Long Weekend in Green Bay and Door County

Dallas had to go to Door County, WI for work so Makai and I tagged along on a mini vacation.

Our hotel is in Green Bay, a block away from Lambeau Field. When we arrived, we checked into the hotel and then we had dinner at Hinterland Brewery a few blocks away. There was a neighborhood night market at the Titletown development where Hinterland is. It was so nice. We walked around with a beer and looked at all the stands, and listened to the band. They are developing so much in this area!

Dallas had to go to work early in the morning. Makai and I had breakfast at the hotel. He LOVED it!

I wanted to take Makai to The Farm in Sturgeon Bay. I knew he would love it. To make it even more fun, cousins Tessa and Margo joined us!Baby chicks and a guinea fowl.

Feeding bottles of milk to baby pigs!

Tessa trying to feed some corn to a cow. Open wide!

Oh no! Trapped in a well!

Lost looking for the rabbits. … I mean… nature hike.
Found them!

Found the horses too!

Last but not least, kittens! Makai loved this kitten sooo much! After the farm we had lunch at PC Junction, where a train delivers your food. Too bad there was an hour wait in that part of the restaurant. Still a good place for lunch though.

We headed back to De Pere to drop Tessa and Margo off at home. Then Makai and I changed and picked Dallas up at work in Sturgeon Bay. This is a random sign we saw.

After picking Dallas up, we headed up Door County more to Sister Bay. Our friends from Chicago, Andy, Simonie, James and Reid moved there from Chicago. They were having a party and invited us, since we were nearby. We couldn’t stay late because Dallas had to work in the morning and we had a long drive back to Green Bay, but it was so great to see them. I loved their amazing house, so close to downtown, but also right on the lake.

Our hotel was a block from Lambeau Field! The Packers were practicing at Training Camp on Ray Nitschke Field. Makai and I met Jeff, Charlotte and Margo to watch.
#23 Cornerback Jaire Alexander was our guy. His bag was right in front of us and he would come and get things out of it. He practiced right in front of us the whole time. We didn’t see Rodgers because he was practicing on another part of the field, but we did get to see Jordan Love.

It was fun to spend time with family. When we got hot we went to get some drinks and visited some of the sponsored activities tents. Ahman Green, Jarrett Bush, and Evan Smith were the former players signing autographs.

After training camp we had some lunch and Kelly met up with us. Then we went to Lambeau Field for a stadium tour. It was so cool to be up in a suite and down on the field. Makai loved the echo! We also got to go through the tunnel all the players go through!

After spending most of our money at the Packers Pro Shop, Kelly took us for shave ice at Ice Clouds!

Fresh outta the Packers Pro Shop!

For dinner we went to T. Bacon’s BBQ.

Then we met Kelly and Margo at the Marcus Cinema to watch Thor: Love and Thunder.

The next morning we ventured downtown for breakfast at The Creamery, which was super good and cute.

Makai had been DYING to go in the hotel pool, so I took him down for a bit.

We met Kelly, Charlotte and Margo at Bay Beach, which gave Kelly and I a lot of flashbacks to when we used to go when we were kids!

Makai stayed overnight at Kelly and Jeff’s house. Dallas and I looked up some nice places for dinner and actually ended up going back to Lambeau to a restaurant called 1919 Kitchen & Tap. The food was good but the service was terrible! I also tried their old fashioned.

The next morning Dallas had to go to work for a while. I went to Kelly and Jeff’s and hung out til he was done. Then he picked us up and we headed back to Chicago.

Oh, and KC was hanging out with Jazz the cat and Maggie the dog (and Rachel, Scott and Otis) while we were away!

Family Reunion in Neenah, WI

Dallas had to work, but Makai and I headed to Wisconsin on a Friday afternoon. On Saturday we had a big family reunion. My mom and dad spearheaded it and reserved a pavillion at Schildt Park. They made the meat and everyone else brought sides and desserts. It turned out great and everyone had a fun time!

 Aunt Connie + Riverlyn

 Juniper, Mom, Aunt Connie

 Riverlyn + Margo

 Riverlyn + Makai

 Riverlyn

Annaleigha + Riverlynn

Annaleigha

 Margo, Makai, Riverlynn

 Pat + Kelly

 Collin, Sabrina, Richard, Jill, Keegan

 Riverlynn, Katrina, Mom

 Uncle Rich + Ella

 Aunt Deb + Erica

 Uncle Steve, Kacey, Sierra

 Aunt Wanda, Aunt Connie, Molly

 Phil + Amanda

 Dawn, Annaleigha, Miranda

 Peter, Uncle Dave, Juniper

 Dad, Kelly, Mark

 Riverlynn, Katrina, Ciara, Skyonna, Juniper

 Phil, Amanda, Bethany, Brianne

 Peter, Juniper, Dakota

 Makai

 Cousins! Amanda, Bethany, Kacey, Sabrina, me, Dawn, Erica, Richard

 Jeff, Tessa, Charlotte

 Mom, Aunt Connie, Aunt Wanda

Mom, Aunt Connie, Aunt Wanda

 Me + Makai

Cousins! Kelly, Katrina, Richard, Sabrina, Molly, Me, Dawn, Pat

From Tessa:

Makai’s WI Vacation

We were barely home from our 3-week trip to Hawaii, when Makai went to Wisconsin for 10 days! He had off a few days for Fourth of July and Dallas and I each only had one day off. So we asked my parents if he could go to their house. But the timing for pickup and drop off really extended the visit. He loved it, of course! He didn’t even miss us! He did so many things in those 10 days:

Party at a nearby park and a nighttime parade.

Lakehouse day with my brother and Jill.

Helping grandpa wash his truck.

Crashed my cousin Skyonna’s wedding.

Celebrating Fourth of July with my cousin Kelly’s family – Jeff, Tessa, Margo, Charlotte.

Visiting a park on the Fox River.

Hanging out at home!

Making the Best of it in WI

On June 26th, my Uncle Doug passed away. His memorial service was in Fremont, WI on June 30. Dallas had to travel to Atlanta that weekend for work, so I took Makai up to WI for a long weekend over the holiday. My Aunt Wanda, his widow, told me two things at the memorial service – When something bad happens, you just have to keep going, because what else can you do? And don’t put things off til tomorrow because you never know. We were there for a sad reason, but tried to make the best of visiting with lots of family.

We left on Thursday night. Dallas had left for Atlanta earlier in the day. I picked Makai up at daycare and we drove from there. For dinner we stopped at Culver’s in Franklin, WI, just outside of Milwaukee. You can see Makai loved his cheese curds and ice cream!

The memorial service was at the funeral home in Fremont, WI, nearby where my uncle lived. Doug, my dad’s brother, was married to my mom’s sister, Wanda, so a ton of my family from both sides came to show support for the family and respect for my uncle. It was very moving to see his army uniform empty.

On display was also many, many photographs and some of his medals from his army service, including the Purple Heart. I never knew much about the Purple Heart, but Aunt Wanda told us “Their camp was hit by enemy mortars (bombs), although he was wounded he helped the other wounded men get loaded into choppers. He still has shrap-metal and foreign matter in his back.”

Following the memorial there were military rites and taps. It was so emotional.

 Following the funeral, we all went to the American Legion, which was only a few blocks away. A lot of people made food so we all had lunch. Doug’s favorite drinks were Budweiser and Jim Beam. My brother already had a Bud, so I got another for my dad and a Bud Light for myself.

My cousin Sabrina informed me that I was doing it wrong. I was supposed to be drinking Budweiser. She took me over the dessert table, grabbed a couple shots of Jim Beam, pointed to the photo above that was on one of the photo collage boards and we both threw them back. Now this crazy photo below is seared into my braid with the glue of Jim Beam.

Outside the American Legion post was a tank. Like… a real one. All the kids were interested in it. It was nice to get a breather outside, checking it out.

It felt weird to just go home after the memorial, but everyone was so exhausted. We needed to rest. Later on we decided to get a fish fry for dinner. After some Googling we ended up at Dairyland Brew Pub. Great beer list. The food was good too.

The next morning I went to Woodman’s with my dad. We purchased food from all of the Wisconsin food groups: Milk, cheese, sausage and corn.

Makai messed around with Grandma. I drank a Rosa on the patio.

Oh, and before Makai and I even woke up, Buddy ran away. At like 4:30 a.m. My mom finally called the police station at about 3 p.m. or so and they said he’d been turned in at 5:30 a.m. Off to break that troublemaker out of jail.

For dinner my dad grilled all the sausages and other meats we got at Woodman’s. We had Aunt Wanda and my cousin Sabrina over for dinner. So they could get out of the house and just relax for a while. Brianne came along too, with her daughter, Annaleigha, and Makai had fun playing with her.

 In the morning I was texting with my cousins Kacey and Stephanie, when we were suddenly like “Why are we texting? Let’s just meet up for lunch!” So we did. At Houdini’s Escape, which I really really liked.

Dawn was out of town, but we texted Sabrina to come and join us. Stephanie mentioned that she was meeting friends at a bar with a patio and a band was playing. It wasn’t far away and was really close to my parents’ house, so off we went. Fun night. Nice friends. Lots of dancing. And, of course, Jim Beam for Uncle Doug.

 While I was out with my cousin’s, Makai spent approximately 95% of the day in the kid pool at my parent’s house!

The next day my cousin Kelly came over from De Pere with her daughters Tessa, Margo and Charlotte, and Charlotte’s friend Kiki. We played around the house and my dad grilled some burgers and dogs for lunch.

After lunch we went to Fritse Park and walked across the trestle bridge that spans Little Lake Butte des Morts. It was a sunny, gorgeous day and we all had so much fun. After walking across and back we played on a playground at the park.

 We were pretty tired after the long walk and playing in Fritse Park, so it was nice to relax for a little while at Herb and Dolly Smith Park, just down the road. I loved the swing benches they had on the lakeside. So peaceful.

The next morning Makai and Grandmas were up baking cookies before I was even out of bed!

 While that was going on, my dad drove out to Uncle Doug and Aunt Wanda’s house and picked a TON of raspberries.

 Makai and I met up with Dawn, Bryan, Keegan and Collin for breakfast at Uncle Doug’s favorite place, Denny’s. We ordered one bowl of grits and each ate a bit in remembrance. Being July 4, it was Dawn’s birthday, so it was nice to see her before heading out of town!

On the way back to Chicago, we stopped in Oak Creek. My brother and Amanda were having a last minute barbecue. Jess had four of her friends over. Stephanie brought her kitten, Sasha!