On The Road Again. (Seriously?)

Whee!

So what does a pack of Schoenies do when they find themselves without a houseguest and/or crazy weekend plans? They get outta Dodge. For 24 hours. (Which, some folks might speculate would create a ton of work on the part of the two people packing/planning/toting the toddler...but any time I don't have to clean the kitchen after a meal is a good excuse for a trip. Unless you count the mad dash cleaning immediately prior and the post-return explosion of last night. Saving me...a lunch cleanup, I guess. Sigh.)

Best behaviors. 

Anyway, we jaunted up to Oconomowoc, WI (land of many summering Schoenies) and stayed at The Inn At Pine Terrace. Gorgeous. Also, they don't take children- ha ha. But somehow P.J. worked his P.J. Magic (not at all like P.J. Sparkles, mind you) and convinced them that our mannerly beastie would be a better guest than his cranky hippo of a wife.

Royalty.

Obviously, we stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle. (I cannot resist dill and garlic cheese curds. Nor their recently completed castle with actual turrets.) And sure, we may have stopped at an antique emporium. Which- if you've never attempted with a toddler in tow- I highly encourage!

Nora napped on the short drive up and thusly allowed us to skip the whole "waiting in the hotel room for your kid to awaken" part of the journey. Which was great because, as I said, we only had 24 hours. Like that show. Only there were definite bathroom breaks in our program.

Serious bear puzzle action.

We had lunch at The Depot, which had the perk of humongo train cars blazing by the windows every so often. P.J. and Nora thought that was great. Also, the chocolate chip cookies. But there was no time to dawdle, so we went to the public beach (and had more snacks.) Now, being from MA, I had always found the idea of lakes "charming," read: "where's the salt?" (Actually, that's pretty much how I view everything.) But since I married a Midwestern boy, I've truly come to appreciate a nice lake. Or a Great Lake. The small one we visited was super clean, warm as anything, and even came with a set of ridiculously strict lifeguards. Actual mega-phoned directives: "Please only front crawl to the floating pier," "No piggy back rides," "The ladder is only for climbing up," "Get the seaweed off of the pier," and "Beach balls are for beyond the rope only." Seriously. Now, the drunken teens smashing volleyballs into Nora's beach blanket...carry on. Because they were friends with the lifeguards. But whatever.

Ruffle bum.

And there was a playground mere feet from where we had been swimming. Which is always cool. Unless you have any desire to remain in the water with your toddler, in which case- sorry 'bout your luck. Because the chorus of "IclimbIclimbIclimbIclimbIclimb" will soon start up like you've got your very own Rain Main/acrobat/Rhesus monkey amalgamation in a ruffled swimmie.

Eventually we had to head back to the Inn to remove some of the sand from Nora's body (and it was mostly successful) so we could have a nice din at Spinnaker's in the center of town. And aside from the fact that Nora was completely exhausted and only ate half of one mozzarella stick alongside the tomatoes from my salad, we all had a fine meal. The server warned me, however, that the lid from Nora's milk might fall off so I'd want to "watch her" and that the mozz sticks were really hot so I'd want to cut them and wait a minute. Which was nice, considering I'd just met Nora. (But, as P.J. pointed out, it's better than having a server not give a damn.)

When we got back to the room, N.J. fell asleep [mostly] without incident, although she did question the Inn's playpen in the corner of our room as sleeping quarters. I told her it was just like a Pack n' Play but BIGGER! It also made me seriously miss the days of playpens. And once N was asleep, Peej and I were free to...play cards in the solarium. Have tea on wicker chairs. Name two constellations before agreeing that it would be rad to fall asleep. Which we did- happily- until Nora woke up freaked out about something or other and climbed into bed with us. And then she happily slept while her parents slept the sleep of having a shifting boulder between themselves.

Terabithia.

The next morning was a little rainy, so we drove over to the Honeybee Museum (obvie)- which...was closed until noon. Ha ha! But they had some sweet trails that we explored for a few as the sun began to come out. There was even a bridge, so Nora was ecstatic.

And yes, maybe we stopped at another antique store on the way out of town.

Lunch was a mandatory stop by The Kiltie, a carhop diner, where- if I hadn't been a newly diagnosed diabetic- I would have given myself sugar shock with their lime malt. After which I named my old, beloved, and stolen bike Limey. (That's right, I named my bike after a malt. Take a sec to let all of those facts sink in.)

Donesville.

And then Nora dozed on the drive back. It was a good time. A quick time. But sometimes you've really just got to spend an overnight in Wisconsin.

Sometimes, when I hear the things I say, I even shock myself.

Let's Leave The Stick Out Of It.

She IS part Celt.

Today we're gonna play the game called Highlights, Lowlights, and Jheri Curl. (Okay, there's no Jheri Curl. Except for Nora's. But she can't help it on account of the humidity.)

Highlight: My blood sugar and hemoglobin are both good for this week. Which is awesome, since I wasn't aware of anything remotely connected to my hemoglobin, and would have no idea what "bad" hemoglobin is.

Lowlight (Low point? Lowlight sounds fancier): The positively ancient and nearsighted endocrinologist was the one doing the four blood draws. At one point I was fairly certain he was sniffing the inside of my elbow- nope, just looking for a vein. Can we get an intern or some high school kid in here, please? He was also fond of announcing HERE COMES THE STICK before each blood draw. Which is...unnerving.

Jheri Curl (Maybe there is one): Since my blood is normal this week...I get to come back every two weeks as opposed to each Tuesday. Which is great. But still sorta lame. Hence the Jheri.

Highlight: Nora painted for the first time yesterday on an easel we'd been keeping in the garage. Just in case. After stripping her down to bloomies, I gave her some watercolors and let her have at it. She was elated and I felt like a creative, hands-on Mom.

Lowlight: She realized it was way more fun to paint her own belly and feet with the darkest shades available. Requiring a forty minute bath and much harder scrubbing than your typical toddler normally needs. (Which is, to be fair, still a lot o' scrubbing.) There were repeated entreaties of "All done, Mommy" and the piteous "Mommy, no."

Jheri Curl: My daughter's belly is still a faintly Smurfish blue.

Highlight: This is my first full week home with NJ, facilitating such things as frequent playlot trips, My Little Pony picnics, and Smurfing our bellies.

Lowlight: I have already done seven loads of laundry, and it is only Thursday morning.

Jheri Curl: The amount of cleaning and laundry has not changed, only the frequency in which it is being done. Which is a depressing yet productive thought.

Having nothing whatsoever to do with the Jheri Curl.

But the category for which shall remain until I tire of it/no longer find it funny.

Which could take a while.

Just A Little Girl In A Flower Suit...

...Hanging Out In A Backyard Cabinet. (No Big Deal.)

Baby Brunches And Potential Rodents

How is it Monday already?

Oh right, because the term formerly referred to as "weekend" has been replaced by "super-sonic crazyfest." Aka "summer."

Zumba behind us!

This past crazyfest was especially lovely, as my big sis Kate was in town to boss me around- er- make sure everything got done before The Monkey had his/her arrival. She even threw me (and The Monkey) a sweet brunch at Selmarie in Lincoln Square and hosted a few wonderful friends! Some highlights:

-My salmon scramble.
-The party favor coffee mugs- which I have yet to stop using for every single beverage.
-The enclosed biscottis...brand name THINaddictives. Wundy product. RIDICULOUSLY wundy name.
-Watching the blue-haired flash mob Zumba in the square. "Watching" it.
-Vintage shopping with Kate and convincing her of the necessity of items.

I NEED this.

She was also a massive help getting stuff sorted for the upcoming neighborhood yard sale- for which I have an embarrassing amount of stuff to contribute- and clearing out the rec room downstairs. Which has been a major wish list project for me. For I am a-nestin'. And by "rec room" I mean "musty old apartment second kitchen which has not been not been a functional KITCHEN for years but is in fact a fully operational storage unit." (For the kids playing along at home, do not attempt to turn a multi-unit into a single family home. It is NOT whimsical. It is not.)

Home sweet home.
Also, I am a boat.

She and Peej were a two-person demolition crew for the mammoth Formica island and skinny shelving unit...which- inexplicably- was cemented to the floor. That's right, someone had filled the base of the shelf with cement. And cemented it atop the ceramic tile. And for good measure, they drilled into the tile floor to hold it in place. The countertop, however, was just gently laying on top of the base. No screws, no glues, just hanging out. And when they ripped out the base and- miraculously- chipped away the cement without hurting the tile, what was left was...water damage from the recent monsoon. Underneath the window. Also, a large hole left by gaping baseboards/wavy drywall. (And we all know how I feel about rodent entry points. Psychotically against.) So, uh, the yard sale stuff is all sorted and most of the rec room is neatly organized.

And I'm waiting on a few calls from contractors. (And I'm taking referrals, Chicago peeps.)

But still, it was fabulous to have a sibling in town for the past 48 hours.

Even though I think my fam's gonna stop returning my calls soon.