My summer vacation

Let's be honest: my whole life is basically one long vacation. But my summer break from blogging was so nice. Thought I'd give the highlights before resuming the feed.

First stop back from the land of Oz was Milwaukee for some really lovely family time over the 4th of July and beyond. 

My nieces and nephews continue to grow like weeds and I'm grateful for every second I get to spend with them.

Grateful, also, for the chance to spend a weekend with my sweet Grandma in central WI. In this picture, grandma, my aunt C, and niece R: four generations of the fam...and R in 7th heaven thanks to C giving her her first fishing experience as part of her birthday weekend adventure.

From Milwaukee I headed to Denver and caught up with as many friends there as I could in too-short a time. I was especially lucky to be taken to the Denver Botanic Gardens, which is hosting a Chihuly exhibit. This is actually a photo I took, believe it or not. There were so many scenes that looked totally unreal, it was hard to know where to start with the gaping and the pictures.

From Denver, up to the mountains for most of the month of August. Too many fabulous experiences there to even summarize. Suffice it to say we had an idyllic time going to the Avon rodeo (which my mom has been talking about doing for the past 20 years, but which we've never before done)...

...riding horses...

...being silly...

...going on hikes...

...visiting the Western CO ranch of family friends who were brave enough to host our group of 8 for 3 blissful days...

...riding the narrow gauge railroad from Durango to Silverton and back...

...catching up with sweet Peace Corps-Madagascar friend (and CO native) K (including a hike to Hanging Lake)...

...and revisiting, for the first time in many years, the gorgeous Piney Lake...

...which was during part of the time we got to enjoy a visit with my baby bro, C...

...and my mom got to see a bunch of those moose she so dearly loves and is willing to drive 45 minutes on bad gravel roads to see:

All in all, as golden as a summer can get.
Though I can't say I really got my fill of family time--with such a fun family, such a thing is not possible--the end of summer meant back to business as usual for everyone else, and so I boarded a plane to the East Coast to continue my own (non-)business along the Atlantic.

On Wisconsin

My fabulous niece, E, is the newest reader of this blog (hi, E-belle!) and requested that I post some pictures of "The Lodge" so she can see what it looks like.

 

Here's the deal: there's this hunting lodge near Fond du Lac, WI, that we used to go to as kids with a whole circle of my parents friends and their kids. Sleeping in bunk beds and winter walks with the dads collecting as many colors of bullet shells as possible and huge meals for 30 prepared by the moms (who in retrospect I suspect were enjoying quite a bit of wine while cooking together). So many memories there. As a kid, I was only vaguely aware that in addition to these annual family weekends, my mom had also started a tradition of spending the first weekend in March at The Lodge with a slew of her girlfriends. It was their time to work on crafting and sewing and knitting and generally just get away. Thirty years later, they are still at it. I got to go along as an adult the first time the first year I was back from Africa, when I was home for the winter to help my mom recover from getting both knees replaced. Kind of in the role of nurse assistant. But this year I went just to and work on my own projects and hang out with these great women. A few of my own friends who live in Wisconsin came up for a night, too, which was so nice. So here are your pictures, E, of the very interesting décor of The Lodge. (You can see how the hunters who own it leave all their sleeping bags and camo in the bunk room--priceless.) Can't wait to go there one day with you, too!



 

Okay, and then since I'm at it, I have to throw in a couple of the adorable pictures from my last night home in WI, when I got to attend my other niece (R)'s Little House on the Prairie play/musical at their elementary school. Now that my sister and her family live just four doors down from my parents, evenings like this can easily be a whole family affair. So fun!

The Frozen North

Time for a spell in my Wisconsin hometown. It's been a good seven years since I've been there in the winter. At 4:30 p.m., it was was nearly dark; on a day when the temperature hit 30 F, everyone was commenting on the heat wave. Oh, that cold that makes the under-layer of the skin ache!

But the warmth of being with family and friends more than made up for the chilly outside. Every day was filled with holiday festivities and/or quality time with loved ones. My mom and sister took my nieces to The Nutcracker ballet, everyone dressed to the nines.

My sweet, loyal high school friend S and her daughter, S, came to visit…

…as did my long-time friend L (currently a Madison resident), who graciously played all kinds of games with my sister's kiddos--including the one we made up where nephew O pretends his body itself is a board game for us to play.

There was gingerbread house decorating at the country club…

…which is also a fantastic place for amazing decorations that just ooze holiday coziness.

I volunteered one morning in my niece E's second-grade classroom, which--crazy but true--was also my second-grade classroom…29 (ahem) years ago. So strange to see my sister's kids prowling the halls of the same elementary school I went to--and to see it so largely unchanged.

There were movie nights with the family, which were almost as entertaining as watching my cousin R polish off an entire pre-movie pizza by himself.

And then just general other family goodness. Playing under the tree…

…eating way too much sugar…

…and creating more sugary treats.

Thanks for the fun cookie-making afternoon, Aunt P!

Plus so many other get-togethers with friends that I totally failed to document. I'm so grateful for all the efforts so many people made to spend time, including drives from Kenosha and other exotic 'Sconnie locales. Also, a special shout-out to loyal blog-reader H.F.E., whom I sadly missed my chance to catch up with at my mom's annual Christmas Coffee, lost in the shuffle of so many people to catch up with. Next time!!

Home sweet home (An interlude)

I took a little long-weekend vacation from my vacation, leaving my car in Santa Monica and jetting from the mighty Pacific to the more gentle shores of Lake Michigan...

…and my hometown, to celebrate my younger nephew E's 3rd birthday. It was crazy and so sweet to see my nieces and older nephew board the school bus that takes them to the same elementary school my brother and sister and I attended 30 (ahem) years ago.

And it was a brilliant, sunny Saturday, perfect for a visit to the pumpkin patch in anticipation of Halloween. (Geology buffs might also appreciate that oh-so-Wisconsin glacial drumlin forming the backdrop of this pic!)

My nieces and nephews just keep getting cuter and cuter. Pictured here after a face-painting session, obviously.

And it was a total joy to be around for E's birthday. Here pictured with my mom, AKA "Nana," at his birthday lunch:

And then that evening for the family party, complete with presents and cupcakes.

Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. My sister and this great brood!

Comfort of home

The East has been conquered! Of Canada, that is. And not actually conquered. Just seen and enjoyed. Here's a visual for you of where I've been the past 5/6 weeks:

For every spot I've loved, there are two more added to my "next time" list. So it goes. But after all this galavanting, it was time for the familiar voyage home for the 4th of July in my hometown near Milwaukee. Luckily, though it had me racing through eastern Ontario faster than I otherwise would have, the geography and timing were really pretty perfect for a jaunt down to Wisconsin and an idyllic weekend with my family.

There were fireworks, and kiddo time, so much goodness with friends and family, cook-outs, and (of course) my mom's chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies. I love my life.