Fudge Judge

     I was going to write this post, asking you not to judge me because I have eaten fudge for breakfast the last two day.  One was chocolate fudge, and one was cherry fudge.  Tomorrow will be peanut butter fudge.  Yep, there will be a third day of fudge consumption for breakfast.  I mean, going to Door County to fudge shop is a relatively rare experience, so I don't feel all that guilty about my choices.  I have also woken up for work before my kids, so they don't see me either.  That's a positive. 

     And then I realized that fudge and judge rhyme...  

     The post title became Fudge Judge, even though that doesn't even make much sense.   It's ok if you judge me for that.  :)

Door County

We went to Door County to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary this weekend.  

We:

...watched cars at the Hinsdale Oasis while eating pancakes from McDonalds

...played with giraffes and seals at the Milwaukee Zoo

...pretended to be Packers Fan (for a few minutes) in Green Bay

...ate pizza in Sister Bay at 10pm with 3 kids (bad moms)

...had cherry stuffed french toast at The White Gull Inn

...bought fudge and souvenirs in Fish Creek

...celebrated 50 years with the extended family

...rushed to see a sunset in Ellison Bay and caught a sliver of it

...had dinner (again too late) by the fire at our hotel

...had yet another breakfast, this time scoring some cherry jam

...threw rocks into the lake at Ellison Bay Beach after sliding on some slides

...went cherry picking with no actual intention to bake (but froze them anyway)

...bought a necklace in honor of our own 15th anniversary at O'Meara's

...stopped at Fun Park and go-karted around a bit

...made a stop at the Mars Cheese Castle for some world famous cheese curds

...took 94 into the city to see Chicago at night on our way home

...fell asleep

It's pretty awesome that 50 years ago, my aunt and uncle got married, and that resulted in the memories my family had this weekend.  

Love is amazing.

Be Present

     I was at the eye doctor with my son, and I found myself looking at this sign on the wall.  I have to admit, I stared at it longer than I would have thought I would have to to read it.  About midway through the stare, I almost convinced myself that I need glasses myself.  But then, I was able to decipher the message.  

Y

OU

CAN

RARE

LYSEE

WHATIS

RIGHTINF

RONTOFYOU

(I promise, it's a lot harder to read when the letters get smaller and they are weathered on wood. 

Or my 40 year old eyes might actually need glasses now, too.)

     My #oneword for last year was Present, so this sign struck a chord with me.  It's so true.  It's amazing the things that we miss that are right in front of us.  Our life gets busy, our stress tells us to focus on other things, our eyes don't focus on the things that our right in front of our face.  It's up to us to refocus on what matters.

    Thank you, eye doctor, for the reminder.

S'Mores

     Two weeks ago, we were in Legoland, making s'mores by the pool.  Yesterday, I was in the Dunkin Donuts line getting my 99 cent iced coffee.  The promo for the new s'mores donut brought me right back to the deck of that pool.  My daughter was toasting a marshmallow for me, as I readied the graham crackers and chocolate.  I was there again, chocolate fingers and all.  

      I added a donut to my order, even though it was late in the afternoon and I knew it wouldn't be oven fresh.  I just had to.

     Guess what?  This donut was terrible.  My vacation, on the other hand, was not terrible.  :)  

     Oh well.

The Beach

   

The beach at noon.

 

Her treasure.

The beach at 8:15.

His treasure.

Thanks, Florida.

Fiscal Responsibility

       With all the talks of the Illinois budget on the news, and just returning from a fun filled yet magically expensive trip to visit Mickey Mouse, I decided to be more fiscally responsible moving forward.  The day I came home from the trip I headed to the Super Target to get groceries, and that's what I bought.  Groceries.  And one top.  But that's it.  Unless you count those cheap sandals as a non-grocery item.  But I digress...

     Now that vacation is over, I don't need to buy items for the trip.  I can stick to groceries and only the necessities.  I have a plan.  (This was Monday.)

     Today was Thursday.

  

     Do you think Mo Willems plushies count as a necessity of life?  I may need a new plan.  I don't need any more plushies, though, because Pigeon, Piggie, Gerald, Duckling and Knuffle Bunny joined the family today.  :)

This post is part of Big Time Blogging Challenge with Big Time Literacy. #BTBC17

Fear, and Legos

    We used to be members at the Legoland Discovery Center in Chicago for about 3 years.  It was an hour drive to get there, but the kids LOVED it, and everything is at least an hours drive in the suburbs anyway.  We let our membership lapse a few years ago when we went to Legoland California for the first time.  We used the money to buy admission tickets there instead.  

     Two years later, we were headed back to Legoland, but this time in Florida.  They have The Dragon coaster that is displayed on the wall of the Discovery Center in Chicago.  They had talked about going on that ride for years.  The time had finally come.

     And then is almost didn't happen.

     My son loves to watch roller coasters, but isn't a huge fan of riding them.  He often lets his fear of the unknown stop him from trying many things, like rides, and foods, and even movies.  I suppose he takes after me.   My daughter, on the other had, jumps right in, and then admits later that something scared her a little.  She is much more like her father.  I told my son that we weren't going to let fear stop him from something that he had hoped for for years.

     Our first ride at Legoland was indeed The Dragon, and we all survived.  We did it!  We even have the DigiPass photo to prove it.  We put our fears aside and experienced it together.  The second time around, a few of us decided to skip it, and that's ok.  There are some things you just need to do once.  :)  

This post is part of Big Time Blogging Challenge with Big Time Literacy. #BTBC17

Sunset

     We just got back from Florida, and this was the sunset that we were able to see on the Gulf of Mexico.

     We had arrived in Naples, and it was raining for most of the afternoon.  We had hoped it would clear up in time to catch the sunset, but it just kept raining.  I kept checking AccuWeather, and the rain kept showing up in MinuteCast.  I was starting to become doubtful that a sunset was in our future.  Around 8pm, there was a break in the rain, but the sky was still cloudy.  Was it worth taking a drive to the beach to catch the sunset, even it the clouds might block it all?

    We took the risk.

     My family and I had the beach all to ourselves, as the sun set over the gulf.   And it was beautiful.
Sometimes, taking a chance is exactly what you need to do.

This post is part of Big Time Blogging Challenge with Big Time Literacy. #BTBC17