Milly-Waw-Kee...

So we weren't going to let Summer go by without a trip north to Brew City. Headed up a couple Fridays ago and started it out right with a stop at the Lakefront Brewery for dinner.

In 2006 B.C. (that stands for Before Children and is a phrase mom and dad's friend Steph came up with to describe what feels like the ancient old days of yore, before we were all born and their lives were slightly drastically different) Dad probably would've gone right at this sign, but with his ducks in tow we headed for the fish fry with a big smile on our faces.

Oh, and the Brewhaus Polka Kings were playing, which consisted of two guys who look like they've been eating bratwurst and drinking beer since they were in the womb, but man, they could play and had a big crowd up and dancing.

Friday night Shea and Jack and their mom and dad showed up and had the hotel room next to us, which was actually connected so it was like we had a 3-bedroom apartment. When they got there we just hit the pool and didn't stop till bedtime.

Next day started with a really good breakfast...

Side note: Shea's dad, Chris, and dad are really good friends and he just loves my blog and his goal is to end up in a minimum of 5 posts over the course of the year. Mr. Chris, you've got some work to do.  Great America was your first and this was your second... you only have five and a half months left.

I digress... then we hit the beach. It was a perfect 80-degree day and we were your typical beach bums.

The weekend also was not going to go by without a trip to the Kite Korner. I made that name up, but in the event you missed this post, there is a little corner on Milwaukee's lakefront that kicks up the perfect amount of kite-flying wind pretty much every day, so we headed down to do our kite thing.

Um, side note: Dad had a rough trip at times. He literally kept getting stuck in places... I think it was partly because he was putting himself in precarious places, but also... dude needs some yoga or something to loosen those limbs.

Example 1
Got in the back seat with Shea and me and literally could not get out. Got one leg over and things got even worse, as you can see.

Example 2
Mae's kite got stuck up in a tree so Dad went climbing up to save the day and then got to a part where he couldn't get down. We had to run and get Shea's dad to help him get down

Okay, and we head to the finish line of this post with my favorite part. Check this progression out. This first pic is me in May, 2012 when I was not yet four. Next shot is August of 2015 at seven and last photo is the Big Dog this year doing my thing.

So there you have it - The German Athens of America (largest German settlement west of Berlin), The City of Festivals, Cream City, good ol' Miltown... it just never disappoints.

Zaya's Milwaukee Birthday, Take 2

So a couple years ago we went to Milwaukee to celebrate Isaiah's birthday and, well, we all had so much fun that Zaya decided this year we should go back.

So we caravan'd up to Milwaukee and met at a small park right by the Lake and did our thing.

Climbed trees, played in the fountain, frosted cakes, blew out candles, gave Zaya his presents and cards (one of which apparently Eli got a pretty big kick out of).

Then we went down to this corner of the lakefront where you can fly kites. Even if you think it's not windy enough, when you get down to the point, it's plenty windy and you can get your kite as high as you want it to go.

Mae and Sophie took a turn...

Pax took a shot at it...

And then I did my thing.

And then as we were going through the pictures from the day dad had a thought and started sifting back through pictures. And sure enough, check this out - the first one is me from May, 2012, and the second one is me from a couple weeks ago.

Looks like a 2018 trip to Milwaukee to fly kites is definitely gonna have to get on the calendar.

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.

Milly-Vaw-Kee, Day 1

That's what some people call Milwaukee... and by some people I think it's probably just my dad.  Anyway, we made our annual trip up to the Great Escape but the Lake last weekend on the 4th of July.

Brought along my homeboy, Eli, too. First stop was the zoo. Rode trains and carousels, saw amazing animals, had a peacock storm our lunch picnic. All in all, great stuff.

Okay, so wanna see something cool. Other than the fact we forgot which animal we were on two years ago, check out the below. First shot is May of 2012 and the one below is last weekend.

Before

So what was Pax doing? Well, first he was checking out the brown bears and giving them his "rowr" sound that he basically does most of the time he's awake (strong possibility he actually thinks he is a wild animal).

And then the coolest thing of the whole trip happened. So we went down underneath the polar bear spot to watch the seals swim. So this huge daddy seal would swim by slowly upside down and then he would do a loop and he would swim STRAIGHT for Pax. It was like he was staring Pax dead in the eyes as he would swim toward him all the way up to the glass and then he would swim up and rub his belly against the glass. He did this twice and then Dad took Pax up to Mom for a switch and while Pax was gone he didn't do it at all. Then when Mom came back with Pax and he did it two more times. Then we left and we looked back to see if he would do it again and he didn't. Dude was in LOVE with Pax.

And since you weren't there we're bringing it straight to you just like it happened, compliments of my lovely and talented and always bursting with fruit flavor photo editor, Dad.

 Slightly creepy, right?

So that was it for day 1. Day two of Milly-Vaw-Kee is coming up.