Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

The Basilica of St. Josaphat.  Interesting history lesson here.  

Inside of the main floor of The Basilica of St. Josaphat.  Designed as a smaller version of St. Peter's in Rome. 

Main lobby of the Pfister hotel.  Houses an artist in residence and quite the collection of artwork.  On the 23rd level is the lounge and restaurant with fantastic city views.  (As long as it isn't foggy).  

The Milwaukee Art Museum.  Unfortunately their main exhibit is under renovation but the building is a piece of work in itself.  

I'm going to be honest...I don't really get art most of the time.  I can appreciate people's trade, sometimes it is thought provoking, and obviously being married to an artsy type guy gives me some perspective.  But mostly, I go into art museums and think about the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  You know the one, right?  

Beer sampling.  Scott found a the Schofferhofer Grapefruit Weizen to be his favorite.  

Dinner at The Anvil Pub and Grille in Cedarburg.  This restaurant is in a restored 19th century blacksmith shop.  

Because everyone needs a picture with a gingerbread man.  I made this extra large for you, Marie.  

We got to see Jill and Josh and their two munchkins Isaac and Jasmine who turn 1 on January 6th.  I can't believe I forgot to get a picture of them!  We enjoyed pizza and catching up.  We have our 20 year class reunion coming up in less than 2 years.  WHAT?!

We walked around downtown all day.  It was bright and cold.  Never leave home without a hat and scarf.  

The very cool Public Market - plenty of cheese and sausage...a Wisconsin staple.  

More cheese, more beer.  This raspberry beer was delicious and used in making the cheese.  

Lovely happy hour platter from the tap room at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart.  We stumbled upon this place after buying summer sausage at Usinger's.  

This is Matthew.  He makes giant batches of made from scratch mac and cheese at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart.  I was temped to order some but I wasn't that hungry and knew it would be too much.  Lo and behold as we were having our small cheese plate he delivered us a sample.  And yes.  It was really really good.  

The selfie we sent to Jacob and Nathan.

The Cedarburg Coffee Roastery is home of really good coffee and the best desserts ever.  And this is coming from a girl that chooses salt over sugar.  This graham cracker crust orange cake with an orange zest frosting was divine.  We ended up here again after dinner for the best monster cookie you could ever dream of.  We asked if the baker ever shared her recipes and one of the employees told us she'd been offered a lot of money for her recipes but won't give them up.  

Before heading home we took a tour down Lake Drive.  Unfortunately the rain and fog prevented us from checking out much of Lake Michigan but the homes (much like homes along Lake Superior) were fantastic.  

The Pabst mansion.  We had some time before heading back to the airport so took a quick tour.  It is in the process of being beautifully restored and I realize the amount of work that goes into that,  but places like this give me the heebie jeebies.  Sorry, Mr. Pabst but your home is much too dark and gloomy for me.  

One of my favorite pics from the weekend.  Above the clouds at 35,000.  It was a lovely few days but I was excited to be 20 minutes from touching down in Minneapolis and heading home to see my boys.  

It seems we have started a late fall post anniversary getaway tradition and this year we couldn't have asked for a more lovely trip to Milwaukee.  Well, unless you could make it 70 and sunny but that is just not possible in these parts this time of year.

We spent two days downtown checking out the shops, galleries, and art museum.  While staying at the Pfister hotel we visited the spa and enjoyed a 90 minute facial which included a hot coconut oil scalp massage.  For awhile I was transported to someplace tropical.

We enjoyed cheese, Spotted Cow on tap, and good visits with good friends.

Grandma and Grandpa Jacobson, we so appreciate you coming down and spending time with the boys so we could get away!

We've got the Sinclair Thanksgiving this week and only a couple of weeks before Jacob starts his winter break.  We're heading north to Bemidji and south to Iowa to spend time with each family during the holiday season.  Jacob is already brainstorming ideas for his 7th birthday party (ice cream sundae bar and games).  Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for the holiday photos to come!

November

I'm sitting in my dining room with a steaming cup of coffee (rare), and the only thing I hear is the radio and the tumble of the dryer (also rare).  The two best sleepers as of late (Jacob and myself) had the house to ourselves last night.  Up at 6 and well rested, we had a peaceful breakfast and even time for 3 chapters of Encyclopedia Brown before catching the bus.  Not to say we don't miss Dad (away for business for a few days) or Nathan (hanging in the north woods and hopefully sleeping well for Grandma and Grandpa) but Jacob and I tend to have a more mellow, organized, routine in the morning.  Nathan and Scott, well, they bring a sense of chaos to the mix.  Nathan usually is running around wanting to "help", driving his "Minja" Turtles big wheel in circles, having to go potty, asking if we can play wif him, talking (a lot), and well, just being his busy awesome self.  Scott, in the midst of getting himself ready for work starts a pot of coffee, a load of laundry, gets distracted with his phone, and might even be found fixing something that he's been thinking about for awhile.  Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit and our family dynamic is quite spectacular but I'm not exaggerating at all. I'm thoroughly enjoying this temporary sense of calm.  I even get to do the dorky things that completely fill me with utter satisfaction like writing the new month and all of the activities on our dry erase board, cleaning out Jacob's "papers" drawer, cleaning out the fridge, and my desk drawer.  What can I say...I love being organized.  It makes me feel good.  There could be worse habits, right?  

We've had an amazing fall - I couldn't have ordered up a better one.  Mild temps, beautiful colors and no snow (as of yet).  We've enjoyed playing outside and soaking up the warm sun.  Jacob has been busy and continues to love school.  Nathan attends "school" on Tuesdays at Kids Kare at Pine Harbor and loves his friends and activities.  Wednesday nights are busy with Awanas.  I have also been seeing some good improvement with my back.  When I say my "back" it is really my leg.  Seeing a pilates instructor for some one on one work and that along with time seems to be helping.  I did have a second MRI and will follow up with a surgeon for a consult next week...just to make sure things are progressing as they should.  Although the pain ache in my leg isn't constant, and I am SO thankful for where I am today, I'm sure looking forward to the day when I'm not distracted by it on a regular basis.    

Scott and I will be taking our annual (post anniversary) fall getaway in a couple of weeks and heading to...wait for it...Milwaukee!  You thought we were going someplace warm, didn't you?  We're heading to the land of cheese for a couple of days of museums, fine dining, and spa treatments.  We'll wrap up the weekend in a quaint little town north of Milwaukee to spend some time with our friends Jake and Marie that moved away last summer.  Stay tuned for that update towards the end of the month.  I will leave you with some of my favorite fall pics.  Thanks for checking in! 

Lydia in the leaves

No caption needed!

Afton apple orchard

Nathan had BOTH sets of grandparents join him for Grandparents day in Preschool 1!  What a fun day and so great to share a meal together that evening.  

Star Wars reads day at the library.  Super cool.  

Scott and his dad enjoyed a few days fishing.

The day super heroes ran errands with me.    

One of my favorites near our neighborhood.  

Jacob after having his three baby teeth extracted.  It was a quick and easy procedure.

Post extraction vanilla malt for breakfast.

Jacob requested the tooth fairy leave these if it was okay with her.  

We dropped our kids off at the YMCA for parents night out.  Mike would have joined but was out of town.  We started the evening with a fantastic dinner at Hastings newest dining establishment Bella Vista.  You can read Scott's review here...and ended the evening strolling through Target.  Isn't that what everyone does when they have a babysitter?  

A game of 500 is a frequent after school activity.

Jacob's "treasure hunt Tuesday"

Harvest fest 2014

I wish you all could have seen this splendor in person.  My iPhone, while I love it, has encouraged me to get out my other camera more often.  We were on the road very early heading towards Sarah and Mike's cabin for the weekend.  

Sarah and Mike are in the final stages of renovating their A-frame.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  Good thing they have a room for me.  ;)  Denny, Mike, Scott and my dad had quite the system.  Needless to say, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for some real-live cement truck action.  

Sarah's kitchen / dining room view.

Fall is in the air

Although I absolutely adore summer, there is something about fall, right?  

Jacob is at the end of his second week of school and loving 1st grade and everything about it.  His teacher is truly fantastic.  God bless her and all of the teachers out there.  We've eased back into the routine pretty easily.  Nathan knows when it is homework time and he joins in to do his homework as well.  It's pretty darn cute.  

The first weekend of September is our annual block party.  With a giant dog bounce house, a visit from Hasting's finest and their K9 pup, Ozzy, riding in the street and lots of good food and catching up with neighbors...what could be more fun!?

The most interesting news of the fall is Jacob's future with the orthodontist.  He's unfortunately got his mom's ample teeth and small mouth.  He's having three baby teeth extracted in the very near future to make room for his permanent teeth that are trying to come in.  In about a year or so he will start an expander and then eventually have braces when his teeth are in.  He had a great visit and seems to like the idea of getting his teeth straight and together.  He also knows his older cousin Noah had braces so it's kind of cool.

I hope you are enjoying the season.  Thanks for checking in!  

First day + first grade = Success!

Dad helping combat some early morning butterflies.

Nathan offering his support.

"Mom, can I please go to school, too?"

All settled in! 

It was a great day!

Jacob had a great day.  Before bed tonight he told me he was pretty sure he wasn't going to have butterflies tomorrow.  But, just in case, I could meet him at school for 2 more days.  His favorite part of the day was recess although it wasn't long enough.  First grade, here we go.