Saturday, July 27, 2013

Wisconsin . . . beautiful :O)

Nothing but a good time in Wisconsin . .  One of the days spent there was visiting the "House On The Rock" and Culvers for "butter burgers" and "custard ice-cream".  We ate so much through this entire trip.  But it was so much fun . . . just a good time.

The House On The Rock was built in 1945, by a man named Alex Jordan with a crazy goal to build a retreat from a rock.  There is so much to see and the tour ends with this amazing collection of stuff, everything you can think of including a full carousel.  I absolutely fell in love with the circus collection from the 1940's  and the detail of it was just crazy to see.  The circus collection filled a whole room alone.  In addition to this collection was a huge doll house collection filled with detail and furniture.  Lots of walking and the A/C was not cool enough, I'm glad I wore shorts and flip flops that day.



In this pic above I'm standing in front of a colored glass collection which is displayed in the women's bathroom wall.  Below are the pics from the circus collection, look at that detail.






Our last full day in Wisconsin was spent at EPIC where my son works.  This is a very unique company specializing in healthcare software.  This company is definitely geared towards the new business generation today.  I felt like I was at a farm with a playground.  EPIC grows there own vegetables and has there own dairy.  Check out these pics below.






We ending our evening with a nice dinner at a restaurant called, "The Old-Fashion" outside of the Capital building in Madison.  We tried out the cheese curds there.  The cheese back in California tastes bitter next to the cheese in Wisconsin, oh my gosh, the cheese curds were delicious.



As I end my postings from my vacation this year, I feel so blessed to have the most wonderful children (grown adults) they are so good to me and so compassionate, always making sure that I'm ok and having a good time.  It was never what they wanted to do, it was always what I wanted to do.  My oldest son, Davey had to work and missed out on this wonderful trip, we were really hoping he could have gotten the time off from work to join us but for sure next time he will.  As a Mom of these kids I really feel so blessed  . . . Thank you God :O)



Monday, July 22, 2013

When our we going again . . . real soon I hope :O)

I hate it when a vacation ends  . . especially this one, got to travel with two of my kids, Brian and Cassandra.  My daughter and I went to visit my son Brian in Madison, Wisconsin.  When we first arrived in Wisconsin, it was so humid, my hair just blew up, forget the hot iron, that didn't do anything.  After flying all day, it felt so good to get to the hotel.  Cassandra and I stayed at the Marriott in Middleton and while visiting Brian, we decided to rent a car and all drive down to Chicago, Illinois.  We had so much fun there, we made some good memories for sure.


 I have a ton of pics to post from this trip.  We ate so much and enjoyed every bit of it and then some. If I was a young woman in business again, I would just love to live in Chicago.  I absolutely fell in love with this "power horse" of a city.  Chicago is an exciting city with great food.  We had some "real" Chicago style, deep dished pizza, I will so missed that.  Went to pick up a piece with my hand, like we eat it here in California and my son Brian mentioned, they don't eat pizza that way here, use your fork and knife.  It was like eating a piece of pie.  Tasted so good :O). This is one busy city for sure, lots of traffic and people.









While we were there we visit The Art Institute of Chicago Museum.  The entry to the museum was so pretty, the pic below does not show the beauty of those fresh flowers in lobby, they were absolutely gorgeous.






 The timing couldn't have been more perfect, an exhibit called "Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity" was showing, "19th Century Paris has come to Chicago".   Oh my gosh, I fell in love instantly.  Amazing major figure paintings from Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and Caillebotte.  To actually see them was out of this world, felt like Heaven.  I wish I could have taken some pics, but no one was allowed to photograph any of these paintings at this exhibit.

 There was so much to see and look at.  I did take some pics below, American Gothic by Grant Wood, some Greek gold armbands in the form of snakes from the 2nd century B.C., a glass blow Roman Unguent Bottle from the 1st century A.D.





I thought this was a cute little guy when I seen him, he looks like he's smiling  . . doesn't he?  Actually he is a tomb figure called "Entertainer" from China - Northern dynasties from the 6th century.  These figures were buried in tombs to provide the deceased with companionship and protection, interesting.




I wish this pic below would have turned out clearer and not blurry, my kids gave me hard time for doing this, but its always fun to be a little ornery :O)


While in Wisconsin, we visited a fun and unusual place, called "The House On The Rock" in the city of Spring Green.  This place was huge and required a lot of walking.  We were there an easy four hours.  There is three tours and you definitely have to do all of them to really enjoy the experience.  In my next posting I'll tell you all about it, along with our visit to EPIC where my son works at.  That was something to see.  This company is the GOOGLE of the mid-west, very unique I would say.  After this post, I think I might go lay down for a bit and rest.  All this fun has made me tired for sure :O) 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

It's exciting to know . . . isn't it?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               


God always wants to surprise us  . . I love that :O)

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day




Wouldn't this be Heaven? Happy Fourth of July!  Blessings, :O)