Wisconsin Humor

We passed this sign on our way to the Outlet Mall yesterday. I thought it was hilarious, so I had to go back today and take a snapshot. Seriously, only in Wisconsin!!

Hot Daas!

Henry loves him some hot dogs (or "hot daas", as he calls them!). Every day he asks for them, though I try my darndest (is that a word?) to not give them to him that often! And then one time, when Jack was sleeping in the living room, I tried to keep Henry in the kitchen while he ate. The only way I could do it was to sit him up on one of our high bar stools (of course I held him and watched him like a hawk the entire time). Now he always associates his hot daas with that dang stool. Argh. :o)

He's been back up there a few times now, and he does really well with it. I tell him he has to sit very still and not wiggle, and he actually does. He doesn't move a muscle, other than his hand going from the plate to his mouth and back again.

Here are some pics, taken toward the end of a recent meal.

Glacier Ridge Animal Farm

If you've ever taken a trip up Highway 41 in NE Wisconsin, you've seen the buffalo roaming along the east side of the road between Fond du Lac and Oshkosh. We've enjoyed watching them from the road for years, and just recently learned that the Glacier Ridge Animal Farm was open to the public. We took the boys there today, and we all loved it (well, Jack slept through it, but you know what I mean!). It's $6/adult (not bad!), and when you pay they give each person a loaf of bread to feed all the animals with (you can get more bread if you want it).

There were all kinds of animals. Monkeys, cows, bison, buffalo, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, camels, emu, ostriches, horses, alpacas, llamas, shetland ponies, swans, turtles, bunnies, and probably a few more I can't think of!

Here is a Smilebox of our day. Most of the pictures are of the animals. I was amazed at how close we could get (they all eat right out of your hand). And there was a resident dog that followed us every where. Henry LOVED the dog. She brought us a big branch and we'd play fetch with her. Then she lost her branch, so she ran ahead of us on the trail and jumped up on a low hanging apple tree and pulled a fruit off. I thought she was hungry, but she brought it and dropped it at Darrin's feet to throw for her! It was so cute. There is a picture of her in the slideshow too. I really enjoyed myself, and can't wait to go back.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sunday Cookout

My Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Leon are in town from Tennessee, and they invited us over for a cookout at the campground they are staying (read: parked) at. We had a great time visiting with everyone this afternoon. I took a few pictures and tossed them into a Smilebox for you to see if you're interested. There are some of the boys, and some of the family.


I just love the area around this campground: south of town, and smack in the middle of no where. I'd love to have a house in the country some day. Seriously wouldn't it be so cool to open your door to this every day?

Seriously, that's my idea of heaven. :)

Here are the rest of the pictures:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jabber Jack

I feel like this blog is pretty Henry-heavy lately, and wanted to take a moment to share a little love from Jack. He's such a sweet boy, and he jabbers like crazy. Far more than Henry ever did at this age. My Mom is a talker, and I am not... it drives her CRAZY because she will talk just to fill the silence and I'd rather stay quiet unless there is something meaningful to be said (I'm told I take after my grandpa and Uncle Don in this respect... Aunt Jane, are you reading this? What do you think?). Anyhow, Mom is THRILLED at the idea that Jackie might be a talker too.

Here's a video I shot a few days ago of him jabbering a little. You can hear me whispering in the background. I was on hold on the telephone at the same time and didn't know if they actually had my on hold (i.e. silenced) or not, so I was trying to keep it down a bit. And this is nothing compared to his norm. He'll literally go on and on and on (and on - lol)!

At the fair

We took Henry and Jack to the county fair last Friday. Jack pretty much slept through it, but Henry had a blast! Here are some pictures:

Make a Smilebox postcard

He loves that dog. He's been carrying it around everywhere. Unfortunately, it's pretty cheap, so I don't think it's going to last too long. The other day he was carrying it and both ears fell off. He wasn't even touching the ears! So, we rushed it to the emergency room and thankfully the pup pulled through the delicate surgery. ;o)

We didn't take Henry on any rides this year because we're cheap. lol. It was $10/person to get in, but kids under 3 were free as long as they didn't go on rides - otherwise they were $10. We weren't really sure if he'd even like the rides, so we didn't want to waste the $$. We figured we'd wait until next year when we know for sure he is interested. As it was we tried to put him on a pony ride (you had to pay separately for those) and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

He still enjoyed himself though - even without rides.

If you are reading this and don't stay on top of my craft blog, sneak over there to look at today's post. It's a frame I made with a picture of Jack in it. :o)

I Can See Clearly Now...

Our home was built somewhere around 1900, and although I love living in an old home, there has been plenty of up keep to go with it. The majority of the windows in the house were replaced before we moved in, but these were among those that were still original to the house. They were in horrible (HORRIBLE!) condition, and something needed to be done. I've always been one to try to repair the old stuff before replacing it, so we had the windows pulled out and recaulked, etc. a few summers ago but it really was a very temporary fix. They started falling apart again the following year, and we knew we were going to have to replace them. I really think the reason they lasted as long as they did was because they were totally shielded by a couple of HUGE pine trees that were in our front yard when we moved in. We took those trees down a few years ago after a major windstorm and that seems to be when our problems started.

Here is a picture of the large window in the library-turned-toy-room. We replaced this one, and another large window in our living room that is identical in shape and size (and, unfortunately, condition):




Here is a close up of the bottom right corner of the window shown above:

And here is a shot of the same corner after our new energy efficient Andersen windows were installed:


I didn't plant any flowers in my window boxes this year because I figured (1) it would be hard to get out and water regularly with a hubby who works out of town and an infant and toddler in tow, and (2) the window guys would wreck them anyhow. Turns out they pulled the window boxes out altogether, so I didn't have to worry about that, but that's alright. I normally have red petunias planted there so try to picture them in your head. ;o)

The new windows are sooooooo nice. I could sit and stare out them for hours! The old windows seemed cloudy compared to these. I love them! We also got our upstairs bathroom window replaced, so now we only have five windows to go before the whole house is done. We're hoping to finish them up next summer.

I know it's not as cute as a picture of a kiddo, but I thought I'd share anyhow!

Special Memories Zoo

Here are the pictures from the zoo in Greenville that I've been talking about. I didn't get too many, because Henry was kind of in a funk that day. He really didn't want any part of it. We think maybe he had a tummy ache or something, because that's really not like him - especially where so many animals are concerned!

As for the zoo itself, it was alright, but there were a lot of cages and fences, and fences around cages, etc. It was a bit much for my tastes. I prefer the more open (but still confined) concept of the Milwaukee Zoo and the NEW Zoo.

The cover picture on this scrapbook was taken in the petting zoo area. The baby goat jumped onto the turle's back. It was just too cute!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Have a great day!
Sarah