Jenny's Journey

So its Friday and exactly 1 week til we leave on our adventure to the West.  Final destination : Yellowstone.  Along the way we are scheduled to stay in a campground 5 minutes from Mt Rushmore and attend a well known nightly rodeo in Cody,WY before we step foot in Yellowstone. Among the usual sightings at Yellowstone, on one very special day - My Birthday, we are planning to drive down to the Tetons in Jackson Hole.  I have heard by many that they would go back to the Tetons again. With neither of us ever being west of Minnesota, we are all really looking forward to it all.  The kiddos and me too, are excited to cross off some more states that we can say we have been in.  We will pass through Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana by time we are back home.  We are all set to play the license plate game along the long, long way. For us to go on this trip and make it least costly and fun(?!?!?), we decided to camp.  The girls are still young an...

We took the kids to Little Amerricka in Marshall, WI. It is between my home and Madison. I had bought a Groupon for super cheap for the four of us and it was well worth the price. (it came to like only $8 a person!)  The crowds were nonexistent and the weather great.  Rides for both large and small.  I took a few pictures that I thought turned out pretty nice. . This roller coaster was awesome.  We all went on it the very first thing.  Its went around 4 times before we had to get off.  Jadyn loved it, Jenna not so much. One of my favorites, but I realized today that I  just don't have the stomach for any of these rides anymore.  Don't see a trip to the true Great America anytime in my near future.  The Ferris Wheel We took at 3 mile train ride through and beyond the park.  It was odd.  One minute there was geese, llamas, sheep, and then zebras and long horned steers. Kinda creepy but who doesn't like ...

OK, I am not THAT excited but I had wanted to try something last year and I waited too long, all the available spots were taken - but not this year!  I am sending my $$ in tomorrow! What is it you say? A CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) of course!  Duh! Yes, the hippie freak in me wanted to do this last year, but they fill up fast and the one that worked best for me was full. What is a CSA you ask?   Visit this site for finding out info on CSAs, farmers markets and much more.  http://www.localharvest.org   or read below (from localharvest.org) For over 25 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription...

Being that it is June in Wisconsin, it is also Dairy month! I did not know until recently that farms throughout Wisconsin did this, but they host a breakfast and then have farms tours and other fun things. I visited http://www.dairydaysofsummer.com/ and was surprised to see that a farm, I am not kidding you, 1 house down the country road(so like 1/4 mile) from my in laws was chosen to host the Dodge County Dairy Day on June 24th! Too cool! We had to check it out. I am glad we did. The eggs and pancakes were actually very good! Tractor ride to tour the farms Inside the barn that holds 185 cows! Jadyn got to milk a goat! Cute kitty at the petting zoo. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours and the weather was nice.  I am glad we checked it out and I will have to remember to go again next year. They had lots of recipes and such promoting dairy products.  Of course, I like new to try new recipes, I took a bunch of them home.  I to...

As of this upcoming Saturday we are taking our 1st official vacation as a family.  This will be the first time ever that James and I have taken the girls on an extended vacation from home.  We have done, 2 days max with them...that been it.  Just the 4 of us! It should be a blast, as long as the weather behaves! On Saturday we are driving 5 hours north, to Lac du Flambeau Wisconsin.  We will be only 15 minutes from the resort area of Minocqua and Woodruff, Wisconsin.  Right now the only thing that worries me a bit is the 5 hour drive.  That is along time for anyone to drive, let alone little kids stuck in car seats!  We plan on making stops, one most definitely being McDonalds, with a playland to let them use up some energy!!! The place we are staying at is:  http://www.timberbayresort.com/  and we are staying in the smallest cabin the Cedarwood.  It looks nice, way nicer than some I had seen while scoping out a place to stay!!...

When I got home from work on Friday, I was completely surprised to see flowers in a box on my porch...couldn't imagine who they would be from!  They were from Jacob, my godson!  How nice. I made sure I called and thanked him!! They are gorgeous!  For my birthday we went to La Merenda for dinner (a tapas restaurant). We had been there before 2 years ago for our anniversary and enjoyed it so we decided to go back.(which is kinda against our date nite rules!!!)  I broke the rules when I took the picture of the two of us above, because it was at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts before the musical Wicked!  Got yelled at...but whatever! We had great seats, Row N Seats 9/10.  It was a great performance.   Interesting story of the witches before Dorothy came to OZ!  Saturday, my entire family 14 of us in all, went to the Brewers game.  We tailgated and had seats in Section 222.  It was awesome because the first h...

My 11 day vacation started today, Friday July 9th.  James didn't have to work either, so he had a wonderful idea to go up to Green Bay to the Bay Beach Amusement Park!  We all really enjoyed the time together! Jadyn and I went on the Ferris Wheel and Tilt a Whirl together and she also went on the Tilt a Whirl with Daddy !  She loves spinney type rides!  Fast ones too!    We even brought the girls swimsuits along (though we did not put Jenna's on her and her diaper swelled up because of that!!! I think it weighed more then she does!!!) Jenna really liked the water! James thought Jenna was feeling a bit left out because she so desperately wanted to go on a ride that James was putting Jadyn into, so we gave in and let Jenna try out a few rides!  She did great.  Only one she could not go on because she would not sit! Of course we took a train ride!  We had packed bags along in case we decided to get a hot...

Another year of fun was had by all this past Saturday at the Jimmy Buffett Concert at Alpine Valley.  Unlike the weather last year, this time it was hot!!  I am not complaining at all!  Drinks went down even better!   I was able to keep a nice steady buzz about the whole time and actually fell asleep for most of the ride home!  Something I don't like to do.  One of the best things to do at Buffett is to walk around and  people watch !  We were not let down.  It was definitely interesting!   He played the fan favorites of course, mine being, Come Monday.  I mentioned to James that the $9 beers looked good, he agreed so by the end of the concert we had shared 2!  Something else of a rarity for me!  Not the sharing part, the saying beer looks good and paying $18 for 2 beers!!! In attendance was Stephanie, Amy, Melissa, Derek, James and myself.  James and Derek both did a 4 person beer bong, where you had a ...

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend.  Well Friday we started out by hitting a local place called Sweetie Pies for fish.  It had been noted in the Journal awhile ago about how good the fish was.  We agreed. Saturday I took the girls grocery shopping and James went and got his tire(he had a flat on Tuesday nite) taken care of (thankfully the tire was surprisingly under warranty and it was replaced FREE!!) and then got his Dad's truck and got 1 1/2 yards of mulch.  Well, next year we will have to remember we only need 1 yard!  We ended up putting 2 1/2 wheel barrels in the back of our lot, cause we didnt know where to go with it all!  It was hot and hard work, but I am glad it is done.  I am guessing James is too, because now I can stop nagging him about it!  Don't worry, I will find something else!  That evening we drove out to Hwy 18 and 89 in Jefferson, to the Hwy 18 Drive-in and saw the newest Shrek movie!  Jadyn loved it! Jenna was a ...

First push-up pops of the season!  To only be eaten outside!