Wisconsin Visit: Racine

Summer is the time for our annual pilgrimage to Wisconsin. We love being home and seeing family and friends, and this year we were lucky enough to stay for over a week. We traveled throughout the Southeastern half of the state a lot - from Racine to Milwaukee to Waukesha to Madison and back. It was so good to see everyone again!

We spent some good time hanging out with Gramma Kay and Grampa Arnie - and Evan won't let anyone forget that Misty was there too. He now thinks almost any dog is Misty. We all went to the Racine zoo one morning. They have a new zebra that we wanted to visit, and Evan was really excited to see all the animals. It was super hot, so we tried to go early in the morning, but we were still roasting the whole time. It turned out the new zebra wasn't out to be seen, but there was a great giraffe couple that were active and fun to watch. Evan's favorite place however was definitely the Monkey House. The star monkeys, the orangutans, were being particularly active. Evan walked right up to the glass and peered in, and lo and behold, the female literally ran over to him on the glass. She put her hands up to match Evan's hands, and they stared each other right in the eye. It looked like they knew what each other was thinking. Evan gave her a big kiss, which she returned. I think he would have stayed there with her all day.

Evan had a blast playing with Racine Gramma and Grampa. He got to explore the tractor, and Grampa even let him take a pretend ride on the Harley. Soon enough he'll be able to take a real ride... Evan loved having a pond right down the street. He was super happy playing in the sand and discovering the ripples that are made when you throw a rock in water. Some neighbors were fishing at the pond, and they brought over a fish they caught so Evan could pet it. He wasn't shy and gave it a good pat. That's a very new texture for him, and he was curious. Gramma and Grampa were kind enough to baby sit one night while we went to a concert, and Evan spent lots of fun time in the yard playing baseball, blowing bubbles, and picking up sticks, as well as building block towers and playing in an indoor tent. He already can't wait to go back - thanks for a great time!