Family Fun
When you think Wisconsin tell me, what are the first few things that come to mind? Yes all of our Aussie friends and family, “long bloody way away” is an OK answer. For everybody else though, Beer, Brats, Snow, Packers and Cheese are also acceptable answers. Sure there are a ton of other things that come to mind but for today at least let’s focus on cheese.
Our friend Amy introduced us to “Simon’s Speciality Cheese Store” this morning. This is our first real Wisconsin Cheese buying experience. We’ve got a great cheese making experience coming up next week but we’ll get to that then. Today it was just great perusing the cheese, trying it all and watching the boys react as we gave them some aswell.
I was really excited about this store today. The enamel cows, miniature barn and old milk wagon make you feel like you are a million miles from nowhere. Then we got inside and it was like a little Wisconsin heaven. Cheese, cheese fudge, beer, brats, sausages, Packer and Badger paraphernalia and that was just the first few minutes. It had everything you’d expect from a speciality store and more. I really did feel like I had arrived in Wisconsin finally.
Following our trip to the cheese store we went down to the Appleton Kids Museum. Kelly had been there once before for a boo bash before Halloween but this was my first time. This place was fantastic. If I were a kid and I could choose to go anywhere I liked on a cold, wet, Wisconsin day, it would be here.
There are a million things to do – climb the tree house, fly a real life plane or ride the plasma bikes around a miniature town of gas station, bakery and a doctor’s surgery for dolls.
Upstairs there’s a water room, a ball and vacuum room, a miniature fire truck, real-life crane with magnets to pick up and a whole lot more. One of our favourite rooms was the Lego exhibition. It’s amazing what some people can do with 1,000 little blocks.
It’s also amazing that they had a pair of Shaquille O’Neal’s old shoes for people to try on, modeled beautifully here by Kelly who couldn't believe they were actually the real thing.
We had a really nice family day today. Spending so much time with Kelly and the boys, playing like a big one myself and watching them interact they way they were was great fun. We had some dinner with Jamie and Amy and were off home late enough for the boys to fall asleep in the car, which, as all parents of young children know, is exactly what Kelly and I were hoping for.
