Wisconsin '08: Green Bay

On our way from Door County to Madison, we drove right through Green Bay. So of course, my football loving husband wanted to stop for a tour around Lambeau Field - home of the Green Bay Packers. I think it was one of the biggest highlights of the trip for him :)

Even at 10 in the morning on a Friday there were lots of people there. They have tours at 10, 10:30 and every 15 minutes starting at 11. The first two were already sold out when we arrived at 10. We got to see a little of the behind-the-scenes, but mostly they took us to the expensive private boxes and out to the field sidelines. We learned how much they've done to the field fairly recently, adding a lot more sets and all the private boxes around the stadium - which started at $30K a game and went up from there!

After the tour we had lunch at the pub above the Atrium. It was actually reasonably priced for an attraction like this - and it was really good.

Here's some more pictures from around the stadium - it was very impressive, I'm glad we stopped.

Heart of the City

Wisconsin '08: Door County

The first two nights we spent in Fish Creek, WI in Door County. Door County is a big vacation destination for WI - what a beautiful place! The peninsula has many small towns and islands along its shore. In these towns there's lots of shopping and parks and restaurants and light houses. We saw so little of it, really you'd need a whole week to really enjoy.

We staid at a hotel right at the edge of a state park and spent most of our time in the towns of Fish Creek and Ephriam. On the first night, we went to the Old Post Office Restaurant in Ephriam for a traditional Door County fish boil. They boil white fish with potatoes and onions in a big pot outside and serve it with their famous cherry pie for desert. After dinner, we caught the double feature at the drive in movie theater - the only movie theater on the peninsula.

The next day we went on a trolley tour around Fish Creek and Peninsula State Park. The tour stopped at some of the beaches and lookouts along bluffs. Everything is so green there. And it's hard to believe that you are standing at the edge of a lake - there are sandy beaches, sea gulls and water as far as you can see. The wonderful weather that morning didn't hold out for us, and that afternoon we did a little shopping in the pouring rain.

I hope to go back someday and stay in some of the other towns towards the north and see some of the islands. It's an easy drive from Green Bay to get there and not too bad from Milwaukee, took us 4 hours and we went the long way to see some more of the lake shore. Pictures.

Think of all the beauty sill left around you and be happy. -Anne Frank

Wisconsin '08

We've been back for a couple days now and I have just now gotten around to getting to my blog. We had such a fabulous time and did so much while we were there. It was great to see the boys, they've changed so much in two years it's been since we saw them last and I still can't believe it's been that long.

The family lives in a small town West of Madison. We arrived to their house on Friday afternoon and spent 4 nights with them. The first night was so nice outside, we sat around watching the fireflies come out and made smores. The boys set off fireworks too, I got some great pictures of them with the smoke bombs.

Jerry showed us around downtown Madison on Sat. Every Sat in the summer they have a big farmer's market around the capital building. It was awesome- huge veggies, beautiful flowers, cheese, and crafts. We walked around the market and over to the Olin Terrace (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) and in the capital building.

Also going on that weekend was a Huge sidewalk sale on State Street. Vendors from all over town brought things to sell - some really discounted. Everything from electronics, to accessories, to clothes and shoes, to books.

At the end of State St was the University of Wisconsin. The old buildings on campus are awesome and they are built right next to the lake.

On Sunday we drove up to Devil's Lake State Park with the whole family. We picnicked and hiked a small portion of their many trails there. There are some spectacular lookouts along one of the cliffs, were we spent most of our time. Though the temp was in the 80s, it was so humid, the lake looked very inviting.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our time with the family. I'll be blogging again soon on our other adventures in WI.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." - Albert Einstein

One for the road

I've been horrible at blogging lately. But I feel like I have an excuse- work has been busy, home has been busy, family has been busy, life .... well I've been busy.

That's not really changing any... now Jason and I are going to leave for a week long vacation to Wisconsin. Jason's brother and his family live there -near Madison. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a while and seeing the family. We've been married almost 6 years and this is the first chance we've gotten to go visit them. AND the highs are in the 80s ;)

We're going to tour a bit of the Eastern part of the state for the first couple of days - visiting Door County and driving around Milwaukee and Green Bay. Then stay with Jerry and Co for the rest of the trip. I want to see the House on the Rock while we're there and see everything in Madison.

But mostly I'm excited about spending time with these guys below, our nephews. We haven't seen them in over two years (since this picture was taken).

You can be sure there will be plenty of new pictures up when I get back... our good digital camera just got back from being fixed :)

"Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes." - Unknown

Uncle Danny

Very early yesterday morning, my uncle, Daniel Schwencke, passed away at 54 years old. Far too soon to leave us. We will miss you Uncle Danny.

Please keep our family in your prayers. Thank you.

Update...

Moved this weekend.
Still living with boxes.
Cleaning former residence tonight.
New owners take over tomorrow.
I like my new home :)
Will post pics as soon as camera is unpacked.
Quarter end at work was crazy insane.
Worked 10 hours yesterday then unpacked more boxes last night.
Brain dead and tired.

Thanks to everyone who helped!!

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan