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Vacation
While everyone else is posting their BlogHer 10 recaps, I will now be sharing our trip to Northern Wisconsin.
(Yes, I had a ticket and was supposed to go to BlogHer but didn’t have it in me to leave the kids behind so, 2011, it’s BlogHer or BUST!)
So, instead of BlogHer 10 in NYC, we did GetawayHer 2010 (lame name, I know!) and enjoyed taking in some sites around the beautiful state of Wisconsin.
Our vacation really began on Thursday the 5th when the Hardworking Hubby and I dropped off the kids for 2 nights with his parents so we could spend some time alone together. You see, since Tatertot entered the picture in March 2008, he has never spent a night away from us. He’s spent the night away from home before, in a hotel room, with us but never anywhere without us, so I think you can understand how big of a deal this was for us.
After leaving the kids, we went out for lunch at a local diner and enjoyed each others company and the silence.
OH!
MAH!
GAWD!
It was sooooooooo quiet!!!
We ate.
We paid the bill.
We left.
Not once did we have to pick up crayons or clean up after a kid.
Following lunch and a quick stop home, the Hardworking Hubby and I checked into a local hotel, on the other side of town.
I know, lame right.
Stay at a hotel 15 minutes from home.
Why did we do this?
1. We both wanted to get out of the house for a night, without any kids, homework or housework.
2. We wanted to be close to home in case the little dude freaked out on Grandma & Grandpa while we were gone.
3. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy relaxing in a king size bed or a huge whirlpool tub with a 42″ tv across from it?
We checked into the hotel at precisely 3:00 and fell in love when we walked through the door.
It was just what we needed.
And did I mention it was quiet?
And we got to sleep.
Uninterrupted.
Not once did a kid come poke at me to ask me for something.
It was tranquil.
Now, we didn’t stay cooped up in the room all day and night.
We ventured out for some burgers at Culver’s and back later for some ice cream.
We were too lazy to go anywhere else.
We just wanted to relax.
And that we did.
We were both out cold by 10:30pm and back up at 6:15am and in the breakfast room eating by 6:20am.
It was nice.
After we ate breakfast, we did what any other parents of 3 would do when staying in a nice hotel without their children,
WE SLEPT SOME MORE!
3 more hours that is!
After we checked out at Noon, we ventured home.
We both had homework to finish before departing the following morning with the kids plus I had to finish packing and get the van all loaded up.
We did however, venture out to dinner at Tom, Dick and Harry’s.
I even wore a dress.
Dinner, was AMAZING!
It was only our second time at TDH.
The food was even better than I remembered from our first visit.
We started with the TDH Combo Platter.
Everything on it was unbelievable.
My favorite besides the deep fried pickles was the Bruschetta Margharite and pretzel bites with bacon and beer cheese dip.
The platter had increased in size since our last visit and we were quite pleased.
Every bite was delectable.
From there we ordered our meal.
I had the Packerland Pretzel and Beer Cheese Burger (which I had also enjoyed during our last visit-picture below)
(picture taken during last visit)
and the Hardworking Hubby ordered the TDH Brunch Burger.
He said it was the best burger ever!
Needless to say, we both had a FABULOUS meal, Thank you Tom, Dick and Harry’s!
After our excellent meal, we returned home and then went our separate ways as I had decided I needed to drive out to Seymour to take these pictures:
From there it was home to pack and load the van before squeezing in a few hours of sleep.
More to come!
From our vacation!
We are back.
More to come after I get some much needed rest!
Here’s a picture to tide you over.
This was taken by some random lady outside of the Northwoods Children’s Museum in Eagle River WI.
Enjoy!
(Click image to enlarge for better viewing.)
This past Friday, the Hardworking Hubby and I took the kids on a much need day trip/vacay to beautiful Door County Wisconsin.
For those of you who know nothing of Door County, let alone Wisconsin, let me fill you in.
Door County is like The Hamptons of Wisconsin.
It’s filled with quaint little towns with names like Egg Harbor, Ephraim, Fish Creek and many more.
It’s the place college students live for ‘the season’ while they are working in a shop, hotel, restaurant or serving up ice cream at Wilson’s Restaurant.
People travel from near and far to visit one of Wisconsin’s best tourist attractions and it just happens to be one of my favorite places to go in this great state.
It’s surrounded by water and over 300 miles of shoreline and it’s beautiful!
A must see for anyone who is visiting Wisconsin.
For us, a 45 minute car ride finds us entering Door County a drive I can more than handle.
The kids were beyond excited to go and check out all the cool sites I had been telling them about.
We started our trip overly prepared for any little mishap.
Armed with the credit card, extra clothes and munchies for all.
We departed Green Bay and headed off to our first destination, The Farm, in Sturgeon Bay.
Once we arrived, we did a quick diaper and clothing change on Tatertot who had covered himself in banana bread crumbs during the first lag of the trip.
After doing a once over on everyone else, we were off to see the animals.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
As you can see, a good time was had by all.
After an expensive stroll through the gift shop, we grabbed our trinkets and packed everyone back into the family minivan.
Once again, we were off.
Our next destination, Cave Point Park .
This was a great place for some photo ops but the Mommy in me had her heart jump in her throat, snapped a few pics and we were gone.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
After successfully removing my heart from my throat, we were off to Whitefish Dunes State Park to do some swimming in Lake Michigan and playing in the sand along the beach.
The kids had more fun than I thought they would and apparently, swimming in Lake Michigan is way better than ever going to Florida, so I just saved myself thousands of dollars and am out of planning a trip to Disney!
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
After over an hour of playing in the water and on the beach and a large supply of rocks from the bottom of Lake Michigan, it was time for us to pack up the wagon, get changed and continue our journey through Door County.
I had sand in my hair, ear, down my shirt and all over my face thanks to the adorable Tatertot but it was worth it.
Once the van was loaded up, we continued on HWY 57 through all the cute little towns on to our next destination, lunch, in Ephraim.
On the way, we got a glimpse of some people para-sailing, and some other cool sites.
Along the way, this happened:
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
About 20 minutes later, we arrived in Ephraim and decided it was time to get some chow.
The family voted, Summer Kitchen it was.
Everyone enjoyed sipping sodas out of jar mugs and looking around at the artwork.
We left with full bellies, $100 less and some kooky photos of Zman and Drama Queen.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
As we had been sitting at lunch, we were explaining to the kids that we were not far from the ’Tip of the Thumb’, Gills Rock.
The kids thought it was pretty cool when we arrived in Gills Rock and couldn’t drive any further.
We were surrounded by water and it was pretty cool to see.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
After checking out the little gift shops on Gills Rock, we departed with our one purchase of new pink goggles for the Drama Queen, turned the van around and headed back down the thumb.
We stopped off at farmer’s market store and purchased some dip mixes, then headed back to Ephraim, ice cream at Wilson’s Restaurant was waiting for us.
2 double scoop Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion waffle cone, 1 double scoop Sneakers and Caramel Collision waffle cone, a single scoop of Chocolate Chip in a sugar cone and a dish of Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion later we found ourselves sitting on the porch of Wilson’s licking up the ‘scream and enjoying every minute of our day together.
We had survived Door County!
All that was left was to pop into a few more shops on the way down and pick up some souvenirs.
We had purchased a t-shirt for Tatertot earlier in the day at The Farm, snatched up cool shirts for Zman and Drama Queen, some mood and seashell rings and sailor knot bracelets and then headed home.
On our return trip, we made one last stop because the kids thought it was only appropriate to have proof that they had been:
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
However, by the time we arrived, I was the only one who would get out of the car, as everyone else was exhausted.
All in all, everyone had a great day and we are looking forward to doing it again soon!
What’s your favorite family getaway close to home?
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(And my BADASS 2012 Avitable calender)
