We had a great end to our summer! The boys had to start school early this year due to the construction of the new high school and the changes to 3 middle schools for next year. They started on August 23rd.
We decided to stay closer to home since the pandemic was still around (and getting worse again). We decided to do 4 day trips and have each person in charge of a day. I made suggestions to the boys and let them pick, which seemed to work well. We had a great 4 days!
First up was Sam's Day. He chose to go to Appleton. Here was the itinerary...
1. Get a coffee drink at the new place in Sun Prairie, Moka.
2. Go to Building for Kids (children's museum)
3. Get a free popsicle outside the museum for a park and rec promo they were doing (not planned).
4. Eat lunch at Erbert & Gerbert. Sam has been missing their soup for several years since they closed the Sun Prairie location.
5. Go swimming at Erb Park in Appleton.
6. Shop at the Outlet Mall in Oshkosh for a first day of school outfit.
7. Eat supper at Pizza Ranch.
Building for Kids was a great children's museum. It wasn't very busy because you had to make a reservation to go. I thought it would not as exciting for Joey being an almost teenager, but he really liked it.
You can't go wrong with a water area!
Sam up in the indoor treehouse...
The boys both liked this crane where they got to pick up blocks.
Erbert & Gerbert! They had the chicken wild rice soup thankfully. Sam said it tasted like his childhood!
Dad going down the waterslide at the pool.
Sam got a Build a Bear for his special day...
Saturday was my day in Dubuque Iowa
1. Get mini donuts at a cute little coffee shop.
2. Go to the Mississippi River Aquarium.
3. Eat lunch at a grilled cheese and mac and cheese place.
4. Go to Fenelon Place Elevator Company.
5. Go to Eagle Point Park.
We had beautiful weather for all of our days. This wheel outside the museum was so pretty.
Joey and Sam being silly in the kids area with the sting ray costumes...
We saw two 3D movies while there. One was about a penguin and one was about a sea turtle.
The boys both petted a sting ray.
Another water area, another success!
Cool big tank...
Both boys wanted to go in the wind machine to see what 70mph felt like.
Joey really enjoyed this sand projector area while John and Sam played in the water.
We went to the outdoor elevator, which I had fun with but I don't think the boys were very impressed.
The view from the top...
We took a break from the days to celebrate John and Grandma Rikli's birthdays. We had to celebrate Bell's birthday too, and she LOVED getting presents.
John's day was up next. It was his birthday too!
1. He liked Moka so much on Sam's day that we had to start there.
2. A trip across the lake on the Merrimac Ferry.
3. Hiking at Parfrey's Glen
4. Lunch at Culver's
5. Ice cream at Tin Roof Dairy
6. Visit to The Wisconsin Deer Park
7. Mini golf at Timber Falls in Wisconsin Dells
8. Shopping at the WI Dells outlet mall
9. Dinner at a place along the river
On the ferry
Everyone loves hiking at Parfrey's Glen. There is a creek that goes through it and rocks to climb on. The boys wear boots and get to explore. It was closed during 2020 due to Covid so it was good to be back!
Wisconsin Deer Park was next up. John hadn't been there since he was little, and the boys and I had never been. It was fun to get up so close to the deer and feed them.
We really liked this mini golf course. It was a hot day, but there was lots of shade!
We ate supper here on the balcony toward the top right of the picture. It was a lovely view, and the food was good too!
Day 4 was Joey's day. I didn't get a ton of pictures because his activities were more around shopping...
1. Stop to get a smoothie and coffee in Watertown at Berres Brothers
2. Shopping at Mayfair Mall in Brookfield.
3. Lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings
4. Playing at Dave & Busters
5. Cheesecake to-go at the Cheesecake Factory
6. Shopping at Johnson Creek Outlet Mall
Dave & Buster's was a favorite of the vacation days. It had been a LONG time since the boys had been in an arcade.
John took Sam fishing for blue gills. He caught some of those...
and a good size bass, but not quite big enough to keep.
We celebrated Aunt Amanda's birthday. The kids had been playing and went in to relax, and they were all vegging out!
First day of school 2021. Sam is pointing toward Westside.
Sam - 4th Grade
The neighborhood crew...We are carpooling this year due to goofy start times with Covid. It was a rainy morning...
Joey - 7th grade, Xavier - 7th grade, Bennett - 2nd grade, Sam - 4th grade, Brody - 6th grade
The morning was so crazy I had to take Joey's picture when he got home from school. It was all sunny then!
Joey - 7th grade
Joey got accepted into the AVID program, and there was a signing ceremony. I had to introduce him and then we both signed a contract.
The Sunday after school started, Joey and I went to a Milkmen baseball game in Milwaukee with Uncle Jay and Linus, and Sam and John went to a trout farm and fishing.
Successful trout fishing...
It stormed on the way to the baseball game, and we had to sit in the car for about 20 minutes, but then it cleared up and got HOT!
They did a candy drop at the end where a helicopter came and dropped candy in the outfield and the kids got to run and get it.
Can you see Joey and Linus? (hint, Joey is carrying Linus).
