood.  We all enjoyed some very unusual flavored pops.  Very yummy.

Then it was on the Urban Ecology Center where we all had fun exploring.

Next it was a nice scenic hike at Lake Park followed by some beers at the Sprecher traveling beer garden.

Finally we all enjoyed pizza at Riverfront Pizza.

It was a wonderful full day.

A great way to celebrate the start of a new school  year.

I hope they love their school and have a wonderful year.

On Sunday, we went to Mark and Mary Scherer's for a pool party.  Karrie and Brent were there, too.  Ina all honestly, I didn't really want to go, but so glad we did.  We had a great time catching up! 

And, lest I forget, our basement leaked again on Friday after 8.9 inches of rain fell here in Watertown! 
I fought it all day and then John continued the fight into the night, but we won for the moment at least.
More rain is predicted today,so we shall see.
John did buy me a new industrial mop to help with the fight.

WIth that new mop and bucket, I am well prepared for the fight!

The girls started school today.
I am praying it is a great day and year for them.

Boston, Portland, and Niagara Falls = One Great Vacation

It's been a long time since John and I went on a vacation that took us to numerous cities where we explored, learned, and enjoyed so many new things.

We usually go to St. George Island or to some other beach destination where we spend our week in one rental in familiar surroundings.

While we love those beach trips, this vacation was so much fun.

We felt proud of ourselves for navigating our way around these places.

I had booked our lodging online and all of our rentals were perfect for what we needed.

Let's begin with Boston..

We arrived and found our studio rental apartment with  no problem, thanks to Judy, the lady in our phone.

We also had to squeeze our big buick into a very small parking space where it stayed for three days.

I cannot believe that our apartment was within walking distance of everything we wanted to see and do.

We loved Boston.  It's a beautiful city, full of history.

We enjoyed a trolley tour, harbor tour, a tour of the Freedom Walk, Boston Common, Cheers, and so many other attractions.

Our days were full and hot, it was in the high nineties when we were there, but we pressed on and enjoyed our time.

We have hundreds of photos but they are all on John's computer so I can't post any here.  

They will all be posted in our other blog, Seen Your (Senior) Sites, so  be sure and check that one out to see all of the photos.

From Boston we made the easy two hour drive to Portland Maine.

Our rental there was an apartment with a view of the beautiful water across the street.

We were again able to walk to the attractions although we did take our car the one day and got a $20.00 parking ticket.

We took a trolley tour, boat cruise to see light houses in the area, ate at great restaurants, and drank tasty drinks.

We loved Portland and the surrounding area and could have used more than just two days to explore.

From Portland we moved on the Niagara Falls,, NY.

We had a little old school motel there, very nice, clean, and comfy for the two nights we spent there.

We enjoyed a six hour tour which included all the Falls attractions with no waiting in lines.

The boat trip through the locks was the best!

The town inself, once we found the touristy part of it, was great.

We did loose a headlight in Niagara Falls, yep, the whole light fell out.

Our drive from Niagara Falls to Michigan City, Indiana was eventful, too.

Our low tire pressure light came on and so we had to find out what the problem was.

Luckily we were near Cleveland and were able to get to a Mr. Tire.

Such nice people there.

They sent us to a cute little outdoor place to have lunch while they put on two new front tires for us.

So thankful it happened on our way home in an area that had a place that could help us so quickly.

Lots to be thankful for in the midst of a small crisis.

Our last night was spent in the beautiful city of Michigan City, Indians.

We were able to enjoy a gorgeous sunset ovet the lake and dinner on a rooftop overlooking the lake.

Our motel there was less than great, but it was clean and the bed was comfy, so all in all an okay place to sleep for a night.

Arrived home at noon, so we still had lots of the day to umpack, do laundry, and get into real life mode again.

2740 miles, 9 states, two new tires, missing headlight, and a million memories - one great vacation!