Our Trip to Wisconsin

The last week of July found my mom, my siblings and I on a vacation to Wisconsin!! Dad had to stay home to work and take care of the pets, and being separated from him for five days helped us appreciate each other a lot more!! :-) You never know how blessed you are until the person or thing (or whatever you are taking for granted) is taken away from you for a little while.

The first day (Monday) we visited the Alzen family on our way to "Grandma" Renate's house. We had a blast playing poison croquet and soccer, and eating lunch (and taking a silly picture)!!

 

That night we slept at Grandma Renate's house and the next morning we were ready to go swimming!!! We went to Rural, a little town that has a dam and a little ice cream shop.

Our Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri from NC surprised us at the waterfall! We had no idea they were coming to visit us!!! We had fun splashing each other, going underneath the waterfall, and buying treats at the store.

 

 

Here Lydia is pretending that she is being sucked over the edge!!! :-)

Since everyone had already eaten their ice cream by the time I got this picture, they just pretended they had the cones in their hands!

Our next stop was the Red Mill, which - in my opinion - is one of the most beautiful spots on earth. :-) There's an old mill with a gift shop inside, a beautiful river named the Crystal River (it's perfectly clear), an old covered bridge, and a quaint little chapel.

 

Inside they sell old-fashioned candy sticks, which we always buy when we come here!!

On Wednesday we visited some of Daniel's birth family. We had a lot of fun going out to eat at their restaurant (Weasel's), visiting a zoo, seeing their farm and more! Thanks, guys, for a great time!!

Lydia and Rowan just LOVED the baby bunnies, puppies, turtles, goats and pigs!! CUTE!!

Cousins (Rowan, Liam and Daniel)!!!

That evening we went out to eat at Culver's with Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri, and also Uncle Bryan, Aunt Jan, Lauren (19), Stephen (16) and Ian (13) from Japan (they're missionaries there). Then we went mini-golfing at Tom Thumb - that was a blast!

Me, Lydia, and Lauren

 

Mom, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Jan, Aunt Lauri and Uncle Tim
 

Ian, Stephen, Daniel and Caleb
 

The next day we spent at Spencer Lake, near Waupaca (where mom grew up). We swam, ate, swam, ate, and played Monopoly!! :-) We enjoyed spending time with our cousins who we hadn't seen in two years or more. Hope to see you guys again soon!!

 

 

Lauren will be staying in the states to go to college, so I am VERY glad that we'll get to see her more often!! :-)

On Friday we drove the 8 hours home. Thanks, Grandma Renate, for letting us stay at your house!! It was so good to see you again! We love you!!

Medora!!

On the Fourth of July our family went to Medora, ND to visit our friends the W. Family, and to tour the old west town! We stayed one night at the Trapper's Kettle Inn. They had some neat things outside - a tepee, and old wagon, a big buffalo and more!

According to the Medora website, "The town of Medora was founded in April 1883 by a 24-year-old French nobleman, the Marquis de Mores. He named the town for his bride, the former Medora von Hoffman, daughter of a wealthy New York City banker."

We had a very enjoyable day there, eating a picnic lunch at the park . . .

 looking at all the little museums and gift shops . . .

 watching horse-drawn carriages go by with the badlands in the background . . .

eating ice cream . . .

and yes, Caleb and Mr W. decided to try climbing part of this HUGE mountain!!! :-)
You can see how big it is in this picture . . .

 . . . and here you can see them climbing - just barely though.

Here I zoomed way in!!

Lydia and Abby had a fun time together!

 

This is where dad may have worked if he had lived a couple hundred years ago! :-)

 

Ethan and Aaron had a blast at the park together!!

 

We enjoyed playing some soccer . . .

 

 . . . and watching a parade!

 

Mr. and Mrs. W. (and no, that's not his necklace, it's Abby's!!) :-)

 

That afternoon we drove through Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
It was a neat experience to see a whole town of prairie dogs!

 

Aaron got pretty close!

 

Someone told us we should visit Wild Canyon (in the park), but when we stopped, all we saw was a few wooden steps. What was so special?

THIS!!!! My camera can't even begin to capture the beauty we saw at this canyon!! As soon as you get to the top of the steps, there's a HUGE drop-off. It was SCARY!! If you stray off the path you'd practically fall down a deep gorge. Then off in the distance was a winding river and beautiful hills. Wow!! (this is a panorama using 10 pictures, I think - sorry it's so small!!)

Mom took this picture of whoever was there at the moment! :-)

That night we saw the famous Medora musical. It was very patriotic and professional . . . and sort of "family friendly" . . .to the world's point of view, anyway.

 

Before the musical started (it's all outdoors) there were two wild elk very close to the stage area!! A cowboy on a white horse had to chase them away. :-) 

After the play, we drove back to the city of Medora where they put off a HUGE fireworks display!!! It was the best I've ever seen!!

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention: as we were driving along in the national park, we turned a curve and there was a wild buffalo!! Here's a few more pictures . . .

 

 

So if you're ever headin' up that way, I would definitely recommend seeing the town of Medora, and the Badlands!!! God's creation is just completely marvelous!!