Vacation Day 7

Our final day of vacation was spent back tracking to Old World Wisconsin since it was closed earlier in the week.  We were so glad we went back - we all enjoyed Old World - there was so much to do and see!

The evening before when we arrived at our hotel the Oscar Meyer mobile was parked in the parking lot - the kids thought it looked so funny!

Old World Wisconsin is an settlement based on life in the early 19th century when immigrants came to the America's.  This particular Saturday happened to be Laura Ingalls Wilder days and we were able to do lots of extra activities that normally wouldn't be taking place, such as tasting homemade ice cream, churning butter, sewing quilt patches, making twine, etc.  I definitely appreciate all my modern day appliances!

Caleb washing clothes

Sarah making a round peg

School time - Sarah & I loved the school and I even answered the question of which states boarder Wisconsin; unfortunately I didn't answer in a complete sentence, so I got the teacher's glare which Sarah thought was so funny!

 Recess time!

Beautiful wooden fence

One of the homes on the settlement

Sarah churning butter - what a process! 

Sarah's first quilt square

Sarah learning to drill a hole

Daddy & Caleb enjoying watching Sarah drill a hole

Sarah making twine

Sarah playing on a hay stack

Caleb smiling at the end of the trip!  It was a great trip ~ spending time together as a family and seeing lots of new and exciting things!  Now it's time for me to unpack and do lots of laundry!!!

Vacation Day 6

Day six of the vacation was scheduled for me. . . a tour of the Pabst Mansion, the Miller Brewery tour (ok, that was really for Brandon) and the Jelly Belly factory tour!  I love touring restored houses and this one did not disappoint!

This is the front entrance - the only picture we were allowed to take.  The first two stories were restored and the third story was dedicated to offices.  The wood work detailing was stunning!

After this tour was over, Brandon had arranged a private tour of the Miller Brewery which was very interesting and ended with a sampling!  The kids did a great job - there was a lot of walking involved and this wasn't exactly the most kid friendly activity!

Sarah took our picture & she did a great job!

During our sample, there were postcards on the table you could fill out & send to American troops - what an awesome idea!

Sarah was so excited to take this picture, saying "Cheers"

The kids thought these hats were so cool!

Next was what Caleb had waited all day for. . . jelly beans!  You got to ride on a little train for the tour, which was very intesting - I think.  I only really heard a small portion of what was being said because Caleb kept yelling "I WANT JELLY BEANS."  The tour was only 30 minutes, but felt very long while Caleb was eyeing all the jelly beans he wanted to eat!  Finally at the end of the tour everyone got a free sample bag of jelly belly jelly beans!  We were so excited!  Caleb ate almost the entire bag by the time we got to our hotel!

Caleb clutching his bag of jelly beans!

Vacation Day 4 & 5

There are a couple things that Caleb is really into right now - Tractors & Trains!  I found the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, WI.  We took about an hour train ride in a restored train; it was quite the hot day and the train wasn't moving as fast as I would have liked! 

Sarah & Mommy

Caleb kicked off his shoes & made himself comfy!

The exterior view of the railcar

The train we rode

One of my favorite pics of the vacation ~ Caleb enjoying the train ride

Dad trying to cool down

Caleb being cute and Mommy (not the best picture, remember I was HOT!!!)

Railcars not in use

Caleb in the museum

After the museum we drove through Devil's Lake State Park.  We loved the scenery, especially the bright red barns against the green fields - just beautiful!  It brought back memories of my Grandpa Virgil's red barn.

Devil's Lake State Park

The water was so beautiful - there was a pretty beach we passed, but didn't have any swim clothes handy, so we drove on....not much in the park other than the beach and a couple hiking trails.

Day Five was scheduled to be spent at Old World Wisconsin; however, due to the extreme heat (and several of the interperters passing out the day before) the state closed the park for the day!  So we drove on to Milwaukee and stopped at the Harley Davidson museum.

Caleb . . . . so cute!

Sarah & Caleb

Daddy & Caleb

Mommy & Caleb - the closest I've ever been to a motorcycle

At the end of the museum there was a room full of motorcycles for you to sit on & watch a video - it was like you were driving through the country.  The kids had a great time playing on all the different motorcycles!  This was Caleb's favorite - he loves the color red too!

Sarah's favorite!

Vacation Day 3

Day three of the vacation started off early in the morning because I thought the Dell Boat Tour left at 9 am and lasted 3 hours (or so said the website).  When we arrived there was no line & I was thinking - finally!  All the planning paid off!!!  Well, wrong I was!  The boat tour didn't start until 10 am and only lasted 2 hours, which turned out to be a blessing because it was one hot day on the river!

Thankfully we packed the baby carrier, so we set off on a hike along the riverside.  It was a nice little detour for the kids so we didn't have to sit and wait on the tour.

The kids insisted we sit on the top deck of the boat tour - it was bright but there was a nice breeze going so we survived!  I bought a book of the tour we took that describes all the beautiful sights; these are just some of the pictures we took.  Unfortunately, I can't figure out if any of these are in the book but these are pretty too!

This was taken somewhere within Witches Gulch - a nice cool canyon during our hot boat ride.

This is Stand Rock where H.H. Bennett captured the first stop-action photo of his son Ashley leaping the five-foot gap from the mainland cliff to Stand Rock.  A german shepard leaped across the gap while we were there, but we were a little trigger slow!

After the boat tour we were just in time to see the Glockenspiel Reenactment of the Pied Piper.  It was pretty cute, short and didn't hold the kids attention at all!  They were more amused with the wishing well.

After all that activity and a quick nap, we decided to hit the water park again!  The kids couldn't get enough of the water and they slept great at night. . . so I thought, why not!  Each time we went to the elevator it was a huge ordeal over who got to push the button!  Thankfully Caleb pushed the right button each time, of course under Sarah's direct supervision!

Sarah tried so hard, but she just couldn't get this to work!

One of Sarah's favorite rides was the water slide where you had to use these mats.  I couldn't believe she did it and by herself!  I was so proud of her!!!

Caleb on his favorite water activity!  This was just perfect for him.

Daddy took a wrong step right when this huge bucket of water spilled down by the little slide the kids were using - he said it felt refreshing!