Correction - Sorry Luke!

In my last post about our birthday trip to the zoo to celebrate Luke's birthday, I mistakenly said it was his 34th.  It was actually his 32nd.  Oops!  What can I say?  Math is hard.   Especially at 11pm!  I wanted to correct that for Luke, but also myself.  Because if Luke is 6 years younger than me, and he is 34, that would make me 40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So I'll keep him at 32 & that makes me 38!  Much better!

WI Trip - Madison Zoo

On Saturday, August 11th, we headed to Madison to take Uncle Luke out for his birthday.  What else would a guy turning 34 want to do on his birthday?  Go to the zoo of course!  That is his payback for ruining my 6th birthday!  :)  Because he was born 4 days before my birthday, my mom was not home that year.  JK Luke!
Queen Au Contraire came along to the zoo so she is not in some of the pictures or very pleasant in others.

 the monkey wanted to start in the monkey house

this guy was looking at some kid thru the glass like he'd make a nice snack

check out that tongue

 thanks for posing

much more cooperative than Morgan!

my favorites

especially when they are not inside a smelly house!

Luke works nights, so he needed to be home in the afternoon to sleep.  We took a break from the zoo and took him to lunch at Red Lobster.  We snapped a few pictures on our way out.  Luke bribed Morgan with games on his phone if she got in the pictures.

 cooperation is going

cooperation is gone

After lunch we returned and finished our visit.

BIG Kitty

I had a hard time getting the camera to not focus on the fences

 pacing

Shelby was disappointed the zoo didn't have zebras

at least she got to ride on one

 When we first walked by the polar bear exhibit, we were disappointed to see that it was empty.  Luckily we had to go back by there on our way out so we could see this....

 The last time we were at this zoo, Shelby was either 2 or 3.  I need to check a few old pictures to decide & compare.  She had her picture taken in this polar bear and sitting on that turtle from a few pictures above.  I'll have to scan those and do a comparison shot.

We had a beautiful day despite the ugly attitude of little miss who was asleep within minutes of leaving the zoo.  Happy Birthday Uncle Luke!  Thanks for spending your day with us!

Wi Trip - Mississippi Boat Tour

Last summer on our Mississippi River Aquarium visit in Dubuque, we saw the boat rides.  One of the girls wanted to take a ride but the last tour of the day had already departed.  So we put it on the list of things to do this summer.  It was a 1 1/2 hour scenic tour narrated by the boat's captain.  Morgan had visions of being in an inner tube tied to the back of the boat bouncing up and down a lake (like she did last summer).  She had no interest in this and was having a meltdown in the bathroom until I convinced her this boat ride would be nothing like that.  It was fun and all I could think was how beautiful the fall scenery tour would be when all the trees change color.  Here are some pictures.

The Spirit of Dubuque

rail road tracks opening for us to pass through

 the bridge we drive over to get from WI to IA

We started in WI and drove to Iowa.  The boat is docked in Dubuque, IA.  When we left the port and started up the river, we were in IL for a few minutes before going back to WI.  I need to get a map out to show the girls on paper how you can be in WI, IL & IA at the same time.  It is also hard for them to comprehend that this river is the same one we cross when we visit their Metzger cousins in MO.  They thought we were just a few minutes from their house instead of 400 miles or 6 1/2 hours!

with papa as close to the water as they could get!

beautiful multi-family home up on the bluff overlooking the river

returning to the port

Believe it or not, neither one said anything about me dressing them in look alike shirts.  I'm thinking these could make good shirts for school pictures.  Shelby may not want to be seen at school wearing the same thing as her sister so we'll have to see!

We left IA and returned to WI to finish off our night with the opening performance of the Children's Theater production of Once Upon a Mattress (The Princess and the Pea).  It was well done and a great way to end a great day!

WI Trip - Park Playing

The girls and I usually wrap up our summers with a trip to my parents house in WI.  This year was no different.  My mom came for Shelby's theater performance and when she left on Sunday morning Morgan went along.  She had a great time by herself and then turned into Queen Au Contraire when Shelby and I joined them on Thursday.  We stayed until Tuesday so I will post each day separately.
On Thursday evening we went into town to walk & ride bikes along the river on the trail.  We stopped to play at the playground.  Nonny joined in the tetherball fun and a little swinging.

We left this playground and headed up the hill to tryout the new playground at the K-8 school.

They had a lot of fun and I had to start driving away to get Morgan to come. It's a good thing I did because as we headed back down the hill, we noticed how dark the sky was getting.  I think the same storm that blew through Blm/Normal around 4 or 5 came through Darlington about 8:00.  We dropped my mom off at the grocery store and parked to order pizza from the one and only Vinger's hometown greatness (you either love the stuff or hate it).  It started to pour down rain like it was making up for the summer drought!  And it was terribly windy.  I parked as close to the door as I could get without driving on the sidewalk for my mom when she came out.  Thankfully the lightening was bright enough to light my way as we poked down the road to get the pizza.  By the time we made it out to the house it was pretty much over.  It's worth any kind of weather to get Vinger's Pizza!