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A Trip to The Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin

A few weeks ago, the kiddos and I, along with my sis and nephews, visited the Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin in Appleton, WI. We only found out about the place last year when we visited and we’re huge fans now!

During Monarch migration, they always hold a butterfly release event, which is the best time to go! For your admittance, you get one butterfly for the family to tag and release out in their back butterfly garden. It’s magical.

It was raining the day we went, so it was a little bit more difficult to get the whole experience. The boys ended up having to coerce their butterflies off their fingers onto a plant to let them go. I think it made the boys feel more connected to their monarchs though, because the butterflies didn’t want to leave them.

Out behind the building is this giant butterfly garden with trails through it in the shape of a butterfly. It’s really something. And it was just full of all kinds of buzzing critters last year.

Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin

 

Inside the butterfly house, which is like a screened-in greenhouse, the butterflies were a bit chilled by the rain, so they were a little more difficult to find. But with patience, we found plenty of them. The docents give you a q-tip with sugar water on it to help attract the butterflies.

Butterfly House

Monarch butterfly house

Appleton Butterfly Garden

hold Monarch butterflies

wearing monarch butterflies

Stop and smell the……………butterflies?

barefoot and butterflies

Please take note of the bare feet. This girl is a nature girl at heart, through and through. You cannot keep a pair of shoes on her, even where there’s gravel. Bless her heart.

monarch butterfly migration participant

monarch on butterfly flower

Rayna and auntie monarchs

The butterfly gardens also have some other cool displays and exhibits too. They have this cool display of various butterflies from all over.

 

butterfly display

And turtles….

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And frogs….
Butterfly Gardens of WIAnd bees…….. *shudder*

live indoor beehive
And we were lucky enough to be able to take two monarch caterpillars home to try to raise. We have milkweed everywhere by our house and a butterfly net, so we were equipped for the job.

If I would’ve written this blog post right after our trip though, I wouldn’t have to tell you that unfortunately, both of them are now resting in the ground. One died from the black virus and the other…we’re not sure.

But we are grateful for the time we had with them, because they were fascinating to watch. The tiny one grew literally before our eyes. Like, we’d go to work and come home, and he’d be bigger and there’d be huge holes in the milkweed we left for him.

We named him Eric Carle.


monarch caterpillars monarch butterfly caterpillar milkweed

RIP Eric Carle.

If you’re ever able to make the monarch butterfly release during the monarch migration, I highly recommend it. The Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin is definitely something to see!

So tell me…do you find butterflies as incredibly enchanting as I do? Have you ever paid attention to the monarch migration?

If You’re Ever In Wild Rose, Wisconsin

The camping trip that was featured in my last article was in Wild Rose, Wisconsin. Since we’ve been there so many times, and Hubster practically grew up there in his family’s “second home” of sorts, I thought I would put together a little insider’s visitor guide, if you will.

Places to Visit in Wild Rose, WI

If you’re in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, make sure you pop over and visit the Fish Hatchery especially if you have kids. They did a really nice job converting their visitor’s center into an interactive play area. The little ones could’ve played in here for quite some time.

There are two large aquariums with live fish and a huge wall display of fish profiles. Rayna loved staring at and pointing out all the fishies.

Fish Hatchery Wild Rose, Wisconsin

They have an adorable little fishing area where you sit in a boat with your magnetic fishing pole, trying to catch fish. Imagination play.

 

Wild Rose Fish Hatchery

They had all kinds of fish plushies.

Rayna with fish in Wild Rose

Wild Rose, WI Fish Hatchery

And they had an entire section where you pretend to work at the hatchery. You start at the door and put your boots and lab coat on. Then, you make your way through the different stations. Kayne was dissecting a fish here.

Kids Discovery Center in Wild Rose Fish Hatchery

Most of the hatchery isn’t run the way it used to be of course, so a lot of it is closed off to the public, but you can still feed some of their fish in the ponds. There’s a quarter feed dispenser that you can use to get their attention.

old fish hatchery Wild Rose

Feeding fish at hatchery

Kayne feeding hatchery fish

 

We’ve been coming here for years. Even last year, we went camping there when Rayna was only 1 months old.

For a little family picnic and a dip in the lake, check out Kusel Lake County Park. One day while we were camping, we took a family hike here through the lush trails and the following day, Kayne and I came back for a run/bike ride on the trails for my daily workout.

They also have a park with some fun old-school equipment, a picnic shelter, and a sandy beach for swimming. You could spend an entire day just at this little park.

 

Kusel Lake County Park

 

Another place to visit is the Roseville Mini Golf & Shops, a mini golf range and attached ice cream shop. This little visitor-friendly site has a well-kept mini golf course, great ice cream and lots of souvenirs and treats.

Roseville Mini Golf

 

We’ve also stopped here quite a few times in the past several years.

They have a few little farm animals out back next to the golf course now too. Rayna doesn’t really “play” golf, so we let her wander around, play with her own club and ball, and explore the animals.

Wild Rose Mini Golf and Goats

There’s a carousel horse out front that’s a perfect photo opp.

Roseville Mini Golf Shop

 

Right next to Benny’s Grocery Store is a little thrift store that I sometimes pop into while Hubster grabs groceries. A few years back, it was one of those crammed, treasure-hunt-type thrift stores that I loved exploring. Now it has a more curated, pricey feel to it. But there’s one interesting thing at the back of the store, if you care to look: a real life electric chair. Yes, it’s absolutely creepy. I couldn’t even bring myself to sit all the way back in the chair or touch the sides even though I knew it was off and not working. But I thought it was worth mentioning;)

 

When Kayne was little, we went camping right during strawberry picking and got the whole experience at a local farm. I wish I could remember the name of it, but we just found the sign for it and pulled in on a whim!

There are a few other little shops in Wild Rose, if you care to stop, including a little flower/gift shop and antique store. We haven’t been in either of these, but they look like they’re worth the visit.

Places to Stay in Wild Rose, Wisconsin

While I’m not familiar with all the inns and cottages available, I can tell you that the camping in Wild Rose is so much fun. We like staying at Luwisomo Campground whenever we visit. But Evergreen is also very popular with all their various attractions. Hubster’s family used to have a trailer at that campground growing up, so he has many memories there. They’ve gotten a little too commercialized ($$$) and crammed together in the last few years, but it’s still a fun time.

Luwisomo is a nice understated place to camp that is a bit more spread out and much more tree-covered for those who like the actual outdoor experience. You can also rent a few cute little cabins there. They have a little playground, a little mini golf course and some nice trails. They also have decent bathrooms and laundry facilities in the public camping area which I appreciate.

Luwisomo also has this amazing horse stable for horseback riding.

We’ve started let Kayne go horseback riding every year. He’s still not old enough to go alone, but they do a guided tour with him and he loves it.

Camp Luwisomo Horseback Riding

They also have other horses and goats you can pet while you wait.

Camp Luwisomo Horse Stables

 

 

Places to Eat in Wild Rose, WI

We haven’t eaten at all the restaurants, but we are fans of the Pioneer Pub & Grill. It has a log cabin look from the outside, and the view on the back deck is absolutely amazing.

Springwater Resort has a pizza buffet on certain days of the week (Wed and Sun, I think?). They’re situated right on Kusel Lake too. We’ve gone there several times and enjoyed the little buffet.

We generally bring our own food or stop at Benny’s to pick up what we need and go out to eat maybe one night of our stay. And we’re also mourning the loss of the restaurant inside the Ding. When Hubster and I were first dating, we stopped there to eat many many times. They had a greasy spoon vibe in their restaurant part, but the burgers were amazing! Last time we stopped in, the informed us they no longer served food.

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Smalltown USA. Wild Rose is a quick little blink of a town, but it still has enough to do for a day, or several, especially if camping and nature is your thing.

Wedding Weekend and Our First airbnb Experience

These weekend took Hubster and I to Madison, WI for a family wedding. It was a quick trip and it was just right.

For the most part, the wedding was adults-only, so we had to leave the kiddos behind. My friend Kristi, bless her dear heart, offered to take the kids for the day for her daughter’s birthday party. My mom picked them up from there and took them back to our house for bedtime.

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Anyhow, I love the Madison hipster vibe. I really need a dose of that every once in awhile. State Street, how I’ve missed you!

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We had our first airbnb experience this weekend too. And I loved it! Ok, so I’ll admit it does feel really awkward to stay in a stranger’s home when they’re going to be there. But for the purpose of this trip, it was perfect for what we needed. And I think it’s healthy in our individualistic society to reach out to new people this way.

We weren’t sure if we were actually going to stay overnight, so we didn’t book a hotel room in advance. Once we finally decided to stay last minute, I thought, well, we only need a bed to sleep in for the night after the reception and before brunch the next morning. Simple. Airbnb it is!

AND, the house we found was only three blocks from the reception venue, so we didn’t need to worry about designated drivers or anything.

So, for $50, we stayed in a room in an adorable bungalow with everything we needed: a bed, a shower and a place to drop our stuff. We were certainly welcome to use the kitchen and other parts of the house as well, but we didn’t need to. And our hosts were great!

 

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We tried not to make much noise when we returned from the reception and our hosts barely made any noise when they got up in the morning. So it was just a nice respectful way to get out of our shells and cohabitate with other humans;)

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The bride reminded me of Snow White or some other beautiful dark-haired Disney personality. The food was great, the dancing was fun, and the caricatures they did were absolutely hilarious!

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The next morning, we were invited to the newlywed’s home for brunch and another family get-together before everyone headed home. It was nice to chill with everyone in a non-chaotic state and tour the newlywed’s new home.

Some of Hubster’s family is still in town for a few days, so we’re hosting a dinner tonight at our house which I’m currently getting ready for and looking forward to. Then, we’re off for a few days of camping before school starts again. We love this kind of travel–laid-back, not too far from home, keep it simple trips.

What do you like to do when you travel?

Do you have any cities that revive you?

Surviving My Long Drive to Work

Our recent move to our country home took us far away from the city, from work, from my mom’s house, from stores, from everything. That’s what we wanted, of course! To be away from the frenzy of the city. But the drive is something that is taking some getting used to. I shouldn’t complain, but when you go from a 1 mile commute–walking distance–to a 25 mile one, you really have some adjusting to do.

While I’m not too keen on driving in general (I LOVE being a passenger) or paying the astounding extra gas costs, I’m trying to find the positive aspects of this long drive. Since I’ll be making this long drive for the foreseeable future, I might as well learn to love it, right?

Now, when I’m driving, I’m trying to really “see” what’s going past the windows. I’m trying to not take the passing scenery for granted and really notice the cool fog effects, the waking animals, the sunshine. Oh, the sunshine! One of the most pleasurable parts of my drive now is lifting my face toward the sun. Now, I am potentially getting 60 minutes of sunlight on my drive versus the quick flash of light when I was only going 2 miles and sitting inside the office all day.

Thinking and decompressing before walking in the door has been another benefit of a long drive. That 1 mile commute sometimes left me feeling bombarded. All the thoughts that I had rolling around in my mind at the end of a day weren’t processed in that short of time, and I had to shift focus within seconds to children and husband and pet, all converging on me. This new drive is a more gentle transition and leaves me time and space to process all the information of the day and leave what I don’t want behind me. I have been coming up with great ideas while driving now, and think I’m going to have to invest in a recorder soon:)

No haters please, but I’ve also been catching up with friends on the phone since I have 35 minutes of uninterrupted air time. I am a much better friend now because I have that time to chat without feeling guilty that I’m neglecting anyone at home. It’s hard to find that uninterrupted time to call long-distance friends, but my new drive has opened up chat time for me.

I have also been catching up on podcasts. At first, I was really excited because we have an old CD player in the car and I thought “great, now I can catch up on myriads of books on CD from the library.” I was so excited to catch up on all the classics and some self-development–it was really one of the only things I was looking forward to. Well, wouldn’t you know, right before we moved, the car CD player seized up and no longer works. Total bummer!!! Well, to make up for it, I found an FM tuner at Best Buy and I have been downloading podcasts with free Wifi at work to listen to with it, and it doesn’t cost me data on my phone either.

And finally, when I’m not listening to podcasts, I’ve been listening to uplifting or informational radio, like KLove and NPR, which satisfies my constant need for information and positivity. I never thought about it before, but there is not one single “downer” song on Christian radio, making it a great way to feed my mind good things.

What do you like to do on long drives alone? What other options might I have?

A Trip to Battle Creek Michigan

A few weeks ago we visited some friends in Battle Creek, Michigan. I was a little leary of taking a 1-year-old on a 5-hour trip. But a few stops to stretch our legs and a few cat naps broke up the trip into manageable legs and we had very little resistance.
Chicago skyline
We didn’t make any set plans for the trip and just played it by ear because we’re casual vacationers like that:) So, what we ended up doing was perfect for us. A few museums, lots of swimming and plenty of downtime.
One of the days we were there, we went to a children’s museum. The children’s museum in Kalamazoo is amazing!!! Their learning centers are so incredible. There are sections that teach about the weather, braille and blind learning, alternative energy, night creatures, music, pretend news stations and a lot more. They even have a special section devoted to tiny kids, so that’s where Rayna and I spent a good chunk of time while daddy took Kayne on adventures through the building. It’s so impressive to me that this museum is completely free! If I lived there, we’d be going all the time.

They had little sections in the baby area
with different animals: amphibians,
butterflies, bugs, jungle animals, etc.
Little wooden farmyard.

Old-fashioned general store
Kayne was learning about the stages of a butterfly life cycle in school at the time.
They had these Eric Carle felt boards where he showed me the entire life cycle of a butterfly.

Wind energy
One of the other days we were there, we visited another museum that was right up my alley! It was a museum about Dr. Kellogg (whose brother is the name behind the Kellogg’s brand) and his research into health and fitness. He ran a huge sanitarium that was basically a cross between a medical center and a health resort. For a good read about some of his contraptions, read this.

This contraption here was a leg vibrator thing
that was supposed to increase circulation in
the legs from sitting too long.

Sitz bath
Here is a picture of the gym on-board the Titanic that was designed by Dr. Kellogg. Cool, huh?

Dr Kellogg believed in the healing powers of the sun and fresh air. So, he brought
the powers of the sun indoors with different light baths, much like today’s light boxes for SAD.

There are a few other historical buildings on-site as well including a one-room schoolhouse and a church.

But, we had to leave the Kellogg museum tour early due to some mini crabby person that needed a nap;) On our way out, I got to see a little weasel that had made a home under a museum outbuilding.
While in Battle Creek, we stayed in a decent motel and so for some of our downtime, we had fun using their pool and fitness equipment. We invited our friends to enjoy pool time too!

On our last night there, we had one last big group dinner with our friends at a Big Boy. We haven’t been to a Big Boy in probably 15-20 years. Even though Hubster had some really bad luck with his meal, but it was fun to go back in time a bit.

After dinner, we hit up the Battle Creek mall for a little while. I found some clothes and a bamboo wind chime at an import store. I also found the most adorable bedtime yoga book and a few other things at Barnes and Noble. I love having a meaningful bedtime routine for my kids and myself, and this book is absolutely perfect! Kayne loves going through the little vinyasa and the pictures are swoonworthy.

We had a great time just doing these easy things on a whim. The trees were changing color and the sun was out, so the timing was perfect. We planned the trip so we’d return on a Saturday and still have Sunday to rest before going back to work.

Baby’s First Pumpkin Patch

Seeing as Rayna was fresh out of the baby factory last year, we never made it to any of our normal pumpkin patches. It somehow seemed like an unfinished fall without a hay ride and a glass of cider. This year, it was perfect because she was so interactive with the animals. Her face lights up and she has this high-pitched screech sound she makes when she sees animals. She tried to pet the baby chicks like she pets our big moose of a dog.

My workplace is amazing. They sponsor a day for their employees every year to check out Mulberry Lanes Farm. Rayna’s due date was the exact date that the trip fell on last year, so we obviously didn’t RSVP.

Mulberry Lanes offers hay rides, horse rides, and a bunch of petting zoo stuff. You can try to catch a chicken or a turkey. You can feed the goats and hang out in the pig pen. We always spend way too much time in the little cage where they keep the kittens.

Momma, you didn’t save me any coffee!
Dunkin Donuts has the best.
Our favorite spot
No, you can’t bring one home
After you’re done petting all the animals, each person gets to choose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch to take home. 

My cabbage patch kid

And my cool kid

The weather was absolutely perfect for this trip. The kids were wearing flannel and I was in long sleeves and we got a bit hot, but it was a perfect day. See you next year Mulberry Lanes!

Milwaukee Zoo Trip 2015

Every year Hubster’s work sponsors a picnic at the Milwaukee zoo and we always try to make it. One year Hubster was in a wheelchair due to an injury to his knee. Last year he insisted I stay in a wheelchair because I was only a few days away from my due date.
That yellow sign behind me says “Baby on Board”
They always do such a great job providing lunch, drinks and attraction tickets. One of the attractions we went to was the dinosaur exhibit. We tried that about 3 years ago, and Kayne was just as scared this year as he was then. 
Our first stop was the petting zoo. Rayna gave the goats hugs as is normal for her with animals. She has this high-pitched squeal she makes when she sees an animal and she pats them really nicely. She’s already an animal lover.
My boys tried out the ropes course this year, which was so cool to see too. Rayna and I hit the air conditioned shops for some souvenirs while they were doing that. Kayne got a necklace with an encapsulated scorpion. Just up his alley.

Then, we walked through all the requisite exhibits.

At one point, Kayne excitedly pointed out a momma peacock walking across the path with her babies. After the video, the momma peacock decided to fly over one of the motes around one of the bear exhibits. Everyone stood around and watched to see if she was really just going to abandon her babies. But actually, after hesitation, unsure of themselves, they each flew, one by one, to momma.
A video posted by Jessica Collins (@boun_seejess) on

After that, we headed back to the petting zoo and had one last run through the ice cream shop and headed home. Another amazing summer day!

Wild Rose Camping Trip

A few weeks ago, we went on a family camping trip. Yep, 10-month-old baby and all. Admittedly, I was pretty worried about how Rayna would sleep, but we had taken a short test camping trip earlier in the summer. I was thinking that that trip would be a good primer for a longer trip. And it sorta was. Rayna slept awful the first night but did pretty well the next few nights. We scrapped the travel bassinet though and put a bunch of padding on the floor between the two back beds and put up a baby gate as a makeshift crib for her. It worked perfectly, even for naps!
Anyhow, on to the trip. We stayed at a campground in Wild Rose, WI called Camp Luwisomo. It’s a Lutheran campground where one side has huge buildings and halls for retreats and the other side has a public campground. I wish more people knew about this place because it’s absolutely beautiful and absolutely affordable! But there was no one there.

We ended up with the entire campground to ourselves except one other family behind us that we befriended. We’re thinking they were Mennonites and we loved getting to know them. We shared S’mores around a campfire and lots of chats. And the kids played with each other every day.
Each day we did a small little something with lots of rest and taking casual drives in between. One day we went into town and visited the fish hatchery. Sadly, it has diminished since we were last there several years ago, but it was still fun to buy feed for a quarter and watch them feed.
This is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen!
Funny enough, I have an image of him exactly like this from the same place, 5 years ago:
And one more for good effect

Anyhow…
Another day we went into town and played miniature golf and had ice cream:
Hubster and I tied for first place!
Our campground also offered a cute little miniature golf course that we tried too.
Another day we went into town to dinner and found a cute hiking path. They even had fresh spring water that we filled our water bottles with.
While on the trail, I made one fabulous #pinchbouquet
This was another diner nearby…so which is it?
And finally, on the last day, before we packed up to go, Kayne got to go on his very first horse ride. The campground offers guided rides for kids his age and he was so enthralled!
We brought some carrots for the horses

They also had free-range goats that were pretty friendly.

First signs of fall in August?

And just for fun, here’s a picture of an electric chair, I kid you not, they had on display in a thrift store in Wild Rose. Even though I knew it wasn’t even remotely in operation, I still sat at the very edge of the chair, not touching any part of it. It gave me the creeps.

Once we got home, we found this little hitchhiker on my Tone It Up Fit, Fierce Fab book.
This simple little trip was exactly what we needed as a family. Every night of the trip, we curled up and watched movies together. We took the days as casually as anyone ever could. We didn’t spend very much money either, so that didn’t weigh on anyone’s mind. It was just another perfect trip!

A Trip to the Trampoline Park

My little boy turned 7 at the end of July (what now?!?! Ha!). Instead of a party, we treated him to a special day at a new trampoline park with one of his good friends from school. I didn’t even realize we had one of these parks in the area, but I’m sure glad we found it! I’ve been seeing trampoline parks on Pinterest and Instagram and thought how we’d love to try one, but we’re always the last place to get these kinds of things.

The boys played for an hour while Hubster and I each enjoyed a half-hour while the other was taking care of Rayna. I’m so glad we did! We had tons of fun ourselves. And holy workout! I didn’t realize how sweaty I would get! We jumped, we raced, we played games and we all played like kids.

Not only did the park have tons of trampolines, they also had trampoline basketball, trampoline dodgeball, a slackline and foam pits. They had a huge pillow thing you could jump into off a diving board. And they had a climbing wall for only $1 extra.

When I asked if he had a good birthday, Kayne replied: “A good birthday? I had an awesome birthday!”

Before
 And After

After jumping, we treated the kiddos to pizza and treated Kayne to some of the best cupcakes in town. All in all, I’d say it was a successful celebration of our boys’ birth. Love that kid!
**If you have a trampoline park near you, do give it a try!!! It’s the most fun we’ve all had in awhile, and it’s a really great workout!

Washington Island Trip: Part Two

Yesterday, I shared a little bit about our introduction to Washington Island, WI. Today, I’ll share a little bit about what we explored while we were there. We did a little bit of sightseeing each day with a whole lot of lounging, dock-sitting, reading and napping in between. Just our style and just what we needed.

One of the first days we were there, we went hiking at Mountain Park. It is a huge climb with a staircase that has over 100 steps to get to the top. At the top, you have to climb a billion more steps to get to the top of the lookout tower. For the rest of the day, my poor not-up-to-pre-pregnancy-toughness legs were all wobbly. But the view was amazing! It gave us quite the bird’s eye view of the island layout. BTW, I love my Snugli baby carrier that I believe I found at a rummage sale. Rayna just loved being carried in that thing, on my back. We did a lot of non-stroller-friendly sightseeing and this was the only way to do it. Join the #babywearing movement, yo.

While we didn’t have any TV or Wifi access, we did want a little something to do at nights before the kids went to bed, so we went to the local library, opened up a card, and rented some movies. Hubster happened to bring his computer along, so we were able to do that. We’re still trying to introduce Kayne to all the original Disney characters that we met as kids, including Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Snow White. At Disney World, he had no idea who half the classic characters were!

Another day we dedicated to swimming. We visited Schoolhouse Beach, which is one of 5 beaches in the whole world with smooth stones like this. Although this beach is rocky, and I would suggest wearing water shoes, it was crystal clear and THE best place for swimming on the island in my opinion. Cold though. Very cold. Rayna took her very first swim in these waters. She lasted about two seconds. Haha.

Only picture of Rayna that doesn’t show her screaming
We also swam off the dock by our cabin, but
the bottom was pretty mucky.
We also went to a little ice cream social event that seemed to be one of the “big” events while we were there. We had hamburgers and ice cream, all-American style. There were activities for the kids too. One of them was a station to build things out of scraps of wood. Not sure why WI was in the scrap pile, but it was. Kayne wanted to build a birdhouse, so he tried his best. But Rayna started telling us she was sooo done, so I quickly swooped in and tried to “fix” the birdhouse, which made Kayne mad. I rectified the situation by getting him all excited about creating a fairy garden with it. We decked it out with a flower garden, swing, walk path and pool (Gatorade lid). I just LOVED doing this little imaginative project with him. We’re going to build one at home too.

Another day, we checked out a few museums including the Jacobsen Museum, which had a lot of native artifacts and a cabin that Jens Jacobsen built. We also visited a nature museum and a butterfly house which had a huge butterfly garden out back.

Then there was, you know, the local coffee shop, bookstore. And lots of outdoor play time.
Cute scene behind the coffee shop
We spent a lot of time on our picnic blanket
My infamous pinch bouquet. These dainty flowers were the cutest!
I don’t know what it was about Door County, but there were several of these buildings with grass growing on the roofs. Hubster pointed one out and wondered how they mow the grass up there. I turned around and looked back and saw there were goats on the roof! That’s how they mow the grass!
Washington Island bookstore with grass on the roof 
See the goats up there at the peak?

I love turning our trips into teachable moments, without forcing it. In fact, I even wrote a whole post about how we do it. We bought a Critters of WI book for Kayne and read up on a few of the animals we saw. We also bought him a net at one of the bookstores so he could explore the little fish, butterflies and bugs on the island. We stopped and explained a lot of the things in the nature museums that he was curious about.

It’s hard to see in this pic, but a momma deer
and her two fawns nonchalantly
crossed the road in front of us. Sooo cute!

You know, sometimes you just have to catch
those picture-worthy opportunities. Bahaha!
This was a trip we won’t soon forget. Kayne keeps talking about what we’ll do “when we go back.” Not sure if/when we’ll go back, but I’m sure glad he enjoyed it so much he wants to return!

Next up, we’re headed camping trip in August and we just can’t wait. We still haven’t perfected Rayna’s sleeping arrangements in the camper, but we’ve done it once before this spring with a folding bassinet, so maybe she’ll get used to it. Lots more sun and relaxation in our future.