Milly-Vaw-Kee, Day 2

So day in Milwaukee was just as good, if not better, than day one. We hit the Lakefront for some summer fun.

But before we get to our day, check out these photos from two years ago when we did much of the same. Here is me at 4 and Mae at 2 years old.

Alright, now that we've got that covered, we took to the park and at the end of a seriously long game of Base (which is like tag only there is a home base where you're safe) I found myself far from Base with Eli chasing me. Well, as you can see, I gave him quite the run for his money. He eventually got me but then collapsed to the ground and stayed there for about ten minutes. Girls rule, boys drool buddy.

Got out our kites and flew 'em high. The Milwaukee lakefront is the perfect spot for flying a kite. The wind comes off the lake and next thing you know, you're out of string and you can barely see your "flag," as Mae likes to call it.

Meanwhile, Pax was getting into some yoga in the park with a little "downward dog" yoga posing on his mat.

And then it was time to hit up the group bikes. We got all six of us on there - Mom and Dad pedaling in the drivers seat with Eli in the middle and the three birds up front.

And here's pretty much mom and dad's favorite picture that's ever been taken.

Mother's Day 2014

Started off a-ma-zing with a special Mother's Day salute in our classroom on Friday afternoon. All the moms came in and we did a bunch of awesome stuff with them. Here's a little selfie action.

Then on Mother's Day it was actually also Paxton's birthday, which was kind of cool because they got to share the day. He woke up early and made Mom a Mother's Day card.

Later in the afternoon I went outside in front and made mom a couple chalk drawings on the sidewalk.

And then later we went down to the lakefront and ran around a little bit. We stopped by one of our favorite old stomping grounds - Buckingham Fountain - and took in a long walk and an overall awesome evening to wrap up Mother's Day.

Here's a shot of all of us and Dad, which is a bit strange seeing that it was Mother's Day, but Mom wanted a shot of her gang so here it is.

Ahoy!

Well, I just got back from vacationing in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, Nana and Papa, etc. (oh, and Mae and mom and Dad, too).

So there are plenty of pics and stories to come from that. But I thought I'd start off with something I worked on today at my house.

First, though, check this out. We went for a radical bike ride this morning along the Lakefront and headed out to the bike path on Northerly Island, and then stopped at the Dome Park by the Aquarium to climb some hills.

Got home and decided to head out on MY bike for a little ride. I know, sweet get-up, I dressed myself today.

Okay, so back to my art project. First, I cut up some paper, then I colored some things and got some jazz going in the tape department.

And this is the completed project.

Um, Finley, you're going to have to come a little closer to the camera, all I see is your beautiful smiling face. And wait, you have different pajamas on in the final photo...


Okay, Mr. Narrator, good point. Here it is. It's a boat out on the sea with a sea captain driving the boat and a storm just ended off in the distance and a rainbow came out. And one photo was pre-bath and the last one was post-bath.

Old Milwaukee, Part 2

So Day two in Milwaukee was outstanding. After an early breakfast at Alterra on the Lake, we headed over to this amazing playground.

Then we hit the beach. Not much to narrate here, just a good old time in the sun and the sand. Understand this was all BEFORE Mae fell face-first into the water, which was about 46 degrees, fine for having your feet in but, and this is according to Mae, not awesome when up to your ears in it.

 

Irish Dancing is huge in Milwaukee.

Mae was passing out kisses, and Dad was accepting them.

And later we found what we thought was an ant but was actually, well, I can't really get into that.

After a quick nap at home, we headed back to the Lakefront for some more tomfoolery and at Veteran's Park we rented this fantastic little 4-person thing-a-ma-bob that would be helpful anywhere from a bike ride to a round of golf to a trip to the grocery store. 

A couple bites of ice cream...

And then we were on to flying our kite. it started out a bit rough as I had to run around to get any kite action; Mae was not discouraged.

Later it turned into a HUGE success due to the windy weather that blew through. Yeah, see that little kite way up there, that's mine.

Out to dinner that night and Mae had her mice on the table playing guitar with coffee stir sticks while she sang "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses, and then we had the largest bowl of mac and cheese I've ever seen in my life.

Some swimming at the hotel pool that night had me conked out pretty well and the next day we visited Marquette's campus and let our blue and gold balloons go.

That building in the background is called Schroeder Hall. It's where Dad lived his sophomore year and he told us all about it. That's the year he formed a study group (a band), spent countless hours hitting the books (playing music) and got a 3.9 GPA (1.4) his first semester.

Old Milwaukee, Part 1

So since the NATO Summit descended literally right in our front yard here in the South Loop, we decided to get the heck out of Dodge this past weekend and we went to a little place about 90 miles north of Chicago called Milwaukee. If you haven't heard of it, it's known for a few things:
1. Marquette University, the fine establishment where Dad spent countless hours in the library studying (yeah, right) and didn't miss a class in four years (um...).
2. The Zoo, which we decided to visit.
3. The Lakefront, which is not only gorgeous but is a little less inhabited than Chicago's, which makes it a more breathable experience.
4. The Miller Brewery, which gives a top-of-the-line brew tour, not that my Dad would know; he said someone told him about it.

So we headed out on Saturday morning and went straight to the zoo. A couple highlights included:

This elephant, who they taught to do tricks in exchange for peanuts thrown his way. Here he's doing a little right foot dance move.

The hippo, who walked out of the water and not only pooped, but proceeded to wave his tale violently, thus throwing poop all over the place (kudos to Mom, photographer for the day, getting it in action).

And these chairs, which were pretty fun and a perfect spot for a picture.

Here's the thing, if you're not careful you can get lost at the Milwaukee County Zoo, it's a big place. But not, let me repeat - NOT if you have Finley Skertich with you. Magellan, Columbus, Louis & Clark: your trips would have been just a little more efficient had I been with you on your travels.

After the Zoo we headed to our hotel, which was about three blocks from the lakefront, had an indoor pool and we scored a massive suite. Mae and I snoozed together on the pull-out couch/bed and Mom and Dad had their own digs.

That was just a tiny little taste, just WAIT til you see what we got into on Sunday.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

Okay, so that tease was pretty good, eh? Yep, she's better than the Easter Bunny and Santa combined, she's my mom, 'nuff said.

So for Mother's Day we got up and Dad made breakfast for everyone and then we went on a nice long walk down on the lakefront, which was Mom's big wish. Then it was off to church and then out to Nana's house.

Here you can see a few of the moms in our family - mine, most importantly, but Nana and Aunt Tasha a close second along with some others not pictured, such as Nonie, Grandma Lammel, Aunt Erica and Aunt Suzy.

Then it was me chilling in my underoos out front playing baseball. Got my skirt a little too wet to wear so I went straight undergarments the rest of the day.

And here's a good pic of a bunch of us on the front walk. What am I doing?

Well, if you look a little more closely you can see I'm taking "how to sit with your leg crossed" lessons from Papa.

And then Nana and I took a picture with Buddy. Okay Buddy, look at the camera...

Seriously, dude I said look at the camera...

Buddy, I'm not gonna ask you aga... oh, close enough. Here we go, Nana, smile.

Oh, and I'm not sure if the music was on too loudly in the car on the way out to Nana's or what but I think Mae thought we said Happy

Buddy's Day, which is her favorite holiday, I'm quite sure. Hugs all around for the doggy.

And then when we got home, Mom, Mae and I cuddled up on the

couch...

To watch a little Mary Poppins. A great end to a great Mother's Day.