Somebody in Wisconsin Loves Me

My sister, Beth, moved to Milwaukee in October.  We were all sad to see her family go.  Due to pesky things like single digit temperatures and blizzards, I opted to not visit during winter.  I learned that Wisconsin doesn't have spring.  It's winter and snowing, and then suddenly it's 80 degrees and sunny.  The lack of spring meant I needed to wait until school was out for the summer.  Linus, Eileen, and I flew to Wisconsin the day after break began.

On a four day trip with only two full days,  we weren't able to see all that Wisconsin had to offer.  I expected Wisconsin to be like Nebraska--farms and fields for miles along two lane highways.  I did not even see one cow!  I thought Wisconsin was supposed to be "America's Dairyland."  I feel sorely mislead.

It was at least 90 degrees with insane humidity when we arrived.  Despite this, Beth and I dragged the kids to the downtown Riverwalk in search of the "Bronze Fonz."   Mission accomplished.

The kids were grateful for the breeze along the water.  The beauty of the river was offset by the numerous booze cruises and party boats.

I love Eileen in this picture.

Gwen was too cool for me.

We wandered around and visited the Public Market in hopes of finding a kid-friendly dinner.  We struck out in the dinner department, but did find kid friendly frozen custard.  Eileen's favorite part of downtown was a building that had giant ladybugs crawling down the side.

We originally planned to visit the Jelly Belly factory on this trip, but further research revealed that the factory was in the process of moving production to the Bay Area.  We decided to forgo the Jelly Belly Factory and spend the morning at the Milwaukee County Zoo instead.

I'm a harsh critic of zoos.  I don't like going to zoos and feeling forced to question the ethics of their captivity.  The big cat exhibit made Ivan the Gorilla's enclosure at the B & I look good.  I get that it is cold during the winter, but seriously I felt bad for the animals.

The zoo did have one good thing, a giant ropes course and zipline.  I opted to spend the money and go for it.  It's the type of activity I would have longed to do as a child, but never bothered to even ask due to being cost prohibitive.  Beth stayed on the younger kids course, while I climbed up with Linus and Dylan.  I also did the zipline with Linus.  It seemed irresponsible to send him across the park without an adult.  The boys did great.  Dylan made it up to the second level and Linus went all the way to the top and even attempted the most difficult features.  Gwen, nervous at first, enjoyed herself.

The rest of our trip included swimming, mamas' night out, multiple trips to Target, trying fried cheese curds (meh), and cleaning/organizing the house.  It was a whirlwind of fun. I even had time to read two books thanks to the airplane ride.  It was hard to say goodbye.

While we were away, Robin got in some quality time with Dave.  They hiked, went to Home Depot, did other guy stuff, and went to the zoo and rode the carousel.  Robin chose his own outfit: decked head to toe in blue, eating from a blue plate, and drinking from a blue cup.

I also got a text message from Dave telling me that Robin had stuck a macaroni noodle up his nose and he couldn't get it out. Beth and I had a good chuckle and advised using the nose frida.  In Dave's words, "Swedish hygiene for the win!"

My mom watched Robin while Dave worked.  I came home to fresh baked cookies so I know they had a good time.

I did not expect to miss Robin and Dave so much.  Linus cried uncontrollably several times because he missed them.  Robin was so excited to see me and practically attached himself to me until bed.

I'm so glad my sister and her family are doing well in Wisconsin.  After not seeing each other for 6 months, we easily fell into the co-parenting rhythm we've established during our many weekends together.  These cousins love each other. I can't wait to see them again later this summer.  In the meantime, somebody in Wisconsin loves me.