Feb 7 & 8 : Overnight trip to Wisconsin

Feb 7-8: Overnight trip to Wisconsin
In our 22 month stint in Germany, we did quite a bit of traveling, both far away (Scotland, Spain, Belgium, France, etc) and close by (Dortmond, Duisburg, etc). We did not let the fact that we had a baby, then a toddler, stop us from taking trips and exploring around us. Now that we are back in the US, we did not want to stop this trend and get into a rut of never traveling b/c it's too hard w/ the two little ones. So, using our Christmas money from Art's parents, we took an overnight trip to Kenosha, WI. Not too far away - less than 2 hrs. I did a ton of research on things to do in Kenosha which turned out to be unnecessary. We got packed up and left early Saturday morning, well, ok, around 10am or so. We wanted to be in Kenosha in time for lunch. We drove around the 'downtown' area for a bit and finally picked a cute looking diner. It worked out really well for us, and the cook even made Zach's pancake in the shape of Mickey Mouse - too bad Zach has no idea who that is. :) While at the diner, Art got chatting w/ another diner about a snow festival in Lake Geneva which was 30 miles away. It sounded fabulous with huge snow sculptures and activities for kids. So we (Art really) decided that we should forgo all the plans we had for Kenosha (just a few museums really) and try out Lake Geneva. We had to make a quick stop at McDonald's on the way out of town so I could nurse Wyatt and give Zach a chance to play on the playland. We got in the car and the kids were BEAT. Unfortunately it took Zach awhile to fall asleep and we were almost there. Traffic into town was stop and go and it took some time to find a parking place. On the drive down, Art was obsessed with the way they name their roads in that county. Numerically. The highest road name was 392nd Ave. I think we started around 60th or so. Here's proof:



Once we parked, we decided to sit in the car for a bit to let the kids finish napping. We probably stayed there for another 30 minutes b/f getting out of the car. Then we walked around the town, which was plenty cute. We even saw a little slice of heaven - Caribou Coffee! I got to splurge and get a Turtle Mocha - YUM! Then we made our way down to the epicenter of the snow festival. I was thinking (hoping) that the sculptures would be indoor, b/c the weather was unseasonably warm - there was almost no snow on the ground. Sure enough, all the snow sculptures were mostly melted. Below is a picture of what the sculpture is suppose to look like and what it actually does.



So the sculptures were a bit of a bust, but the lake (Geneva I presume) was pretty cool. I had never seen ice fishing before. The lake was so frozen that there were several pick-up trucks parked on the ice and guys fishing. I was intrigued!


Back into the car and back to Kenosha where we have a hotel reservation. We specifically picked a hotel w/ a pool so the boys could play. Zach had been very excited all week b/c we bought him some water wings (just like Steven had when Jenny visited us). He wore them around the house for days. We checked into the hotel around 5pm and had about an hour to swim b/f going to dinner. We did not take any pics that day at the pool, but here are our pics of the kids getting ready:

Here is Zach testing out his old baby float, now used for Wyatt.

Here is Wyatt, waiting patiently on the bed in his swim diaper.

The pool was fun. Zach was pretty nervous and didn't want to let go of us. Wyatt was interested in one thing only - splashing. He was a splash-o-matic. It did not bother him if it went up his nose and he's gasping for breath, he just needed to splash splash, splash. Zach did much better in the "hot pool" (hot tub).

After swimming, we were STARVING and tired, so we walked the 100 yards down the street to Cracker Barrel. I was carrying Wyatt and was NOT feeling well - low blood sugar, but did make it in time w/ no real issues to the on-the-table biscuits! Dinner was glorious but we were all beat. The kids and Art were asleep w/in minutes of getting back to the hotel. I, unfortunately could not sleep. I read in the bathroom for awhile then finally went to bed.

Next morning we had breakfast, then headed to the pool again. Zach was getting more comfortable today and was willing to be further away from us, though still not swimming on his own. Here are some pics:


Shayna, Zach and Wyatt in the hot pool - not for too long.


Art, Zach, and Wyatt in the pool.


Art helping Zach get into the pool.

Then out of the pool and back to the room to shower and pack up. We let Zach watch a video while we packed, and Wyatt fell asleep on the bed, just keeled over really. :)



Once in the car, we headed over to Pleasant Prairie, WI, home of a Jelly Belly (famous for their jelly beans) distribution center and FREE tour. It was ok. Great for free, especially since we got free jelly beans after the little train ride. I thought that we would actually see how it works. However, this was just a distribution center, so the tour was a little train ride around the warehouse, stopping every few yards for a video explanation of what happens in each stage.


Here is a giant bean hanging from the ceiling.


Very cool. There were several portraits made entirely from jelly beans.


Art and Wyatt on the train. It was a warehouse rule that we had to wear those hats - heads must be covered at all times.


Shayna and Wyatt on the train


Art and Zach. Zach was not thrilled with the train ride and was ready to get off. Lucky the tour was less than 30 minutes.

After the train tour, they let us out in their gift shop and gave everyone a sample bag of jelly beans. Then we were left to our own devices to explore the gift store. A nice touch was their jellybean sample counter where you could ask for - two at a time- a sample of any flavor. Art and I tried lots of different things, constantly amazed how much a jellybean can taste like it's muse. Art's favorites were the fruit ones - kiwi, grapefruit, mango, etc. I got a bag of each of my favorites: coconut and smore. Yum! We got a small bag of candy corn for Zachary who has been getting candy corn when he goes in the potty.

I nursed Wyatt in the car while Art and Zach played around outside. Then off to find lunch. We bypassed a McDonalds since they rarely have anything for our vegetarian son (some McDs have pancakes) and settled on the only other thing around - a truck stop restaurant. It SEEMED like a good idea. It was not. Uggh. We were wishing we were back at the Kenosha diner, and spending 1/2 the money on a good lunch. Alas, there were not many options and it was getting LATE and the boys needed to eat. But, it was such a "memorable" trip that we took pictures. I've never eaten at a truck stop restaurant, to my knowledge, so there you go. There was a telephone at every table, which surprised me in the age of cell phones being so cheap.



We got back home around 3 and put both boys into bed - exhausted. It was a very enjoyable trip.