Friday in Wisconsin

Day two was a lot of fun! We had bacon "from a real pig" for breakfast. That's what Nana called it:). I'm pretty sure we eat real bacon at home, too, but this was extra thick bacon from a local butcher, and it tasted great. We made a berry pie from black caps and raspberries they had hand-picked from their garden this summer, and even though I didn't add very much sugar, it is a tart and delicious pie! We drove thru Culver's and ordered a quart of Turtle Dove custard. Yummy! It was delicious with huge chunks of pecans, chocolate, and soft carmel! I haven't had that it about 10 years (because we didn't get any last time I was home), and it was amazing!

My cousin and uncle are helping my folks replace some beams in their home. So, before I had a chance to change on Friday morning I got to say "Hi" to them on the back deck! It made me feel a bit uncomfortable to see my extended family for the first time in 6 years wearing my mom's pajamas, but that's life:). No one else seemed to notice, but me. The boys spent the morning playing around Nana and Papa's house, there are endless treasures to discover. Such as an attic. Now this is no "regular" attic! You can walk around in it, and the ceiling is about 15 feet high at the peak, so there are chairs hanging up there and clothes and pans and lots of toys and games, and anything a little child could imagine. Andrew and Ryon were so impressed!

Later in the morning we went to Walmart. Picked out some toys for the kids, dropped by the Dollar Store for some pens, and went by Aldi's for some "cheap" groceries...and a pezz dispenser, and Andrew and Ryon saw the M for the first time. Maybe tomorrow we will get to see it up close. I don't know though! It was freezing at 3pm this afternoon when we walked around UWP! There was a wind tunnel created by the hills and the new buildings. As the wind hit my face, I was reminded of my childhood here. Walking to school in the freezing cold wind, a mile each way...there was a reason I moved to warm country! Six months of this a year was unbearable for me, but there appear to be lots of folks here who don't mind the cold one bit, they have my respect! We toured the new engineering building. We got to peak into the nanotechnology lab, my dad's office and shop, and lots of other labs and computer routing rooms. We peaked at the women in engineering show case, with a hand mixer and blow dryer. The guys in engineering seemed most interested in building a snowmobile, race car, and dune buggie. My little guys thought those three things were the most interesting also.

We finished out the afternoon by watching Mulan, the Disney movie, and eating an amazing pizza. Andrew and Ryon had regular pepperoni, but for the adults my mom made a delicious pizza with a mix of collards, kale, rhubarb chard, and spinach. My dad harvested about 3 gallons of the greens and my mom cooked them all down until it was about 2" thick on our pizza and then added Parmesan and mozzarella cheese with sausage and mushrooms and seasonings. It was a white pizza and it was delicious! But unlike any pizza I've ever eaten!

After dinner Andrew and Ryon got to take a bath in the 100+ year old claw foot bath tub upstairs, with the framed color pencil tub drawing I made 17 years ago hanging on the wall beside the tub, with little toes peaking out of a mountain of bubbles. Once they had on their p.j.'s we headed to the card making room! Now, I can hardly explain this room, but it is amazing! Stamping, embossing, paper...everything in one room, ready for making amazing cards! So, we made cards for a few hours. I made birthday cards for my kids' friends, those are always cards we need, but never have and then end up making them at the last minute. This will be so much better! I hope to make different cards tomorrow. Card making is definitely my mom's specialty! She knows all sorts of tricks and I would say she has made 1000's of cards already. We are having a lot of fun here! We need to visit more often, it's good for me to remember where I've come from, and what has gone into making me...me.