Last week we went on our summer vacation to Wisconsin. We left Monday morning and drove to Wisconsin Dells. We got there in the late afternoon/early evening, checked into our hotel and walked to a local park to stretch our legs and let Rebecca run around. It was very hot and humid, but she still loved it. After the park we walked to Mimi's American Grill for dinner. Rebecca had her first taste of "regular" milk she's had in a long time. And immediately said it smelled like cheese :P And the rest of the trip she called the milk she drank (at restaurants and Grandma's house) "cheese milk." Rebecca is very fond of her Mooville milk :) After dinner we relaxed in our room for a bit. Then we walked around downtown (just a few blocks away). We went to the Bavarian Village and watched the story of the Pied Piper. And we shared some ice cream.
Tuesday morning we drove to Baraboo to go to Circus World. First we went to the Kid's Interactive Circus. Rebecca is a little too young to participate, but she really enjoyed watching all the other kids pretend to be tigers, elephants, magicians and ring masters. Then we walked around for a bit. Next was the Tiger Adventure Show. Rebecca liked watching them do tricks. Then we went to the Big Top Circus Performance. A one ring circus with lots of fun acts. Rebecca loved the dogs, the elephants, the juggling and the clown. She could not get enough of Jessi the clown and would keep asking where she was if she wasn't on stage. Rebecca was happy to get to meet her and take a picture with her after the show. There were many more events/shows in the afternoon, but we had our fill of the circus for the day. We stopped at a local park for a picnic lunch and then went back to our hotel for nap time. In the afternoon we went to the Tommy Bartlett Water Show (Ski Sky Stage). It started with a half hour skit/water ski show. That was our favorite part. Especially Rebecca...since she got to see another clown :) The second half was filled with various performers - juggling, acrobatics, comedy. After the show we went right to dinner at Buffalo Phil's Pizza and Grille. It was a late show/late dinner, so after that it was time to head back, spend a few minutes on the hotel playground and go to bed.
Wednesday morning we started our day early so we could catch the first ride on the Duck boats. We weren't sure if the weather would hold out, so we wanted to squeeze in what we could in the morning in case it started raining later. We all really enjoyed the boat ride. It was neat to go from land to water and back to land. And to see some beautiful scenery. Rebecca was interested at first, but then got sleepy part way through and just laid on Mommy. After the boat ride we headed down the street to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory Interactive Science Center. That was a really neat place with tons of hands on activities. Although I think Mommy and Daddy may have enjoyed it a little more than Rebecca :) That's what you get when you put two engineers in a science center. We stopped in the gift shop to let Rebecca pick out a couple souveniers. She chose a purse, a small stuffed animal cow and a magnet with her name on it. Then we went back to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool and lunch. After nap we walked around downtown and shopped for souveniers. We picked up some WI fudge, got a couple things for Rebecca and a birthday present for Grandma Voogt. Then we walked to dinner at Carvelli's Pizza and Pasta House. Rebecca was very excited to get ham pizza :) After dinner we played at the hotel and got most of our stuff packed.
Thursday morning we left the Dells and headed to Hilbert to visit Grandpa and Grandma Voogt. It was a shorter trip than we expected, so we were there by 10:30 am. We walked around the farm to see the animals and played inside for a while. Grandpa came home from work in time for lunch. After nap we just played and did stuff around the farm. We couldn't be outside for very long because of all of the mosquitos. But Rebecca did get to play with the kitties. She couldn't get enough of them. And did not hesitate at all to go right up and pick them up :)
Friday morning we went to Mulberry Lane Farm to see lots of animals. It was on and off raining, but we still had a great time. Rebecca got to hold a chicken, pet chicks, ducklings, turkeys, goats and sheep, feed some animals, milk a cow and take a pony ride. She LOVED the pony ride. She had a huge grin on her face as soon as the pony started walking. When we got back it was time for lunch and nap. In the evening Rebecca played and had dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. Justin and Mary got to go out for dinner...a real date to finally celebrate our anniversary. We really enjoyed some time alone while Rebecca got to spend quality time with Grandpa and Grandma. When we got back it was time to pack a few things and put Rebecca to bed.
Saturday morning we left for home. We made our usual lunch stop at an oasis in Chicago. Rebecca has now learned that it's fun to run from one end to the other...and make Mommy or Daddy go chasing after her. She has come close to running right out the automatic doors and into the parking lot a couple times :P She sure is getting fast. We got back around 5 pm. The first item on Rebecca's agenda when we got back...play in the sandbox and collect rocks :P A bath was the next thing on the list. We had dinner, unpacked and relaxed.
We had a wonderful trip. We saw and did many fun things. We made great memories. We enjoyed our time on the farm as always with our wonderful hosts. We came home with some fun souveniers and a "few" extra mosquito bites :P It was fun, but it sure feels good to be home :)
