Last night we drove from Chippewa Falls to Wausau, Wisconsin. Don’t worry, people. Dan did not drink and drive after our day at Leinenkugel’s. Nor did he accidentally hitch up their beer-stream instead of ours. Good job, Dan!
We woke up to find that it was freeeezing. Sure, I’m exaggerating a bit but not by much! Too cold for this southern California native. So, instead of sight-seeing, we headed to an Old Navy across the street to load up on some warmer clothes and take advantage of my 10% Tuesday credit card discount. As soon as Mila turned 3 a couple weeks ago, we have felt that she has grown so much taller. We have been jokingly calling her Slim Jim, much her her dismay. “No, I’m Mila”, she pouts.
After stocking up on fleece and a couple Halloween costumes, we hit the road. Next stop, Green Bay. Go, Packers! But the funny thing is that we are not a big football family. Dan loves his basketball. And the closest thing I come to loving football is watching Friday Night Lights. Man, I love that Tim Riggins show.
Wisconsin is littered with these beautiful old red barns and silos. Every time I see one, I want to pull over to take a closer picture of it and maybe even go peek inside. After miles and miles of barns, I don’t dare to wake one of my napping kids for the opportunity. But I really hope I get a chance to do so at least once on this trip. I’m crossing my fingers and toes.
After a short drive, we made it to Green Bay and found a quiet spot at the far end of a Sam’s Club. The kids were super excited to be able to dive into our Trader Joe’s stash. Dried mango, dried strawberries and banana chips…yum!
And poor Dan had to catch up on work. Wah wah wah.
While I was shopping at Target a few weeks ago for Mila’s birthday, I came across this book of states in the dollar section that is perfect for road-schooling. As we cross the border into new states, Ava gets to learn some fun facts. And Mama might be learning a few things too along the way 🙂
Our set of homeschooling supplies has started to overflow from the couple backpacks I was storing them in.. and I haven’t even gotten the whole set yet from our charter school. So some rearranging was in order. The pack and play (that we haven’t used yet on this trip) was moved to accommodate Teacher Marlene’s supplies. I feels so much better already to actually be able to see the books in front of me instead of fumbling thru pink kitty cat and owl backpacks for our lessons.
After we got all of our work done, we headed into downtown Green Bay for a quick tour of the city and to find a good place for dinner.
Dan busted out his phone (who am I joking, that thing was already in his hand) and he found us a place with plenty of Airstream parking.
We settled on Titletown Brewing Company. This beautiful building was opened in 1899 as a railroad depot and was iconic at the time. But as times changed, the depot eventually closed it doors and laid dormant until someone had the bright idea to open it up as restaurant…
… and a microbrewery. I love a happy ending! It is really a shame that so many historic buildings like these are left to crumble to the ground. I wish we could save them all.
And yes, I did leave my baby in his pajamas ALL day long. Do I have to remind you that it is freeeezing here? That’s what I thought 🙂
the end,
marlene
2 Comments
Laura · September 22, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Marlene,
Not to worry you, but check the SKU on your Trader Joe’s dried fruit. I was on their website recently and saw this:
http://traderjoes.com/about/customer-updates-responses.asp?i=85
dan · September 22, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Laura, thanks for the heads up! The mango we got was the ‘Just Mango’ from Trader Joe’s and not the medley so I think we are ok!