On the road again: Wisconsin trip!

Apparently, this is the summer that we travel.

Not apparently, it is the summer we're travelling.

For so long, we've put all our energy and money into this thing we call the Love Shack.

I have been telling D. for the past 6 years that once we get into the addition, we're going to plan some fun.

Occupancy permits were received in September....so we're travelling.

Not that we have the extra money to travel,

so we're doing that on the cheap.

But, since there's not much to actually do on the house before the teardown,

we have a little more time and energy to travel this year.

One of my best friends, Gina, has been to visit in Michigan a few times now.

We haven't been their way since before C. was born.

Which is about 5 years ago.

A visit was long overdue.

Additionally, she had a baby 2 years ago that I hadn't met yet.

Worst friend award = right here!

Anyway...we borrowed my parent's car since it was in better shape than ours,

and got MUCH better gas mileage.

We loaded up, and last Friday we left our house at a scary early hour of the morning.

Since they live in Marinette (the boarder of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula),

we chose to go the north route on the way there.

By the time we reached Mackinaw, it was almost lunch time. 

So, we got out to walk around a bit, let the boys stretch their legs, and waste 40 minutes before lunch.

Family pic with the bridge

 D. was teaching the boys how to skip stones on the water.

 We crossed the bridge and had lunch at a pretty picnic area in St. Ignace.

We got to our friend's house by late afternoon and spent the day playing,

eating, playing some more, and just getting the boys acclimated to their kids.

Saturday started with my friends little boy freakishly hating me.

He threw a fit at the breakfast table until I left the room.

He wouldn't even look in my direction.

I was heartbroken.  :(

Later, we decided to head into Green Bay to visit a place called Bay Beach.

It's a really neat place! 

We packed a picnic lunch, found a table there and ate together.

Then, we found some great carnival type rides that are horribly cheap!

Each ticket was 25 cents

The kids' rides were 1 ticket.  The larger rides were 2.

Seriously, a cheap cheap day FULL of fun!

C. rode his first ride that day.

He loved it!

A. was a tad big for the tiny rides, so we switched between the larger rides and the little rides.

There was a really tall 3 tier slide that the dads got in on.

Can you find my kids?

It was such a hit that the kids had to go again immediately.

Neither dad pretested.  :)

There was a mullet sighting.  Awesome.

And another ride on the slide.

A. rode the tilt-a-whirl with Aunt Gina and Lauren.

He loved it.

(Bad picture brought to you by D.)

C. had no desire to ride that ride.

Neither did I.

While they were waiting and riding, C. asked if he could ride the ferris wheel.

So, I took him over and we got in line.

After we were loaded in our car, we went right to the top.

C. went ram-rod straight, looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and said,

"Mommy, I'm a little 'cared fer you."

After the first round or two, he was a pro at carny rides.

And, you know...if you're in Green Bay, might as well visit the mecca.

I'm posting both pictures taken in front of the stadium because A's poses are too cute and make me laugh.

OH YEAH!

And guess WHO Aunt Sandy won over?!?!?!?

This is sweet little Elliot T.

Which you will also notice is List Item #58.  :)

This little Goo is too funny.

Seriously, class clown in his future!

Elliot's big sister, Lauren, just received some guinea pigs a few weeks prior to our trip. 

She named them butter cup and peanut butter cup.

:)

C. was very eager to help her take care of them.

Part of taking care of them is socializing them and taking them out everyday.

He was very happy to help.

Which....much to my dismay....was a horrible mistake.

This "episode" started the sleepless portion of our vacation.

Allergies and asthma suck.

The next day we stayed close to home base and played on some playgrounds.

The adults only supervised....

Again, only supervision.

No fun was had by any adult at the playground.

Just throwing this one in here because the hotness needs to be shared.  :)

On the way home, we stopped in Appleton for lunch.

Dave's little brother lives there with his wife, and she graciously offered to make us lunch.

And gluten free dessert.  :)

It was neat to see their new house and talk to them for a while.

(Notice the boys' new t-shirts?)

Since we were already almost 2 hours south of Marinette, we decided to go the southern route to get home.

It took considerably longer...and I'm not reaching the opinion that I'm not a city girl....nor am I a city driver.

Neither is my husband.

But, we did complete an entire circle around Lake Michigan.

Which, you'll notice is my #89.

Two list items with one long trip- bonus to an already awesome weekend.