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!

Getting the Team Together in Chicago

(null)Bryan (Chicago), Romi (Chicago), Jared (Chicago), Gian (Porto Alegre), Andrei (Chicago), Ujval (Chicago), Rachelle (Chicago), Alice (Porto Alegre), Becky (Chicago), Rodrigo (Porto Alegre), Jeff (Nashville)

A lot of my project team is in Chicago, but a lot of it also works remotely. We have team members in Porto Alegre, Brazil; New York City; and Nashville, TN. Last week almost everyone flew into Chicago and it was so nice to work in person, face to face! Some people I’d met before, but many I hadn’t and it was great to get to know everyone better.

(null)The group photo above is in a different room, but most of our time was spent in our fancy conference room called Millennium Park, which overlooks… ding ding ding… Millennium Park.

We planned an outing to Whirlyball, since it is a really Chicago thing that none of the out of towners had even heard of. (null)Getting instructions! Pete (NYC), Jen (Chi), Romi (Chi), Bryan (Chi), Kate (NYC), Alice (BR), Rodrigo (BR), Eduardo (BR), Jeff (TN), Chris (Chi), Fletcher (Chi), Becky (Chi), Gian (BR), Ujval (Chi)

(null)Pete

(null)Rachelle & Alice

(null)Fletcher & Jared

(null)George, Becky, Bryan, Chris

(null)Game on!

(null)Ujval was very good at Whirlyball. 

(null)Chris & Andrei

(null)Jeff, Ujval, Gian, Pete

(null)Inappropriate?!? Chris & Alice

(null)A line of bored dudes: Romi, Bryan, Ujval, Andei, Jared, Jeff

(null)Chris accusing Gian of who knows what.

(null)To the ladies…… Becky, Kate, Rachelle, Alice

(null)Intense heart-to-heart conversation. Chris, Eduardo, Rachelle, Alice.

After Whirlyball we went to a bar called The Rail by Chris’s house, where Chris is a regular. Before everyone had even settled in and gotten seated, I quick ran up to the bar and set things straight with the Malort. Everyone had to try it!!! No one liked it, except Alice, who drank two! We all had super delicious hamburgers for only $5 and several more drinks. (null)(null)(null)Fletcher, Kate, Ujval, Eduardo, Chris, Alice

(null)Chris’s selfie: Jeff, Alice, Rachelle, Becky, Fletcher, Kate, Ujval, Gian (cut off), Pete (cut off), Eduardo.

(null)And we all had a more palatable shot of Fireball. People were getting drunk and not everyone wanted a shot. No problem! Eduardo drank all the extras!

(null)A chugging contest that was really no contest at all.

We were sending photos of our lunches and drinks over Slack to our friends that stayed in Brazil and didn’t make the trip. So, in return, they sent us photos back. It was fun!(null)Raphael, Diego, Carlos

(null)Alisson, Enrique, New Diego, Old Diego

One of my favorite parts of the week was all of the cultural food and drink exchanges! You saw above how we made everyone drink Malort and Fireballs, not to mention many local craft beers. The Brazilians also brought us much booze.(null)(null)Brazil is known for their cachaça, a popular spirit made from sugar cane. We were given many bottles of cachaca! We were told that these smaller Velho Barreiro bottles ofcachaça are better for mixing.

(null)(null)We were also gifted a few of these larger Velho Alambique cachaça bottles, which we were told were higher quality and better for sipping.

(null)(null)(null)Mid-week, Eduardo used some of the cachaça to make us the Brazilian national drink, caipirinha!! Funny side note: We told Eduardo that there were lemons and sugar in the kitchen. “Perfect!,” he said! Then when he got to the kitchen he was very confused as to why the lemons were yellow and not green, to which we were like “?????????”!

We also opened one of the nice bottles, too, and many people came by the kitchen for a taste!

(null)They also brought SO much Brazilian candy. I LOVED the bowls of cork-shaped Paçoca, which is made from peanuts, sugar and salt.

(null)img_2972.jpgIn exchange, we catered in Portillo’s Italian beef, Chicago dogs and chocolate cake for one of our meetings.

(null)We also go Garrett’s popcorn, specifically the Chicago mix (caramel and cheese popcorn mixed together.

(null)(null)We also made sure that everyone got some deep-dish Chicago pizza from Giordano’s.

(null)A couple of our clients came into our office one day to spend the day collaborating and meeting everyone. One guy lives in a north suburb, not far from Wisconsin, so he brought us all New Glarus beer!

(null)On the morning after Whirlyball, Ujval was running a bit late. I thought it was just because we were all out so late the night before, but it was because he was bringing Indian food to the office! We had two different types of samosa and some really good dhokla. This really hit the spot for a late breakfast, since we were all so hung over!

(null)One interesting thing was that all of the Brazilians were buying things like crazy! They were hitting up Best Buy and Game Stop and even ordering things on Amazon to be delivered to the office while they were in town. Turns out that electronics are dirt cheap here, compared to how much they would pay in Brazil! That’s Rodrigo opening one of his new toys!

(null)We had so much fun with all of our guests, socializing and eating and drinking… but it is true. We DID get a ton of work done too! At the end of the week, I did not want anyone to leave. Jeff comes in fairly often and I always tell him to move to Chicago already. It was great to collaborate with the New Yorkers. I will especially miss the Brazilians, though!

I have used a few of my teammates photos for this post. 

A Wisconsin Barbecue and Family Reunion

This was the third year in a row that we have gone up to Wisconsin to visit my parents and see all of our family up there. The first year, 2013, I was pregnant and hadn’t seen a lot of my family for years. The second year, 2014, Makai was a baby and I got to introduce him to everyone. This year Makai was old enough to run around with the kids and that was a lot of fun too.

I had fun seeing everyone and it was nice to be at my parent’s house in the country, which is not really the country, but is the country compared to where we live! I realized how much I miss open windows. Especially at night and in the early morning. Makai loved running in the grass barefoot, playing with (and riding) the dogs, picking and eating tomatoes from the vine with papa, and just being outside a ton.

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Dad and Dallas manning the grill.

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Dad grilled hot dogs, beer brats, and hamburgers. Dallas made a 10-pound pork roast!

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Typical WI BBQ coolers.

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To all the beers I’ve loved before..

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Jess stayed with my parents for two weeks before the party and made these cookies.

As with the previous years, the kids went wild for the frogs in the back ditch! This year Makai was in there with them. Tessa was so nice about leading him by the hand and letting him pet the frogs they captured.

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Frog Crossing!

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Kids on the bridge looking for frogs – Brianna, my cousin’s daughter is in red. PJ (standing) is a friend of my cousin Kelly’s daughter, Tessa.

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Makai with Tessa (my cousin Kelly’s daughter). Charlotte (raising her hand) is Kelly’s as well. PJ is Tessa’s friend. Penny and Sam are my cousin Tiffany’s kids.

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From the bottom: Makai, my niece Jessica, Charlotte & Tessa (my cousin Kelly’s), PJ is Tessa’s friend, Margo is also Kelly’s, Penny is my cousin Tiffany’s, Brianna is my cousin Melissa’s.

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FROGS!

It was great to see so many of my aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin’s kids, etc!

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My cousin Katrina with her parents, Ali and Dave, and her boyfriend, Gaylin.

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Aunt Deb, Uncle Mike, Uncle Morey, Aunt Connie

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My cousin Bethany’s husband, Chad, my Uncle Rich, my cousin Amanda’s husband Phil. Makai really enjoyed rubbing Phil’s shaved head. A lot. For a very long time. An uncomfortable amount of time!

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Katie is my cousin Kelly’s daughter. No, my older cousin Kelly! Elizabeth is my cousin Molly’s daughter. Nic (with girlfriend Brenna) is Katie’s brother.

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My cousin Anna’s daughter, Brianne, and my niece, Stephanie.

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Margo is my younger cousin Kelly’s daughter. She’s pictured with her grandma, my Aunt Sue.

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My cousin Melissa with her boyfriend, Aunt Ali, Aunt Connie, Aunt Deb, Uncle Morey, sidewalk chalk, Makai.

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My niece Stephanie with her dog, Milo.

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Dallas, my cousin Kelly with her husband Jeff, Uncle Dave and his daughter, my cousin, Katrina and her boyfriend Gaylin.

Now it’s time for some family selfies!

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Cousin Kelly, Me, Aunt Ali

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Me and Kelly. It was so great to spend the day with her and her family. I miss them! And so fun to see Makai play with her girls!

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Me and my Aunt Ali

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Me and my Aunt Sue

Some other photos from the weekend in Wisconsin:

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My mom with Makai and Buddy by the pond in their subdivision.

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When in Wisconsin: New Glarus Spotted Cow + Friday Fish Fry!

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Makai walking Buddy.

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Buddy stretching out and relaxing on the patio.

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Milo and Dakoda in the garage, begging to come back inside.

Wisconsin Barbecue


Milo resting in the shade.


Quarter keg of Spotted Cow.


Rock and Jeff


Richard and Brian


Shorty.


Shorty again. We debated how old he is… 13? 15?


Jason and Jessica


Jessica and Jason


Brian, Sheila, Ashley playing beersbee


Richard and Rock playing beersbee


Fire pit, where the play gym used to be.

Over the weekend my brother had a barbecue at his house. I hadn’t been up to his house for a visit since Christmas, so I wanted to make sure to go. The weather was a little hot at first, but then cooled to comfortable temperature. I played a game of bocce with Jess and played bags with my brother and his friends. Steph had band until 3 and then invited a few friends over. Like typical teenagers, they mostly hung around each other, away from the rest of the party, except when Sheila infiltrated every now and then! My brother and his friends also played beersbee, which I thought at first was the frisbie game, but is not. My brother accidentally made the hamburgers, frisbee style, the way my dad makes them, but redid the batch. Those frisbee burgers would have worked out well for the beersbee game! It was fun to hang out and relax and meet some more of my brother’s friends.

Mars Cheese Castle


Mars Cheese Castle, Kenosha, WI


Beer-Shaped Sausage :: Mars Cheese Castle, Kenosha, WI


Mars Cheese Castle, Kenosha, WI

The last time I was in Wisconsin I had Danny’s car and on the way home I stopped at Mars Cheese Castle to take a look around. Believe it or not, I’d never been there. It’s nearby the Bong Recreation Center so it was a regular routine to make fun of Bong and then look across the highway and think “Mars Cheese Castle, I should go there some day.” So, finally I did.

I didn’t get any more beer-shaped sausage, but I did end up buying two six packs of New Glarus beers: Fat Squirrel and Spotted Cow.

New Glarus Brewing

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New Glarus Beer, Roscoe Village, Chicago

At my niece’s birthday party Dallas and I drank some New Glarus Spotted Cow beer. It was good and when we came back to Chicago we mentioned it to Danny. Danny said when he went to school in Madison they used to drink New Glarus beer all the time. Last week when my brother was over he brought me a sixer of all different New Glarus beer. Saturday night we went to Danny’s to barbecue and I brought the sixer and we all tried out the different types of New Glarus brews.