Thanksgiving in Door County

Since the Van Aukens were off to Iowa and Alissa doesn't really like Thanksgiving, John and I cancelled it this year and headed up to Door County.

Of course, I couldn't do without the smell of a cooking turkey so on the Sunday before I made mom, John and I a full thanksgiving dinner.  It was delicious and the house smelled so good.

I also decorated the house for Christmas, took my time this year and really enjoyed doing it.

Courtney, Paul and the girls came out the day before Thanksgiving on their way to Iowa.  They got manicures and we had Kwik Trip for lunch.

The girls also had to spend time with Lacey.

On Thanksgiving Day, John and I headed up to Door County.

We hiked to Old Baldy and went to Cave Point before our dinner at The English Inn.  It was very good.

We stayed at Julie's Motel in Fish Creek for the two nights.  It was a great place to stay.

On Friday we hiked Ellison Bay County Park, drove to the tip, hiked Penninsula State Park, and had a delicious fish boil at the White Gull.  It was a great day.

On O

We ended our night under the Christmas lights in Sister Bay.

On Saturday we took a nice drive home through Two Rivers, it did rain the entire drive, but the scenery is still nice.

So, all in all, it was a great Thanksgiving.  I think we may need to cancel it every year.

The new kitty, the village, and a fun weekend

We woke up to a dusting of snow on Friday.  Since I didn't have school, I decided to put up my village.

I was able to take my time and enjoyed putting it up.

Now it is beginning to look like Christmas inside, too.

Our new kitty, Lacey is doing very well.

We did lose her one day and after searching for two hours, we found her under the chest in the entrance.  She was scared and we did have to start all over with our getting her used to things, but by Friday, she was doing well again. 

On Saturday Paul brought the girls out.  Soli and I played day care and with the doll house while Tiz played with the kitty  and Paul watch football.

Soli and Paul went home after dinner and Tiz spent the night with us.

We watched some funny Netflix show she likes and then a movie.

Today we took her to church where we met Paul and Soli.

After church Paul took the girls to the gym while John and I went to Courtney's craft show in Franklin.

She had been there all day Saturday and today.  She was doing a great job of selling.

It was a very successful show for her.

So, with that another weekend is in the books and we move on toward Christmas.

Marge turns 90 and a new kitty

 Mom turned 90 this past weekend.

It was a big celebration that started on Friday night with subway, cake and presents here at our house to Saturday at the Essen Haus and Comfort Inn in Madison.

A few people did end up with the stomach flu but that did not really dampen Marge's celebration.

She was queen for the night, the polka band played for her and she danced the night away.

On Sunday we stopped and picked up this sweet kitty for her.  It was a gift from Soli and Tiz.

 Meet Lacey Kitty Kohlhoff.

And here she is with all of her cards.  I think she got around 70 or so.

It was a great celebration.

Old Friends and a New Bucks ArenaIt'

It's been another great weekend.

I did not have school on Thursday or Friday so John took Friday off and we headed up to Oshkosh to meet Terri and Mark for a nice, long overdue lunch.

After the lunch John and I walked around Oshkosh for a bit. I miss that city, but in less than a year the Van Aukens will be back there and we can visit more often again.

We went to The Van Auken home in Milwaukee to spend the night.  They were camping so we had the place to ourselves.

We met Joan for dinner at Ricardo's and caught up on her life.  It was a great day to catch up with old friends.

On Saturday we went to a cheer showcase to watch both girls perform with their new gym.  That was fun and that night we went to a Bucks game at their new arena.  We all had a great time at the game which they won.

Soli came home with us after the game, we did church today and then she trick or treated with Kaliyah.

We just returned her to meet her family in Delafield.

It was a fun, full weekend.

Going back to work tomorrow will be hard, I think.

On another note, last Tuesday, John and I made a run to the emergency room.  We are not doctor people and try to keep our distance from them but john was worried about a bruise type thing that was moving up his leg.

Turns out he did have a superficial blood clot which he treated with warm compresses and aspirin.

We spent three hours there and got home by around 1:00 in the morning.

He was supposed to have a follow up appt with a surgeon, but since it seems to be gone, we have decided that it is not necessary.  Doctors only find more things wrong and they aren't there to cure just treat.

So there was that little bit of excitement.

I think that is all for now.

Till next time...

Brewers, Tipsy Goose, and Silent AuctionIt'

It's been another fun weekend.

On Friday after grocery shopping, John and I went to Biggs for some beers, pizza, and the Brewers game.

Brewers game, you ask, since when did I become a Brewer fan?

Well, in the last two weeks when they made it to the playoffs.

I couldn't get enough of them and I learned so much of the strategy involved in the game.

Anyway they had to win the best of seven and they were on game five on Friday which they needed to win to stay alive.

Connie and Paul were in town so they met us there and we had a great time catching up.

The Brewers did indeed win so now they are all tied up at 2 - 2 so Saturday night would be the big game that would decide it all.

On Saturday we did some shopping at Kohl's where John actually found pants, shoes, and gloves.  He never buys himself anything so that was nice.  We also stopped at Farm and Fleet to look at toys for school and much to our dismay, you can bring your dogs to Farm and Fleet now.  What does a dog need in a store.  So many dogs, barking, scaring little kids, ugh!

We went to the Alpha Resource Center Silent Auction on Saturday night.

Great food, good beer, and a lot of nice items.

We bid on quite a few things including the raffle for a purse which could have $100. in it.

Well, I got the lucky purse, but felt it was only right to give the money back, but I kept the purse and it is cute.

After that, we went over to the Tipsy Goose which is an old bar taken over by new owners who also happen to own Biggs.

We had Door County Mules that were so good and we watched the Brewers lose.

I am no longer a Brewer fan.  We will see what next year brings.

Today my kids sang in church.  It was great as it always is.

John and I did lots of yard work, so many leaves!

Now for some down time before another week starts.

Cousins and other Fun

Another fun weekend.

Alissa came up on Friday and spent Friday night here with us.

Mom, Kev, John, Lissa, and I went to Biggs, despite a overdone pizza we had a fun time.  Lots of laughs and good conversation.

We dropped mom off at home and went to the Drafty Cellar for a few.

Brewers won and are on their way to hopefully the World Series.

On Saturday, Alissa, John and I met the Van Aukens at Muskego where Tiz had a volleyball tournament.  Despite some great play, they lost the match and were eliminated from the tourney.

We stopped at Party City on the way home to look at possible Halloween costumes for Tiz.

She could not decide what she wanted to be, it went from nerd, to cheerleader, to fifties girl, to business woman which is where it ended.

We found a wig and a few other accessories, then headed to Walmart for more Halloween shopping.

Here she decided on a fashionista which we were able to create there with a cute sequinced dress and shoes.

Both girls bought another wig, too.

We spent the rest of Saturday just hanging out, watching TV, playing on phones, etc.

Nice evening of TV and snacks.

Church today and a little fun at Ebert's before taking them to Delafield.

It was a great fun time and the cousins had a great time in Milwaukee as usual.

Electric train ride, Elegant Farmer, and other Events

I couldn't decide what we would do with the girls on our Saturday with them.

The weather has been rainy and didn't sound great for Saturday, but my first plan was going to the elegant farmer to ride the electric train and enjoy a caramel apple.  After that I wanted to take them to the cemetery to see where Mamaw and Pops are.

We had a fun time on the seven mile electric train ride.

And we did enjoy our apples.

It started to rain harder after that part of the adventure so we used our umbrellas as we searched for Pops and Mamaw.

We finally found it, the girls left a flower and we took in the beauty of a military cemetery.

After that we checked out Courtney's craft show on Vilet, she had done very well.

I had found a place called the Organ Piper Music Palace so we went there for pizza.  It was quite the place.  Turns out the guy playing the organ was our conductor on the train that day!  

 Courtney had asked us if we would be able to get the girls to church on Sunday and then to cheer.  Of course, we took on the challenge and it was a challenge.

We stayed overnight.

Courtney left early for a show in Lake Mills and Paul left early for his mom's in Iowa, so we were on kid duty.

We had to get to church by 9:40 because Soli was singing.  What a treat to be able to hear and watch her sing.

I love Garden Homes church.  I love the mix of black and white.

The kids sang beautifully.

After church we had to get the girls to their gym for cheer.

We let Judy, the lady in our phone get us there and she didn't steer us wrong.

The girls did some amazing tumbling.

After that, we enjoyed lunch at Five Guys.

We, then came to Watertown where Courtney met us when she was done with her show.

It was a fun weekend for sure.