The farmer in the Dells

We're back from our 5 day vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. I had to do some googling since I drew a blank when Scott asked me why it was called Wisconsin Dells. I learned the definition of a "dell": a secluded hollow or small valley usually covered with trees or turf. Makes sense, considering the area, bisected by the Wisconsin River, contains many beautiful hollows filled with lush trees and plants. I have always thought the Dells is an interesting juxtaposition: gorgeous bluffs along the river, wooded forests, and lakes right next to some of the tackiest, cheesiest tourist attractions. An upside-down White House, anyone?

Our vacation didn't turn out exactly as we thought it would when we planned it earlier this year. This excerpt from the Cat In the Hat kept running through my head all week:

I know it is wet

And the sun is not sunny.

But we can have

Lots of good fun that is funny!

Ok, it didn't rain every day and the sun did occasionally shine. The oddly cold weather - a HIGH of 64 on Saturday - was not ideal for the "Waterpark Capital of the World," but we managed to learn from Dr. Seuss's wisdom make our own fun.

My parents joined us for the first couple days of our vacation, and Zach was practically delirious with delight to see them. Other than lots of playtime, we also took Zach and Scott on their first duck rides - the amphibious vehicles first used in World War II. The tours are a great way to see some of the scenery of the Dells, particularly the beautiful bluffs along the Wisconsin River. We also went on Lake Delton, which was filled again earlier this summer. It was eerie to see the area where the the dike gave way and the houses were washed into the river in 2008 (see the picture with the rocks; on the left you can see what the lakefront looked like before it washed away, and how it was rebuilt on the right). It was a fun tour; the driver has a lot of fun speeding down hills on these little gravel roads, and sending you crashing into the water with a huge splash.

The Roses came up for the second half of our trip. We spent lots of time in the indoor pool at our resort (the outdoor pool looked fantastic; oh well), with its slide in the kiddie pool and basketball hoop in the big pool. While the pictures may give you the impression that the guys had the most fun; trust me, the kids had a good time too! Scott and Matt shot a few rounds of golf; our house sat right on the 7th hole! We had one outing to a waterpark - an indoor one, of course. I didn't lug along my camera, and am glad I didn't, since I wasn't there long. While Zach loves a good pool, splashing and spraying water is not his idea of fun. And since there was water coming at us from most directions at the waterpark, Jenny, the kids, and I headed home early for lunch and naps. Yes, for everybody. The guys stayed and even braved the 70 degree weather to hit the outdoor slides.


On our foray into the downtown Dells for an afternoon at a playground and walk past all the tourist shops, we found a fantastic place for dinner. A man at the park had recommended it; besides being appreciative of the tip, I was shocked to discover people actually live in the Dells!

A trip to the Dells is usually all about being outside, and generally soaking wet. While the weather made our trip a little different, it was still fantastic to get away from it all, and to spend time with our family and friends. We also enjoyed watching Zach and Kasey adjust to each other over the course of three days. After some pushing, hitting, and screaming over taken toys, they eventually started to actually have some fun together, chasing each other around, and playing hide and seek. Too cute.

I'm learning

We planted a garden this summer. In the past, we've had a few tomato and pepper plants, but never a true garden, since we had little to no sun in our yard at our old house. Since we have the opposite situation here, we thought the conditions were ideal to give our first garden a try. You may remember my parents hauled their rototiller up this spring to help us get started. Scott built a rabbit-proof fence, and I planted some seeds and a few plants. Then we learned a few things:

1. You don't need to water a new garden every other day. Only the lettuce came up from seed; I think we drowned everything else. We learned, and planted another round of seeds. Less water this time.

2. We didn't need two and a half rows of lettuce. In my defense, I had no idea how much lettuce would sprout from those seeds. But we now have enough lettuce to eat a salad every day, and then some.

3. We don't love the lettuce variety I planted - Simpson Elite. It's a little bitter. We'll try something else next year.

4. Cucumbers and squash take over the world. I wasn't really sure how big of a garden I needed, and it turns out it should have been quite a bit bigger, particularly with a big 'ol area for the cucumbers and squash. Similarly, when I saw how well the cucumbers were coming up, I should have thinned them out a bit. As a result of these two missteps, we now have vines wrapping around everything possible - the tomato plants, the pepper plants, even the green beans themselves (see photo). We have one squash growing at the very top of the fence, where it wound in and out of the chicken wire. I can't imagine it's going to make it as it gets heavier, but we'll see!

Despite, or perhaps because of all of these lessons, it's been fun to literally watch the garden grow. And we're enjoying the bounty - particularly the yummy cherry tomatoes from the plant Jamie gave us. Oh, and if anyone needs cucumbers, let us know - we're about to have them coming out of our ears.

The other lesson one would think I would have learned by now is about toys. Perhaps you can relate - I sometimes find myself on the never-ending quest to find the perfect toy that Zach will absolutely love and play with forever (independently, of course). But, as all you parents know, kids don't really even need toys. I remember when Zach was (and still often is) more interested in the packages than the gifts inside. I have seen him entertain himself with my tupperware and pots and pans. And a flashlight? Heaven.

But apparently I need regular reminders of this fact of life, and I got yet another one the other day. We went to the 3M family picnic - a lovely barbecue held at a pavilion at 3M's Tartan Park, complete with a (very old) playground, bouncy castles, a big inflated slide, a climbing wall, etc. Little of which Zach would go in or on - although he did get about 90 seconds alone in the bouncy castle before more kids climbed in.

Anyway, as part of the festivities, the kids received "prizes" - basically every kid's name is entered into an age-appropriate raffle, and they call the kids' names one by one so they can come up and claim a prize. When I looked over the 0-3 bounty, I thought - uh-oh, Zach is going to want to choose from the 4-6 group. The prizes for the younger kids were primarily baby toys, more appropriate for one year olds. The 4-6 year olds got to choose from wiffle ball bats, basketball hoops, etc. Well, when Zach's name got called about halfway through his age group, he had no problems charging up there and picking a prize.

What he chose: a round plastic tub containing bath toys. Age listed on this package: 6 months. Interesting choice buddy. I'm sure you can see where this is going: in the last week Zach has had an absolute blast playing with the fish, boats, nail brush, comb, and rolled-up washcloths that came in this bath set. Particularly the washcloths. He also, of course, has been using the container as a drum - I did see that coming. What I didn't imagine was the games he'd create with the rest, including the ribbon that came as part of the packaging... endless fun and games.

This particular game involved lining everything up and then putting the ribbon over it all, and then pulling it off. Whooeee!

Rain rain go away

Saturday we headed west to the Brodd Family Compound in Cokato, for what was planned as a day of fun in the sun. Instead, we had a day of fun under overcast skies and in the rain!

The rain held off long enough for us to get some time in the lake. Scott took a try at tubing behind the jetski, and is probably still feeling the results today. Sidney opted for a more manual method of tubing, but as you can see from the look on his face, that was just as fun. The Brodd's latest toy, a sailboat, was also taken for a voyage, although the wind was not exactly cooperative at that point.


When the rain started, we huddled in the "bunkhouse," and basically started polishing away the amazing spread of food. Hula hoops and trains kept the kids occupied for a while; for additional entertainment Aaron was educating the little ones on the finer points of a gin and tonic. But it didn't take long before the kids were getting a little stir crazy cooped up indoors; the rain would let up occasionally and they'd dash outside to jump in the puddles while they could.

When the rain finally stopped for good, the kids literally exploded outside. With all that excess energy to burn, Scott channeled his inner kid whisperer and organized some foot races. It was hilarious how fun the kids thought this was... such a simple concept. Over and over again. Eventually the fun part became who got to say "ready set go" - usually with the one saying "go" getting quite the headstart!

And later, Scott found a teensy little frog to fascinate the kids with; some were even brave enough to hold it.

Thanks again Brodds for a fun day!

First love

Time for some more random things about Zach:

1. Zach has declared his love for someone other than Scott or me. Tonight, as he was heading home after bouncing on our neighbor's trampoline, he said "You know what Laura? I love you." Apparently he didn't even turn around, just kept walking. Now Laura, being a bit more wise at the age of eleven, simply said "thanks Zach." Fortunately Zach is too little to know that's generally not the ideal response to a declaration of love, so his heart has been spared for a few more years.

2. A long time ago I read somewhere that some wily horses inhale deeply to expand their stomaches when they are being saddled, so that they don't get cinched tightly and could even let the saddle slide right down their sides. I'm reminded of this often when I'm putting Zach in his carseat, when he takes a deep breath to blow his chest out as I'm tightening the straps.

3. Zach loves to give driving instructions. It's rather unsettling to have someone yell "STOP" for no apparent reason when you're obliviously cruising along. He also loves to tell me to go when the light is still red, even though he knows perfectly well I need a green light. But I think my favorite is when he tells me to go faster... I think he gets that from me. Similarly, he now thinks that if someone is driving along next to me, we must be racing. So he asks me if I'm going to win, and I love a challenge.

4. Whenever we drive past the Metrodome, we point it out to Zach, and tell him that's where the Twins play. One of the last times we drove by, he pointed it out before I could mention it. And then he proceeded to tell me that maybe he could play there someday when he was big (which is his new thing - he talks a lot about what he'll do when he's big). I asked what he'd play, or something like that, and he said: "Yes, but first I'll say Mama, I need your hand to cross the street. And mama will say - just a minute Zach, I'm working on something. And I'll say MAMA!! I need your hand to cross the street!"

5. Zach is learning funny "hip" (and yes, I use the term loosely) phrases, and often using them correctly. He has told us certain things are "sweet", and he just asked Scott "how cool is that Daddy?"

Wisconsin wonderland

Simple fact: I get behind on my posts because I take too many pictures. But when you visit a place as fantastic as the Dvorak Elk Ranch in eastern Wisconsin, it's very difficult not to keep the shutter snapping. So I'll do my best not to put too many pictures on this post, but I can't make any promises.

We spent last weekend with our friends Melissa and Doug (Melissa is a good friend from college and beyond). We drove to their house Friday and Saturday headed to her parents' "cottage" (they use the term extremely loosely). As you will see, it's an amazing place for all sorts of adventures, many of which are not something you get to do every day!

Zach got to go on all sorts of rides...

on a tractor

a "mule",

and a 1946 army jeep!

He also got to feed the rainbow trout some trout chow...

and an apple to a brave elk!

Generally the elk are quite skittish around people, but this particular big guy thought it felt pretty good to have his chin scratched...

We also paid a visit to a local farm so Zach could check out the cows. The cows were not so taken with Zach; they scattered as soon as he started talking...

Keep in mind that Zach is two and a half. That means he has no idea how cool it is to be that close to elk, how fun it is to zoom around on a mule, or ride in a 63 year-old jeep. So if you asked him what his favorite part of the weekend was, I think he'd say... the pond.

Even with all those adventures, we found time to relax and catch up with our friends. The weekend could not have been better.

And a special thanks to the Harris family, for watching Koskie for the weekend!!

How to spend a summer day

How to spend a perfect summer day:

Morning: the pool with a good buddy or two

Afternoon: worn out from the pool, a long afternoon nap (for Zach, anyway)

Evening: a barbecue with friends, with a special bonus - the bouncy castle!

^ The kids table (do you think Stuart has a little crush on Evangeline??); Evangeline sharing her bounty with Zach

^ Enjoying the bouncy castle; the Sylvia attack

^ Scott the kid whisperer; Sylvia's big grin

^ Scott ignoring the univeral gesture of surrender