This Is Not My Idea Of A Getaway...

A few posts ago I wrote about trying to plan a getaway trip with Husband. After many hours on the internet, talking to bloggy friends and people IRL (which included a travel agent) I failed to accomplish this goal. :( Two reasons; time and money. Aren't those always the reasons? Anyway, instead we went on two mini trips (one was to Madison) and then to the Door County area. Why? So Husband could jump out of an airplane. Huh?

That's right Husband wanted to skydive. I did not. After a some Googling, he decided tandem skydiving was the way to go. I have to admit, the conversations were priceless:

Husband: Do you want to do this to?

Me: No, I don't want to die.

Husband: It's not like you're going to hit the ground...

Me: Of course not, I'd be dead from the adrenaline rush to my heart when they pushed me off the plane.

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My mom: He has life insurance right?

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His mom: I wish you never told me you were going to do this.

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Our youngest: What are you going to do next Daddy? Swim with the sharks? They put you in a cage you know, and you can poke at them! (She's eight.)

So how does this work? You watch a video basically saying there's a chance you could die (but you will sign a waiver that you or your family will not sue the company) I'm serious. Next you get a little tutorial on how to do it.

Flap your wings (I'm joking.)

Yeah, suit him up, he's ready to go...

That's right, it's so funny (giving him his last rites...) who's going to be the widow with 3 kids?!?

All I could think of when I took this picture was Armageddon, with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck before they are about to board the space shuttle. Sheesh.

Thankfully, a safe landing after being 12,000 feet up in the air at cloud level!

Note to all females:

After, Husband made sure the rest of the day would be spent doing what I wanted to do. So we did some wine tasting, ate good food with good beer and walked around being all tourist-y-like. Our afternoon was much more relaxing than our morning. And even though we don't have a bucket list, we talked about other things we could do. I'm still waiting for the vacation where I can sit on the beach under an umbrella with a cold drink in my hand... *sigh* maybe next year.

(Thanks to SkyDive Door County for the very fun time and wonderful service.  If we ever want to do this again, we'd go back to you! You guys are awesome!)

The Dog Days of Summer

Aside from work and summer vacation for Husband and the kids, we've been pretty busy this month. I've still managed to paint a door, try some new recipes, take a few mini vacations and do a little shopping...

Right now I'm in the midst of planning our first beer tasting party. I'm kind of excited because we never really had a housewarming (with couples, that is) at the lakehouse, so it will be nice to have people over.

I've designed the invitations, we've decided on the menu and Husband has been busy growing his hops and making his beer. Life is never boring around here.

Here's my Instagram dump of what else we've been doing:

• Husband starting to condition our two swimmers
• I made Triple Berry Baked French Toast
• Our laptops lined up and ready for duty
• Husbands hop are growing
• A trip to Wisconsin Dells
• My stop at the Coach Outlet store
• Ingredients for delicious Zucchini Brownies
• New throw pillows for the living room
• Bucket-o-Salsa (homemade and delicious!)

Two weeks left until school starts in our neck of the woods! What's going on where you are?

A Quick "Hop" To Madison, Wisconsin

Although I am very much a planner, sometimes it's fun to be spontaneous. Husband is that kind of person who doesn't mind mixing it up a little. He pooh-poohed all my travel books and decided where we were going as we sat in our car. (If you are a Type A personality, this kind of thinking will kill you...and makes packing impossible.) As I wrestled with what direction, north, south, east or west, we ended up in Madison, Wisconsin where we did a lot of walking, a little shopping and of course some beer sampling.

Madison is as eclectic as any other big city, but since this is also a college town, it's filled with university students too. Makes us old people feel young, heh heh.

On State Street (the main drag) we cooled down with a pint of beer called "Hopalicious" from Ale Asylum and a vanilla cupcake from a local bakery. Yum. I don't know, I kind of like beer and cupcakes!

What's also nice about Madison is that it still has that midwest charm of a smaller city, but has enough in it to entertain the tourists, like art and music venues, a variety of eateries (from traditional bratwurst to Asian-fusion dishes,) state capitol tours, shopping and of course, some really great micro-breweries.

Which is why we had to stop at the new location of Ale Asylum, a craft brewery and "tasting room," which has a tremendous local following. What I like about this brewery is its "hoppy-edge." Everything from the taste of their beer, to the cool decor, this place definitely has it's own unique style. This isn't your typical brewery. You can eat there, lounge upstairs on their couches or sit outside in their beer garden and see how their hops are growing!

Most of our friends know that Husband and I are intent on creating beer and coming up with unique food pairings. It's our thing, in fact I'm in the process of designing the invitation for our beer tasting party that we're planning right now.

So if you're ever in Wisconsin, you won't regret your stop in Madison. Whether you explore the five lakes that surround the area or go just to taste the beer, you won't be disappointed.

Planning A Surprise Getaway

I'm having an internal debate about whether to plan a surprise getaway with Husband. There's this fine line when it comes to saving money and living a fulfilled life. If I wait until we have the money, will we even be able to go? Will the money go to a new fridge, a child's needs or a possible emergency?

I talked to someone I work with and she said "I don't want to be 80, using a walker at the Grand Canyon! What kind of vacation is that?!"

Our last getaway was a wedding in Chicago. It was so wonderful.

I totally get it.

So I'm perusing the deals on the internet, giddy with excitement about this potential trip. Googling "Two night three day cheap getaways," (hoping we don't end up in Tijuana.)

Where? When? How? My first three choices were: Philadelphia, because Husband likes history; somewhere in Maine, because I love the east coast and Seattle, because it's far enough to fly to and I've never been there, even though I lived in Vancouver for a year.

Seattle, yes, birthplace of my beloved Starbucks, the Space Needle and Pike Place Market that looks amazing. I've also found a cool hotel, I'm kayak-ing, hot-wiring etc. all the airfares and dreaming of all the cool places to see and foods to eat (thanks to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives!)

Husband knows I'm planning something, he just doesn't know what exactly... so do you have any ideas? Have you been to Seattle, can you recommend places to visit? I would love to hear your ideas!

A Wedding & A Weekend Getaway

In our family we're notorious for cramming in as many events into a short period of time. We're crazy that way. So among those happy, albeit whirlwind-like four days, we celebrated our oldest daughter's 14th birthday; jumped from store to store for a birthday shopping trip in the big city; had a birthday lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings; bought an SLR camera (I'm still giddy with excitement!) threw in a romantic weekend getaway (after dropping off our three kids with my parents;) attended an outdoor wedding and went 'trick or treating' in the rain.

The wedding was one of the most beautiful weddings Husband and I have ever attended, with a gorgeous backdrop of changing Fall colors.

The bride's dress was beautiful and the entire ceremony was so touching. Even the bride was wiping away the tears.

Husband and I used this opportunity to spend a relaxing weekend away from it all. 'It' being kids, work, stress, laundry, the dog and all the other demands we parents have these days.

Our hotel was a luxury boutique hotel which upon arrival we were immediately upgraded to the 'Platinum Suite.' (Our key cards didn't work, so they changed our rooms!) Included was a kitchen, a fireplace, two flat screen TVs, a king sized bed and a double whirlpool tub. I know!

Our trip consisted of wine tasting, a pub visit, a stroll on the water, breakfast out for the 'Best Breakfast In Town' (unfortunately it was also the 'Worst Coffee in Town,') a stint at Starbucks, a walk on Main street and lunch at a Mexican restaurant. (Look how clear the water is, and yes! That's my shoe!)

Stop.

Husband: Are you really taking a picture of your shoe? Me: Yes, bloggers love to see shoes! (Plus they're sling backs that look like ballerina toe shoes and I got them from Goodwill for $5.99...) 

That's my Salted Caramel Mocha. A treat while Husband read online news and perused ESPN, of course. We were all dressed for the wedding, just chi-laxin' at Starbucks.

And while we were sitting there...

...what should go by but a horse and carriage. (They must have known this was our romantic getaway weekend!)

All in all, it was a wonderful time. I can't wait to post next about my camera. All of these photos are unedited due to a busy work week ahead, but I couldn't resist posting about our trip. That's how awesome my SLR is!

Hope your weekend was a good one! :)

The Last Days Of Summer

As we venture into the last days of summer, we just returned from our annual trip from "up north" where we gathered with 11 couples and their kids. That was a total of 43 people. That's a lot of people.

This was taken by my 13 year old daughter. She's getting good at photography.

Husband and I both agree that every day we have an opportunity to learn, to do good, to be better. Watching other parents interact with their children, watching husbands and wives interact, watching how kids whose ages range from four to seventeen all get along is amazing. Yup, there's a lesson there.

So anyway, we say goodbye to the hustle and bustle of Little League, softball, Vacation Bible School, summer piano lessons and linger into our next goals; school supply shopping and registration. Back to school, back to work. It was a busy time and we're happy to laze around enjoying the last days of summer vacation.

Congratulations to Erika K comment #29 (picked through Random.org) I'll be emailing you!

Erica K

August 9, 2011 3:14 PM 

liked you on fb- erica e k

bassgiraffe@hotmail.com

Back From Wisconsin Dells

What's summer vacation without a trip to Wisconsin Dells? We're back from our annual overnight trip, tanned, tired and water-logged.

Because I have a new computer (did I mention that yet?) I haven't installed my Photoshop software, so you are looking at photos straight from the camera! How about this fun shot? Not bad for my faithful Canon point-and-shoot!

Believe it or not, one of our kids is actually in that shot, but hidden under the waterfall. At the Dells, I'm usually the appointed "towel holder" and that's okay with me. I did go on one ride, which was the 'Flash Flood.'

Hope you had a good weekend, I'll be back with the reveal of our daughter's bedroom later this week!

Trying Out Some Texas Eats

Smoked BBQ Ribs from Railhead.

I don't know about ya'll (I love saying that!) but I love me some good ribs. And what's the point of going to Texas if you aren't going to sample their cattle, which we saw many of, grazing under trees due to the 100+ degree temps.

Because I like to eat, I kept pestering my brother for the best places for: ribs, authentic Mexican food and sweet tea. Little did I know that I needed to visit my BFF in South Carolina if I wanted the best sweet tea around!

Now that's a big plate of fries!

He would sprout off names of places I've never heard of. And we'd see signs for Chicken Express and Braum's but eventually we'd end up at The Keg, Saltgrass Steakhouse and a little mom and pop shop called El Taqueria Herrera.

Even though we ate out more than we've ever done in a year at home, I swear I lost weight due to lack of appetite 'cause of the heat. Why aren't Texans all 95 pounds?

When we got home I described our stay in Fort Worth this way: it was like living in a hair dryer.

Seriously, the wind and heat never stopped! Husband and I would laugh and say "Look it's cooling down, it's 97 degrees at 9 o'clock at night!"

Anyhoo, we had a nice time there and enjoyed the southern hospitality of many people.

St. Louis Missouri, A Must-See

Our stop in St. Louis. A view of the arch.

There are always two thoughts when I come home from a vacation. One, it's good to be home. And two, I didn't take enough pictures.

I guess I was hoping that the photographer from my brother's wedding would take care of those. I'll see those in a few weeks I'm sure.

Meanwhile, our stop in St. Louis was so nice. We actually got to ride up in the arch and see the view from above. The ride was cool, sitting in a five-person "tram." Not a good idea for anyone with claustrophobia.

Magnificent. 630 feet above ground.

According to the St. Louis brochures, there is so much to do there, from letting the kids tour a museum at night with flashlights to hanging out with the cool crowd (college kids) in the "Loop" area enjoying the eats.

Both Husband and I were surprised how urban it was but nonetheless, we all had a great time.