I am WAY overdue on this blog post! But, as you will see, there are a lot of pictures included in this post. This means that there were even more to go through in order to pick just these!
We headed out to WI in June for a family wedding. Kevin's niece, Shanna, married Scott in a beautiful wedding. It was great fun - the setting was georgeous and the reception was a blast. Most of the pictures from the wedding that we have are on Kevin's phone and he hasn't quite figured out how to get them to me, so - sadly - I don't have any to post here. I hope to remedy that soon, stay tuned!
So after the wedding (which was on the day after we arrived) we started what I've been calling the WWWT. AKA the Whirlwind Wisconsin Tour. We had at least one thing planned for each day we were there. Heck, we even had something planned for our drive back to Chicago!! While I wouldn't have traded any of the visits and things we did for anything, it certainly made for an EXHAUSTING trip!!
It started out on Father's Day - we did a quick visit with one of Kevin's good friend, Cheryl. She and her partner, Kat, had a son about two months after we did. So we got Nick and Finn together for a little running around and ball-playing in the backyard. Here are the buddies - young and old.
One of the things that we discovered at the wedding is that Nick will do a lot for money. Or as he calls it, "monies". For example, at the reception Nick didn't want to go see his Uncle Ed at another table. So I told Ed to hold out some money and see if he'd come. Sure enough, as soon as Ed held out a dollar bill, over he went. I'm not sure if I should be proud or horrified.
We got to go have lunch with Kevin's brother Mike, wife Cindy and nephew Matt on the Monday after the wedding. This was nice because Matt was heading back up to school, so it would be the last chance to see him for the week.
The "boys"...
Once again, a dollar bill gains Nick's attention...
For those of you that aren't familiar with Green Bay, I'll give you a quick geography lesson. Wisconsin is shaped like a left-handed mitten. The space between the thumb and the rest of the hand is a bay off Lake Michigan called - go figure - Green Bay. Green Bay the city is at the very south tip of the bay. And the bay really does look green!
Anyhow, there is a little amusement park area called Bay Beach that is right along the bay's edge. They have a bunch of rides, many of which are fit for toddlers. One of Nick's favorite things was the train that goes along the bay. Here we are pulling out of the station.
In this picture you can get a bit of a view of the bay.
Nick was having a lot of fun...
Nick in one of the little car rides (notice how THRILLED the worker behind Nick is?)
I think he was a bit annoyed that when he turned the steering wheel, the car didn't go anywhere other than around in a circle.
The ladybug ride. His face seems to be saying "Dude, SO not cool. You had to put me in one with pink antennas?"
Continuing with the geography lesson, the thumb of the mitten-that-is-Wisconsin is called Door County. A very beautiful area - lots of small towns, farms, etc. And a BIG plus - wineries! Yep, we did some one wine tasting - I was quite thrilled. Had some good ones and... some not so good ones. But I ain't complaining!
Also in Door County is a place called "The Farm". It's a real working farm that has loads of animals, crops, etc. We stopped and Nick had a great time. He was wary of the bigger animals (and, really, who wouldn't be?) so he visited with most of those types while in the arms of Mommy or Daddy. Or, in this case, a few feet away. I mean, see those horns???
You could buy a bag of corn to feed the animals. This was a big hit with Nick (and the animals too, I'd guess!) Here is Nick feeding the chicken and her chicks. I was just waiting for her to peck Nick's finger!! (Don't worry, all fingers intact!)
That was one big mare. A Belgian something.
Nick liked the bunnies a lot. We picked dandelions and fed them. Nick fed them. A lot. We were there for a while.
They were really cute and soooo soft.
Nick was a bit nervous with the goats, but ended up feeding them. As long as we had his hand, he was OK.
For many people, the most common connection with Green Bay is the Packers. One would think that during the summer, we wouldn't be doing much football stuff except maybe a visit to Lambeau. You'd be wrong!! The Packers were doing some summer drills and their practice field is right across the street from Lambeau Field. And it is outside with bleachers so people can watch.
SIDE NOTE:
One thing I have been good not to mention too much in this post as I don't want to be too "complain-y" (and believe me, I mentioned it a LOT on the trip) - it was HOT. I mean HOT HOT HOT while we were there. Humid too. The whole week. HOT and HUMID. For this San Francisco girl, it was torture. There. I said it. Done. UGH, it was hot. OK, now I'm really done.
Anyway - people come and sit in the bleachers and watch the Packers practice for hours! Don't know how they do it, but they do. We stayed for about 15 minutes or so and I thought I was going to melt into the sidewalk. I can't even imagine how miserable the players must have been.
We also made a quick trip to Lambeau to pick-up some Packer stuff at the Pro Shop and play in the game room area they have there. Nick LOVED throwing the football and running around the blockers they had set-up there.
Here is Daddy giving Nick the run down of the players on the field.
Mike & Cindy were not only kind enough to let us stay at their house during our trip, they also invited us to go up north to stay with them in their cabin in Dunbar. This is where all the Desotell men head at Thanksgiving time to go deer hunting. It was great - I wish that time would have allowed us to be up there longer. Here is a picture of the three of us in front of the cabin.
The area reminded me a lot of Montana. I wish I had taken more pictures - stupid me! Needless to say, I hope we can get up there again soon. And thanks Mike & Cindy for the use of BOTH houses!!!
It was a great trip & we had a blast with everyone!
But, damn, it was hot.
