I have been trying to get up to Wisconsin for most of the fall and with everything going on it didn't look like it was going to happen. Some things changed and at the last minute we decided to take a quick trip up to see my grandmother. So we left Tuesday morning for Milwaukee and my mom picked us up and we drove to Ripon, where my grandmother lives. We had such a good time and it was great to watch my grandmother play with the boys. She has a toy box full of toys from when my uncles were young, plus a few toys from when my cousins and I were young. Travis remembers some of those toys and the first thing he wanted to do was pull out the toy box and find some fun toys.
Travis got to hear his favorite story about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Marianne. He asked my mom to bring the book with her from her house and she forgot, so we had to go the library in Ripon, and fortunately they had it.
Justin loved dumping the beads out of the can. Again, and again, and again.
We got to wear our Packer gear!
Thia was another favorite toy. You put a ping pong ball inside and hit the bottom and the ping pong ball goes flying out. We didn't have great aim, but fortunately there wasn't much power behind it either. He did manage to hit the ceiling once. That was a surprise!
Justin got sick the first night we were there and he was up all night throwing up. It worked out well when it came to cookie tasting. Travis and I hit the Rippin' Good Cookie factory and Justin stayed home and took a nap. Then I didn't have to explain to Justin why he couldn't eat any of the cookies. I think Travis might have had Justin's share anyway. He got two of every kind, one for me and one for him. It was like a tasting contest: that one is too crunchy, that one is too chewy, that one is too chocolaty. Is that possible? We did come home with a few boxes of cookies that passed Travis' taste tests.
We went back to the library and Travis took some pictures while I looked up some phone numbers for my mom.
Some pictures were better than others.
And of course, the picture with the boys and my grandmother. This is why I make the trip to Wisconsin. When I was going through security in Houston, a man behind me said, "Now I understand why my daughter wants me to visit her. I didn't get it until I saw all the stuff you have with you." If I saved one woman from making an unnecessary plane trip with children, it will have been worth it! But I would do it again and again to see the joy in my grandmother's face when she holds her great-grandchildren. And I soak up all the wisdom I can when I am with her. She is amazing and I wish every time we leave that we lived closer to her. I am going to build my mansion in heaven right next to hers!
Justin stayed healthy enough to make the trip back to Houston and since then he has been sick once a day. He has kept it during the day since this weekend, which I really appreciate. We went to the doctor yesterday and got some medicine, so I think we are on the right track. I have heard bad things about this bug, and I will be happy to be rid of it!
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