Fudge and Moccasins

So much to write about, so little time to write.  I am so behind here!  I just finished an incredible week at this year's varnish workshop, but I need a bit more time to process it all before I can share any of it in a post.  The kids just had their science and multi-cultural fair, Aden played in the pit orchestra for her first musical, work has been busy, I've performed in a couple of great concerts, but I don't think I will get a chance to write about any of it.

However, I do want to take a second to describe a bit of our recent trip to The Wisconsin Dells over Easter weekend.  It wasn't possible to go to New York this year for our tradition of staying in my brother's apartment and setting up egg hunts in the nearby rose garden.  So instead we headed west for my other brother's home in LaCrosse and on the way stayed a couple of nights in The Dells.  It's something we've been meaning to do with our kids at some point, and now was apparently the time.

Trojan Horse on the way to our hotel

The Wisconsin Dells, for those who are not familiar, is a small town not far from Madison with a small local population but a ton of visitors during vacation season.  It was a spot where in the past river traffic had to stop at the falls in order for people to change boats, and as a result tourist attractions were born.  Today it's a kitchy place full of water parks and different theme hotels.  There are various boat tours (including the famous "ducks" and we saw intriguing ads for something called "Ghost Boat"), lots of mini golf, go carts, ice cream and restaurants, and goofy souvenirs.  It's the sort of place that always seems to have fudge and moccasins.  (We got both.)

Unique New York

(A bit overdue at this point, and with fewer details than I originally wrote, but at least I got something down while I remember anything.)

We had a great trip to New York for spring break!

We didn't stop in Ohio this time, so it was a long drive in one shot from Wisconsin.  Thankfully my kids all continue to be excellent travelers, making 15 hours in the car together possible--even pleasant.

In any case, here is a summary (with lots of pictures) so I won't forget:

My kids' spring break didn't line up with my niece's this year.  She only had off the Friday before Easter, and we had from then up through the beginning of April.  So we decided in order to get the most time for cousins together that we would pull our kids out of school a day early and drive to New York all that Thursday.

The car ride was (blissfully) uneventful.  We finished reading the book Wildwood (which we enjoyed) and started Birds, Beasts, and Relatives, which is part of the My Family and Other Animals series.  I really like reading to my kids in the car.  (It's amazing how much faster it makes the time seem to go.)

We arrived around midnight in New York City where my sister-in-law had an air mattress already set up for the girls and the trundle bed pulled out for Quinn.  My brother was out of the country for a business trip, so it was "just" the seven of us (plus Pepper the dog) for the first few days.  I am amazed every time we visit that they are able to find space for us in that apartment, but they do, and we're grateful.

Spring Break 2015!

This post is a month late, because rehearsals-concerts-work-kids-biopsy-RACE!-stuffandthings.  Plus my nephew was born and we had my parents here, etc. etc.  You know...LIFE.  So pardon this overly long update with too many pictures, but I need to get it down before I forget everything.

That's pretty much it for Indiana

Ian had Army obligations over Spring Break this year, so I took the kids on a road trip.  We headed first for Ohio, which was a good drive in that it was uneventful, but boring in that the most interesting part was passing through the windmill farms.  (In the distance in the photo are windmills.  Don't spend too much time looking--it doesn't get more interesting if you find them.)

We stayed with my aunt and uncle in Marysville for Easter which we really enjoyed.  Everyone was generous and welcoming as always.  It's a lucky thing in life if you get to feel at home in more than one place.

Spring Break--Now with More Snow!

We just returned from a lovely (if too short) trip to the cottage.  My kids' spring break didn't completely overlap with their cousin's this year, but we were able to meet at the cottage in Michigan and spend Easter together, along with my brother and our parents.

Picture of my Gram we keep at the cottage

Is it strange that coming on our second anniversary of buying my grandmother's cottage it still hasn't fully sunk in that it's ours?  (For me, anyway.  Ian's the one who sees the bills and pays the taxes and does annual toilet repairs, so I'm sure reality has set in for him by now.)  When I clean up at the end of a stay I make the beds the way my grandma liked and put things back as if she were visiting next.  Which is probably silly since she would have been the first to say that we should redo things to suit our own tastes, but aside from removing items that make my husband sneeze we've left everything pretty much the way it's always been.  It feels right, and that consistency is part of why we love it.

The cottage is a family place where we can relax and play and talk about our history while making more of it.  We brought along a 750 piece puzzle to do, the kids made up their own games in addition to playing favorites like Settlers of Catan and Set. We read, my mom cooked amazing food, and generally just enjoyed hanging out in a shared space.  The TV stayed off except for movie night when we watched Elf.  (Hey, it's a good holiday movie!  Does it matter what holiday?)

Despite the calendar suggesting it should be Spring, we had snow.  No buds on the trees yet, no flowers.  But no matter!  We were able to walk across the frozen lake and birds were easier to spot.  The interesting thing about the cold up north is that normally we can't see much past the porch for all the green, but with the trees all bare we could see straight across the lake.