Day 8: Friday, 9/11/09: Lake & dinner out

Friday morning we went back to Devil’s Lake since we had such a good time there on Wednesday. We checked out South Shore first since I thought maybe I could get a better picture of the lake from there. After we determined that the water was warmer and it was shallower at North Shore, we drove up to North Shore to spend our morning there. We hung out on the other side of the chateau this time so that I could lay on the beach while Dave and Elodie played in the water. We had lunch with Dad and Jan, who brought us fixins for sandwichs.

After naptime, we joined Dad, Jan, Aunt Ann, Uncle John, Jim and Diane for dinner at House of Embers in Wisconsin Dells, famous for its barbeque and Friday night Fish Fry. Elodie was a bit of a handful. In retrospect, taking your kid out to dinner, where she’s confined for the entire night the night before you put her in a car seat for 17 hours isn’t the wisest idea. Dave and I both got the 1/3 rack of ribs and I thought they were quite good.

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Day 7: Thursday, 9/10/09: Visiting a friend, dinner & bowling

Since dad was golfing & Aunt Ann was going into Madison for a quilt fair, we took the opportunity to meet my friend Mandi Vander Galien and 3 of her 5 kids at a park in Montello, about half-way between her house and where we were staying. It was nice to be able to meet some of her kids and catch up a bit. The last time I saw her was the last time I was in Wisconsin nine years ago.

After Elodie’s nap, we headed over to the Tangers Outlet Mall so I could see if they had any deals on anything. I ended up getting some socks for Elodie and some yoga pants for me at the Old Navy Outlet. When we were done, we met dad, Jan, Aunt Ann & Uncle John across the parking lot for dinner. We got free bowling with dinner, so after dinner Dad, Jan, Dave & I bowled. It was so much fun. Dave and I hadn’t bowled since college. Dave was doing pretty well, especially since he let Elodie bowl a couple times, but he choked up during the last couple frames and wasn’t able to get over 100. Dad beat everyone by a ton.

Elodie says "bamboo" for Baraboo.  She knows "river" now, instead of all water being a lake.  And she likes to say "not yet."

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Day 6: Wednesday, 9/9/09: Lake, dinner on Wisconsin River

We spent the morning at Devil’s Lake with Aunt Ann, dad, and Jan. Other than the haze from the California fires that’s plagued us since we arrived, it was absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect. The road into the lake is covered in trees and Elodie calls it a “tree tunnel.” The north shore is very shallow for a ways out so it was perfect for Elodie to run around in. Dad rented a row boat and took Dave out to his childhood swimming rock. Aunt Ann went swimming and Elodie ate some lunch. When the men made it back, we all had lunch on the picnic bench in the shade. Elodie went swimming with daddy one more time before we left.
We tried to put Elodie down for her afternoon nap at the farm but we weren’t very successful…in fact, not at all. Aunt Ann and I looked through one of her mom’s travel photo albums from 1936, when she was only 22 years old along with a photo album she started when she was 16 years old that also has dad and Aunt Ann’s baby pictures in it.

Then we headed over to Uncle John’s brother Jim’s house in Prarie du Sac on the Wisconsin River. We even got to take the Merrimac Ferry on the way to their house. It was a great dinner with fun company. The highlight of the evening for Elodie was Jim’s restored player piano. She loved dancing to the piano as Jim obliged by picking out different songs. I even got to take some decent sunset pictures of the Wisconsin River from their boat dock.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from Day 6.

Day 4: Monday, 9/7/09: breakfast, zoo, park, train & photos

Monday morning we had breakfast at Aunt Ann’s with Uncle John, my dad, and Jan. We had fun watching sibling rivalry in the best pancake maker. For the record, dad had major trouble getting the pancakes not to stick and Aunt Ann got them off perfectly. While we waited for dad to get showered (why he wasn’t already showered by the time we got there?? Oh, wait…typical dad), Dave blew bubbles, Elodie chased them, and I attempted to capture the moments on “film.”

After everyone was ready, we headed to the Ochsner Zoo in Baraboo. It’s a tiny zoo run by the city, open to the public for free. We saw a bobcat, some goats & deer, two bears, some sort of monkey, and a white wolf. Elodie really enjoyed seeing the animals. Then we walked next door to the park and let Elodie play for a little bit before heading out. Dad took us all up to the Riverside and Great Northern Railway to ride the 15-inch gauge railroad train. Elodie saw the train and started to cry. We had to wait 15 minutes for the train and she cried on and off the whole time. On the train, she’d put her ear on Dave’s chest and place his hand over her other ear. We road the live steam trains along a 3 mile roadbed winding through scenic canyons, beautiful wooded areas, and majestic rock cuts beside the Dells of the Wisconsin River. We saw the locomotive being turned on a hand operated turntable at Western Springs and turned again at the final stop at the Hyde Park depot. We even had little bits of soot all over us from the burning coal. Even though it was a trying experience for Elodie, she talked about riding that train with Opa and Aunt Ann for the rest of the week.

That night, I dragged Dave and Elodie around looking for good spots to photograph the lake and river during sunset. We only really found one decent spot and then Elodie wouldn’t cooperate in having her picture taken. Afterwards, we grabbed takeout at Culvers and went back to our unit.

Elodie knows what the golden arches mean and yells excitedly "McDonalds!" when she sees them.

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Day 3: Sunday, 9/6/09: Brunch, driving tour & dinner with Aunt Ann

Sunday morning we got ready as fast as we could and drove 30 minutes out to Aunt Ann’s farm for breakfast/brunch. She had made homemade cinnamon rolls (yum!) and an egg casserole dish. Elodie and I both ate a ton of the cinnamon rolls. Aunt Ann and I looked at some old pictures and then we headed out on “an ancestral tour.” Aunt Ann took us by the house her mother was born in in Merrimac, not too far from where the farm is (on DL, just east of Bluff Road). Then we went to Tucker Cemetery and I took pictures of all the graves we thought were relatives, mainly Welks & Weilands from the 1800s. Afterwards, we drove into Baraboo and saw Aunt Ann and dad’s house growing up, Aunt Martha’s house, Aunt Merrill & Uncle John’s house, plus some other notables in Baraboo, like the Ringling family’s house and the old ice packing house on the Baraboo River, where they cut chunks of ice out of the river in the winter and packed it in sawdust so that it would last through the summer. We also had treats (and lunch for Dave) at Culver’s before heading back for naptime. After Elodie & I woke up from our naps, we went back to Aunt Ann’s for a potroast dinner. Elodie had fun seeing the horses with Aunt Ann and yelled "come here" to the horses. I scared them with the sound of my shutter. Aunt Ann said it must sound like the electrified fence. We had to leave right before dad & Jan got in. 

Today, Elodie said "Oh goodness."  She also said "I love you" while hugging daddy.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from Day 3.