Stephen, a lover of trains, was fascinated by this model at Fort
Donelson National Battlefield in Tennessee, our first major stop on our summer 2011 vacation to Wisconsin and Michigan. After stopping at this Civil War battle site, we then drove an area called "The Land Between The Lakes", which is a national recreation area between two large reservoirs on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Below, Hope poses in front of a large iron kiln built in the 1840s (or so):
This large structure was used only briefly before it closed, but has been beautifully preserved. After staying the night in a nearby Tennessee town, we drove the next day to the Madison, Wisconsin, area to have a visit with my sister Laurie and her husband Mark (thanks Van and Judy
Valasky for the use of your home that night!). The next day (Sunday) we traveled to the city of
Baraboo for some sight-seeing, including the near loss of daughter Beth to an angry hippo:
Obviously, this isn't real--it was a display at an interesting little zoological park run by the International Crane Foundation. Below, Lulu shows her classic "eyes wide shut" pose outside one of the crane pens:
The International Crane Foundation has examples of virtually all of the crane species from around the world here at this facility, including this example:
We also spend half the day at the Circus World Museum. Now, prior to starting this visit, Kenny apparently was not happy about going here, because he thought it was for little kids...
He quickly warmed to Circus World, especially after we watched a reenactment of an Old West show, put on by a number of local volunteers:
The entertainment at Circus World was really first rate. They have a small "big-top" where acts perform, including this young woman who had a number of skills, including spinning A LOT of hoops:
The young man in the background helped her with her act, and also happens to be her husband--and a very good acrobat/entertainer on his own. We watched quite a few acts, including magicians, a cute dog act, horses, elephants, acrobats, trapeze, etc. We hardly saw any of the other museum exhibits, and definitely plan a return trip! We headed for
Rhinelander that evening, then spent the rest of the week at mom and dad's house. During this time, we took the kids fishing (in a cold, driving rain, no less!):
Hey--they weren't complaining, because they were catching loads of
panfish! We also did some hiking, and spent a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Buck Lake beach with Uncles John (Jojo) and Bob:
That's my brother John with Stephen in the water. The big event this week was the Bayer Family reunion, organized by my cousins Mary and Mitch Bayer. Below, my Uncle David sits with his sister (and my mom) Rose and my dad Don:
Here, my aunt Mary Pat Bayer (Uncle David's wife) plays with her grandchildren Jude and Claire
Charbarneau:
Below, my uncles Donnie and David enjoy the evening:
We also had mom and dad pose with their six grandchildren:
The two girls on the far left are Emma (older) and Leila
Hurlburt, Kenny, Beth, and Stephen, and Michael
Hurlburt. Our kids had a blast, between playing volleyball with their older cousins to running around with their younger cousins. Kenny became fast friends with a cousin (Kyle
Stellingworth, son of my cousin Cristi (Bayer)
Stellingworth) close to his own age who shared his passion for Star Wars,
Legos, and Pokemon:
After a fun evening at the Bayer reunion, we returned to Mom and Dad's. The day before we left, we had an early birthday party for Stephen and his Uncle Bob (in the Brewers shirt), who were born on consecutive days in August:
We also hiked around the woods near Mom and Dads, looking at the damage from a storm that struck earlier in the day of the Bayer Family Reunion. Below, Stephen and Beth examine a large branch that broke off of one of the white pines near the house:
We left on Monday, August 1 for Rick and Ann
Pruden's home in lower Michigan. Another busy adventure, so I'll make a new blog posting for that part of the trip shortly...
Stephen, a lover of trains, was fascinated by this model at Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Tennessee, our first major stop on our summer 2011 vacation to Wisconsin and Michigan. After stopping at this Civil War battle site, we then drove an area called "The Land Between The Lakes", which is a national recreation area between two large reservoirs on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Below, Hope poses in front of a large iron kiln built in the 1840s (or so):
This large structure was used only briefly before it closed, but has been beautifully preserved. After staying the night in a nearby Tennessee town, we drove the next day to the Madison, Wisconsin, area to have a visit with my sister Laurie and her husband Mark (thanks Van and Judy Valasky for the use of your home that night!). The next day (Sunday) we traveled to the city of Baraboo for some sight-seeing, including the near loss of daughter Beth to an angry hippo:
Obviously, this isn't real--it was a display at an interesting little zoological park run by the International Crane Foundation. Below, Lulu shows her classic "eyes wide shut" pose outside one of the crane pens:
The International Crane Foundation has examples of virtually all of the crane species from around the world here at this facility, including this example:
We also spend half the day at the Circus World Museum. Now, prior to starting this visit, Kenny apparently was not happy about going here, because he thought it was for little kids...
He quickly warmed to Circus World, especially after we watched a reenactment of an Old West show, put on by a number of local volunteers:
The entertainment at Circus World was really first rate. They have a small "big-top" where acts perform, including this young woman who had a number of skills, including spinning A LOT of hoops:
The young man in the background helped her with her act, and also happens to be her husband--and a very good acrobat/entertainer on his own. We watched quite a few acts, including magicians, a cute dog act, horses, elephants, acrobats, trapeze, etc. We hardly saw any of the other museum exhibits, and definitely plan a return trip! We headed for Rhinelander that evening, then spent the rest of the week at mom and dad's house. During this time, we took the kids fishing (in a cold, driving rain, no less!):
Hey--they weren't complaining, because they were catching loads of panfish! We also did some hiking, and spent a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Buck Lake beach with Uncles John (Jojo) and Bob:
That's my brother John with Stephen in the water. The big event this week was the Bayer Family reunion, organized by my cousins Mary and Mitch Bayer. Below, my Uncle David sits with his sister (and my mom) Rose and my dad Don:
Here, my aunt Mary Pat Bayer (Uncle David's wife) plays with her grandchildren Jude and Claire Charbarneau:
Below, my uncles Donnie and David enjoy the evening:
We also had mom and dad pose with their six grandchildren:
The two girls on the far left are Emma (older) and Leila Hurlburt, Kenny, Beth, and Stephen, and Michael Hurlburt. Our kids had a blast, between playing volleyball with their older cousins to running around with their younger cousins. Kenny became fast friends with a cousin (Kyle Stellingworth, son of my cousin Cristi (Bayer) Stellingworth) close to his own age who shared his passion for Star Wars, Legos, and Pokemon:
After a fun evening at the Bayer reunion, we returned to Mom and Dad's. The day before we left, we had an early birthday party for Stephen and his Uncle Bob (in the Brewers shirt), who were born on consecutive days in August:
We also hiked around the woods near Mom and Dads, looking at the damage from a storm that struck earlier in the day of the Bayer Family Reunion. Below, Stephen and Beth examine a large branch that broke off of one of the white pines near the house:
We left on Monday, August 1 for Rick and Ann Pruden's home in lower Michigan. Another busy adventure, so I'll make a new blog posting for that part of the trip shortly...
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