Christmas Vacation

Some home-schoolers school even when most public and private school kids are off of school. For a variety of reasons we take the time off. Mostly I find it impossible to get my kids to concentrate when their friends are running around outside and calling to arrange times to get together.

I confess I like the time home with the kids where nothing is on the agenda. I like sleeping past 8 a.m. I like that we can run down to Silver Lake today to spend a few more hours with my brother before he has to catch an airplane back home.

So, for this week, we loaf. We relax. We decompress.

Kids that are not mine play here, kids that are mine play elsewhere. We stay in our pajamas if we want to (though if I were to be forthright I would have to admit we do that frequently) and daily routine and chores are minimal. And all this we do guilt free because, after all, it's Christmas vacation. What else are we supposed to do but lose ourselves in delightful fiction for an entire day if for no other reason than the idea is appealing?

The Deer Hunt

Joe and Hank got back from Wisconsin's Northwoods today, where they spent the weekend stalking Wisconsin's deer herd.

I hate deer hunting because of the huge block of time it takes Joe away and asked him point blank this afternoon if he thought he'd ever not deer hunt and instead bird hunt more frequently throughout the year.

In reply Joe relayed the following exchange. This morning, after he and Hank were sitting out in their tent for a few hours, Hank said to Joe, "You know what my favorite part of hunting is, Dad?" Joe said, "No, son, what is it?" And Hank smiled that goofy Hank grin and patted Joe to indicate that Joe was his favorite part. Just sitting out in that cold, boring tent drinking hot cocoa out of a thermos, looking for nonexistent deer and peeing into mayonnaise jars was enough for Hank because he was with his dad.

I admit it, my heart melted. As much as I like Joe to be around, clearly our boy got a lot out of having some special alone time with Dad.

Packers Versus Da Bears

The game wasn't the offensive shootout I expected, but still, there's something deliciously fun about beating the Bears at Lambeau.

Hank waiting for kick-off.



Caroline and me waiting for kick-off.



Happy Packer fans after the game.



More than the victory, even, I am beyond thrilled that football season has started again. Joe and I spent the entire drive home this morning discussing the ins and outs of the game. Finally-- new plays to dissect and new players to critique! Why is football season so short anyway?

Quick Escape

After Joe and I dropped Madeleine off at camp, we treated ourselves to two nights at the Northernaire in Three Lakes, Wisconsin.

Joe had two words in mind when he found out we were headed to northern Wisconsin: supper club. How can I explain the concept of a supper club to those from out of state? Wikipedia does an average job, but still, there are aspects lacking on the Wiki page. And Joe, growing up in northern Wisconsin, is much more adept than I at spotting a real, live Wisconsin supper club. So Sunday night we found a place up in Eagle River that identified itself as a supper club and we both had decent steaks (quintessential supper club fair) and Joe had a whiskey old fashioned and, luckily, the supper club was well situated with a dining room full of windows overlooking one of the area's many lakes.

Monday we explored Three Lakes and Eagle River a bit more on foot but by noon we were out in a 14-foot Mirro Craft with a 25-horsepower outboard motor (in other words a small fishing boat w/one of those motors you steer with your hand, not a steering wheel) exploring the twenty-eight lake chain. We did not make it to all twenty-eight lakes. In fact, I think we only made it to seven or eight of the lakes, but we had such a fun afternoon. Straight away we ran into some loons floating around one of the lakes and they seemed completely unphased by our arrival, no matter how close we got.



Of course we cruised on over to the lake where Madeleine's camp is located and tried to spy on our little girl but, while we saw campers, we didn't see our camper but, still, I was able to snap some shots of the camp from the lake view.





At some point we stopped to eat our sandwiches in one of the lesser-traveled channels though, to be honest, most of the lakes were pretty empty in general.





Later that evening we sampled another supper club, though this one was far and away more the sort of thing I always envision when I hear the term supper club. Maybe that's because, in my mind, I'm still stuck on the idea that supper club=1985, so I'm always a tad disappointed to see the modernization of an old-fashioned supper club. This second supper club was, in all respects, still serving its clientele of the eighties and Joe and I were able to satisfy our supper club craving for the next two, three years (or more!). After that we saw Public Enemies (not very good, but fun since it was filmed in Wisconsin) and then back to our hotel to fall asleep to the sounds of loons out on the lake.

A very peaceful and much needed escape!

Zoo

When we woke yesterday the kids and I were greeted with a soft drizzle. Not enough to give any relief to parched grass and plants, but enough to cancel Madeleine's tennis lesson and prevent us from going to the pool. We decided to hit the zoo. (Please, please don't judge Hank by his ridiculous taste in eyewear).



Despite my irrational fear of the birds flying free in the aviary, the kids' interest was piqued by the temporary "Wings from Down Under" exhibit that friends recently described where parakeets, cockatiels and various other birds fly free and interact with visitors. I quickly gave my stick of birdseed away to the kids and was happily ignored for the whole of the time with the birds. The kids, however, quickly got over any trepidation they might have had and were delighted with the birds landing all over them.











I have to say, I think this is the best special exhibit I've seen at our zoo, and I would encourage all Milwaukee area folks to get down there to see it before it leaves.

Doctor's Park

Out of all the Lake Michigan beaches I've visited (well, on the Wisconsin side, anyway) I think Doctor's Park in Fox Point is my favorite. It's only minutes north of the city, but it feels so unaffected and pristine once you made the hike down to the beach from the parking lot above. And on a day like yesterday, with a soft breeze coming in off the lake and good friends to chat and play with, it was the perfect spot to spend an afternoon.

Here is Elisabeth digging in the sand with a friend.



Madeleine with two of the three girls she'll be attending camp with in just a few weeks. The third girl came down to play later too, but I forgot to snap a picture--rats!



Hank had a ball on the-- what are they?--piers? breaker walls? The mass of kids enjoyed seeing how nimbly they could jump from one rock to the next and, of course, loved jumping in the water.



And as an added bonus for the first time ever I made the trip both down AND up without pushing a child in a stroller or carrying a child! I know it was only a temporary reprieve but, still, I appreciated the break.

Favre a Viking--Almost

Remember last year, after Brett Favre's first non-retirement retirement, how I was so upset about seeing him go play for another football team in the NFL?

Well even though the official announcement hasn't been made, it seems clear that Favre's second retirement is also going to end up being a non-retirement, only this time Favre is giving all Packer fans the finger as he does so by choosing to play for one of, if not the biggest, rivals of the Packers. And you know what? I just don't care. I can't wait to see Favre trotting out in his purple number four at Lambeau Field and to hear just how much his desire to exact revenge on the Packer organization has soured Packer fans on the former great one.

Seriously, Brett. Find a hobby.

Pin the Tail on the Pony

Madeleine believes no birthday party is complete without some party games so, for my birthday celebration this past Sunday afternoon in Silver Lake, she designed and illustrated Pin the Tail on the Pony. All attendees, large and small, were required to play.

First up was me and, thankfully, no one photographed my stint at stumbling around with a blindfold on trying to stick a black construction paper tail in the proper place. Spoiler alert: I lost.

I did get the group with Joe about to take his turn, though. 



And Dad, too. The kids thought it was pretty hilarious that he first attempted to stick the tail on the house instead of the picture of the pony.



The funniest moment, though, was Elisabeth's turn. Her best attempt at sticking her tail on the pony?



Yep. Her own rear end. Kids and adults laughed for quite some time over that little mishap.

And finally, the victor, my sister.



Her prize? A pack of gum. Oh, and a lot of laughs. Thanks for the game, Madeleine!

Packer Game!

Last year Joe's aunt was kind enough to enter the Brown County Lottery on our behalf and won us four Packer tickets. They were tickets to a preseason game but still, for someone who had never been to a Packer game in her life, I was excited. Joe and I took the two older kids and we had a fantastic time.

This year Joe's aunt entered the lottery again and was again awarded four tickets. We were about to turn her down because of the new baby but then we discovered that they're regular season game tickets!!!! Oh my goodness, regular season home game tickets priced at face value? I am beyond excited!

I keep staring at the schedule trying to figure out which game we'll be awarded (we'll find out in July). I'm hoping for a later game, like November or December so we can easily leave Baby #4 (she really needs a name, doesn't she!) with my in-laws. One way or another, I am going to that game!

Too bad football season doesn't start for another three and a half months.

Birthday Wishes

A few weeks ago we made our annual pilgrimage to Door County to celebrate Hank and Elisabeth's sixth and third birthdays. The weekend was, as it always is, extremely relaxing and fun.

But one of the trip's highlights for me is the following picture. Hank has been asking for a Wii since last Christmas. And when I say ask I really mean talking about nonstop for ten months.  That boy really, really wanted a Wii more than almost anything that exists on earth.

So look, here he is, receiving his greatest wish as a birthday gift. The only question I have is who looks more excited, Hank or Superdad?

What Should We Do?

Tomorrow Madeleine and I are going down to Chicago with a pair of friends (a friend for me and a friend for Madeleine, who happen to be another mother/daughter pair). Joe saw this as an opportunity to head north and prepare for the opening of gun deer season next weekend (apparently some Wisconsin hunters have been bow hunting for weeks) by checking his deer stand, sighting-in his new scope and all sorts of other things I don't really understand and probably never will.

But he, Hank and Elisabeth are leaving tonight leaving Madeleine and me with a night on our own. I have some ideas of what I want to do with her, but this is such a rare opportunity we have that I want to make sure I've vetted all my options.

What would you do if you and your oldest girl were left alone for a night? Would you go out? Where would you go? Would you stay in? What would you do?

Walnut Grove Trip: Friday

We left last Friday after the final day of Vacation Bible School around 12:30 p.m.; it was a late start for the four hundred forty-six mile trip from our home to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites.  

The trip out was uneventful.  Not serene, not terribly quiet, but relatively uneventful nonetheless.  We stopped the van at this lock and dam on the Mississippi River and the kids were entertained for a few minutes by a rather large ship waiting its turn for the water level to be evened out. 

And then, serenity.  Dad and Diana loaded Madeleine and Hank into their car for the remainder of the trip while Joe and I easily chatted with Elisabeth.  We arrived in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota-- the closest we could find a hotel with availability to Walnut Grove-- around 9 p.m. Friday night and while cars were unloaded, hotel rooms checked into, and plans made for the following day, the kids and I (and later the remaining adults) jumped into the indoor pool and hot tub to unwind.

When Madeleine was 2.5 years old she could easily swim with water wings and, if prompted by an adult standing in the pool below her with open arms, would jump into the awaiting arms.  When Hank was 2.5 years old nothing could coax him into jumping into the pool, waiting arms or not.  Now Elisabeth is 2.5 years old and that girl the the craziest of the three.  Not only can she swim easily with water wings, she can twirl around in the water, point her toes out of the water, swim where ever she wants to go and she jumps.  Goodness gracious does she jump.  She cares not whether there is an adult anywhere near her and, in fact, an adult that's too close might to told to "just go 'way; I do it myfelf."  She does leaping jumps, twirling jumps, and cannonballs.  In fact she does any kind of jump Madeleine and Hank do and she does it with no hesitation.

Hmmmm.  This was supposed to be a short post since it was a short day, vacation-wise.  

We're Cosmopolitan!

I don't know if I can get on board with Carpenter's love of the Harley Museum, but everything else was spot on. Here is the L. A. Times article.

Milwaukee

Beer. If that's your first thought after hearing the word "Milwaukee," you haven't been here lately.

In the last decade, the country's 25th largest city has gone through such a massive revitalization that "cosmopolitan" is a more apt description than "blue collar." Have a Pabst if you wish, but there's a whole lot more to sample, whether it's microbreweries and organic coffee or modern art and architecture.

Joe and I have often (and by often I mean having three small children standards, which is, like, a few times a year and it usually coincides to our symphony attendance since Hotel Metro is across the street from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's performance venue) had cocktails in the Hotel Metro lounge; maybe we were part of the hip set she saw sipping martinis? And Cubanitas? It's one of our favorite restaurants (and the mojitos really are that good).

Landmark Birthday Celebrations

We arrived home yesterday afternoon following a glorious three night stay at the Landmark in Door County. The weekend was nothing other than the very definition of relaxing. We endured a blizzard while there; being snowed in on vacation can only contribute to the relaxation, no?

While there I took no pictures, swam more than intended (being snowed in can be a bit limiting) and celebrated both Dad and Diana's birthdays. We also added a new card game to our stock of favorites: Poker. I also read a lovely book: Atonement by Ian McEwan.

And now we're back. Time to re-learn how to endure low wind chills without the aide of a one hundred and two degree hot tub to warm us, back to teaching the addition of three digit numbers with carrying and time to face the dreaded task of unpacking.

Most Caffeinated Cities

Which U.S. city would you guess was the most addicted to caffeine? I would have guessed New York. I would have been wrong.

Chicagoans eat more chocolate and drink more cola than other U.S. urbanites, and are among the top consumers of energy drinks and coffee.

Tampa, Miami, Phoenix and Atlanta rounded out the top five most caffeinated cities, while residents of San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit and Baltimore consumed the least caffeine.

Zoo Trip

I have warned you that all I've been doing lately is either home schooling Madeleine, reading books in preparation for schooling Madeleine or running. Well, and of course, cleaning, laundry, cooking, et cetera, but what's less exciting than that? Perhaps running, which Superdad has called the subject of "the most boring blog posts ever?"

Yesterday, just to notch up the excitement level around here, the kids and I took a field trip to the zoo. Dad, freshly back from a week long sojourn to Germany and the Netherlands, decided to tag along since he'd missed us all ever so much.

The kids and I spent the past month studying various large cats; tigers, cheetahs, leopards, you get the idea. Considering themselves now experts in all things feline, the kids decided to observe their subjects in their natural habitats. Or, at least as close as you can get to their natural habitats when not living or frequently vacationing halfway across the globe.

Armed with paper, clipboards, colored pencils and crayons, we spent our afternoon parked in Big Cat Country at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Our first stop was the cheetahs, who were outside staring over a small ravine at a herd of impalas (something both Madeleine and Hank noted as being exceptionally cruel; Don't they want to jump over there and eat them, Mom?!) We observed through a sheet of glass the two cheetahs who playfully ran just an inch from our noses (Elisabeth jumped back in fright!) time and time again. We learned the two cheetahs were both males, and we surmised that they must be brothers that since, like other large cats, cheetahs do live on their own but, unlike other large cats, brother cheetahs are often the exception to that rule, staying together for life.

Here is Madeleine's drawing.


I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by it, and here's why. First off, she noted the cheetah's tear marks, the distinctive black line running from their inner eyes down their noses, which all cheetahs have and make differentiating them from, say, leopards, extremely easy. Secondly, unlike all other cats, cheetahs are unable to retract their claws; they need them to dig into the ground to help them run as quickly as they're able. Clearly Madeleine remembered, and noted, that interesting fact.

Hank's picture... well his was a bit less anatomically correct, but at least he got the spots. And hey, he's only four.


Next up, the lions, who were inside. They were slightly active, if you categorize yawning, preening and an occasional stretch as active. Still though, there was a wide rock ledge right in front of the lion and lioness in which to park art supplies and child-sized derrières, so the little artists got right to work.

We also saw a jaguar, a sleeping tiger (that lazy tiger has never once been awake in all our trips to the zoo) and a snow leopard.

Madeleine's tiger.


Hank's tiger, who looks very happy and awake for such tired cat, does he not?


And, finally, the full sheet, the pièce de résistance, the cumulative product of all the kids' laborious efforts. First Madeleine's masterpiece is shown. Hank's work follows immediately.

Adirondack Trip, Part 3

As our plane descended into Chicago our pilot happily informed us that it was eighty-two degrees on the ground. Eighty-two? The temperature in Albany upon departure had been in the sixties, which was about the norm for our trip. But just let chilly temperatures stop a child with access to water from swimming.


One of my favorite things about making this trip is the house. Not really the house itself, really, though of course it is lovely, but the memories it contains. When I'm there it almost makes me feel close to Grandmommy, my mom's mom, a woman who died mere months before I was born and even though I didn't know her, she's alive in that house. Her pictures are scattered throughout the house along with stacks of letters penned by her own hand. In that house I can almost believe I did know her, along with scores of other relatives who have since passed.

Because of that lolling about the house and grounds is a favorite activity. Whether it's doing housework, knitting or reading a book, quiet time is all the more special when we're at Fish House, the nickname we've given the house, than almost anywhere else.


And now we're home. But on this foggy, gloomy Wisconsin day I'm still there. I can almost imagine sitting on the front steps...

Adirondack Trip, Part 2

Thursday night Sixty-five arrived at the family home and after an evening spent chatting and catching up we decided that we would spend Friday in Saratoga Springs, New York. We lamented the fact that the horse racing season was over and that we couldn't watch any races but we did discover the presence of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Fun museum! The highlight for kids and adults was the racing simulator. The kids each suited up in full jockey gear (silks, chaps, flack jacket and helmet!) and mounted mechanical "horse" stationed in front of a giant screen playing a filmed horse race. Each child got to race three races: a practice race, an apprentice race and a final, real race. Each race would prompt the mechanical horse to move faster and faster and would then elicit louder and more robust shrieks and giggles from Madeleine and Hank.

After the museum closed our group moved on the main shopping district in Saratoga Springs. We poked around the town for awhile, stopping at fabulous, famous bakery and a Food Network featured restaurant and were sure to inspect as many of the painted horses that were scattered about town as possible.

Adirondack Trip, Part 1

I was going to summarize our trip for my blog in one measly post but while going through my pictures I realized so much happened on our six day trip that surely I could milk our adventures for at least a few days.

First off, here's where we were. My mom's family has lived in that area for generations; ancestors of mine have been there at least since the mid-1800s. In the early 1920s my great-grandfather built a home for his wife and three daughters, the middle of whom was my grandmother on my mom's side. That house still stands and is still in the family. Going there is literally like stepping back in time; re-reading old letters, looking through eighty-year-old magazines and watching my kids play with some of the same toys their ancestors did.

Lots of excitement from Superdad and the kids (and me too!) even before the trip. One of the highlights, especially for little Hank, was the trip there. Even waiting at O'Hare, an awful experience for anyone over four, became an adventure.


The first few days were quiet. We had the house to ourselves and the boys busied themselves with household tasks. Superdad's favorite task was introducing Hank to the woodshed and teaching him to split wood.


We all climbed our first mountain on Thursday. The summit of Hadley Mountain, our chosen destination, is about 2,700 feet. A fun climb, and a great day.


On the top of Hadley Madeleine reminded me that she'd inquired not too long ago if there were any places left on earth were man's presence wasn't visible. I told her I was sure there were, but couldn't pinpoint just where.

Her answer? The top of Hadley!

Au Revoir!

Today we're off. By plane, this time, instead of car, which is our usual way. Assuming, of course, that the cog that is the Chicago Tollway allows us to reach O'Hare before our flight leaves.

Our destination?

Some hints:

We'll be sleeping in the house my great-grandfather built... the house is close to a famous horse race track... we'll see Sixty-five and various cousins while we're there...

Give up?

We'll be in upstate New York, near the Adirondack Mountains (in the foothills, actually).

More to share on our return, I'm sure.