September - Cheese Factory, Grotto Gardens and Being Kids Again!

One day in early September, while Gwynne and Steve were here, we drove to Rudolph and visited the cheese factory and the nearby Grotto. At the factory we bought some local cheeses and watched them making cheese in huge vats. We also had a decadent treat of homemade ice-cream! Yummy!!

The Rudolph Grotto Gardens is set in a beautiful area of trees and flowers with manmade rock surroundings. Paths meander over five acres of gardens that are bright with flowers, plants and trees. The gardens and shrines provide a spiritual setting where you can walk around and contemplate the wonders of creation. The wonder cave is a one fifth mile passageway featuring 26 shrines and based on the catacombs in Rome. You can also enjoy a picnic lunch on the grounds.

On the way, we found a very inviting playground, where we swung on the swing set, climbed on monkey bars and went down the slide! 

Whee!!!!!

September - Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum

September 10-15

We visited this museum in Wausau when our friends Steve and Gwynne came from Arizona.

We highly recommend it and we look forward to future visits.

On September 12th, we went with our friends, Gwynne and Steve to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson, Wisconsin.  So much to see and do!! People spinning yarn, weaving and felting and every color and type of yarn you can imagine all in 2 huge barns.  Vendors and demonstrations, classes and beautiful finished items, too. Jonathon bought a gorgeous alpaca jacket and gloves.

September 19th - Art in the Park - A perfect day to walk around the park and look at pottery, baskets, quilts, jewelry, bird feeders and every kind of art and craft imaginable. I met the woman who owns the Old Victorian Farmhouse and had the opportunity to see her handmade quilts. She gave me an invitation to their Open House in October!! We bought a bird feeder and some pottery.

September 20th - Woodcarving Show! This was inspiring!!! Talked to a lot of the carvers and we bought a few small items. We were all impressed with the fine details of their work and all the different styles of carving wood.  Mom bought a feather pin for Jo; hand carved and painted to look exactly like a feather. It made me want to learn to carve.

We met the Critter Gitter this month!! LOL.  We hired him to get rid of the mice we'd been hearing in the walls and between the floors. Turned out to be a month long project, but extremely thorough. He does an inspection and locates all the openings in your house where critters can get in and then seals everything tight; whether its carpentry, replacing a vent or garage door seal...he repairs or replaces it. Sets traps and when there is no more activity his job is done! We are impressed so far!

August - Birthdays & Paddle Quest

August 2015

My birthday was celebrated at PJ's restaurant. We had a table out on the patio with a view of the gorgeous grounds. The weather was heavenly. The entire family was there. Jonathon joined us after work and walked in with this beautiful bouquet for me and Joyce made my favorite carrot cake.

PADDLE QUEST always coincides with my birthday weekend.  For those of you who don't know;
it's a fantasy, scavenger hunt, adventure on the backwaters in canoes. Jonathon's brother Matt started this event many years ago with just a handful of teams. This year there were a record breaking 72 teams from all over competing for the coveted trophy. Matt now has sponsors that include Lakeside Bar and Grill, where the questers can camp. This year Matt's sister, Lorelei and her husband Harlow and friend Shannon were the overall winners and came in first place, winning the trophy and the admiration of all the questers. His younger brother, Michael and friend Kenny placed second in their category. We were there cheering them on at the finish!!!

Big smiles from Harlow right after the win!

July - Goin' to the County Fair

Amherst County Fair 

July 19, 2015

First Annual animal costume competition.
Here is a girl with her cow dressed up like Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion.
It was my favorite of course.  :)

June, July, August - Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Walk Wisconsin 

On June 6th, along with over a thousand others, we participated in Walk
Wisconsin. (Don't you love our shirts?)

Walking along with us were mother-in-law Joyce and our
brother-in-law Mike.

We chose to do the quarter marathon or 6.5 miles.
It couldn't have been a more perfect day for a long walk.
Parts of the walk were on the Green Circle Trail and along
the river.

There were volunteers with water and snacks set up along the route as well as port-a-potties. Very well organized. Looking forward to doing it again!

The Annual Garden Parade on July 11th was beautiful and inspiring. We visited three of the gardens out of the dozen on the tour. I can't wait to learn all about the local plants and how to grow them. 

          Downtown "Crazy Days"                                               

Wilson and Zia

good to the last drop!

Joy, Clara and Mike

Rootbeer Floats!

It was so much fun taking the kids to this annual event in downtown Stevens Point on July 17th.

At noon, from the top of Bill's Pizza, ping pong balls start dropping to the street below.

All the kids scramble for them to win the prize written on the balls. The local merchants

all participate and it brings us into the stores for small treasures. There are sidewalk sales and kids wearing newspaper hats, eating ice-cream cones and popcorn. 

Waiting for the ping pong ball drop!

June - Strawberry Fields Forever

In June we went to a strawberry farm about 30 minutes up the highway to pick our very own fresh berries. The fields really do go on and on forever. A tractor with a flat bed trailer took us far out into the fields and dropped us off with our berry baskets and fellow pickers.

We each had our own row of berries to work. On our hands and knees we began picking, choosing the ripe ones and leaving the rest behind. The rows were very clean and the farmer had even put straw down so we weren't kneeling in the mud. No mosquitoes and no humidity; a perfect day for picking strawberries.

You quickly realize that this is hard work!!!!
Each basket holds about ten pounds of berries.

One of the rewards is that you can eat while you work!
We picked for about two hours. Whew!

30 pounds of strawberries!

Some of the berries were made into brunch!

So cute! Makes me want a tractor :)

The cleaning and prepping

Most of the berries were prepped and then frozen, some were made into pies!

Catching Up

spring in our front yard

Last time I wrote was in the early spring when I bid farewell to winter, but GUESS WHAT?? In late May we had a snow encore! One final blast of winter before spring started showing up. Ever since then we have been busy exploring our new surroundings and entertaining visitors from Arizona! Once it warmed up I found it difficult to stay inside and write, consequently I've neglected my blog,  but today the wind has blown in the cool air and it's started to rain. I'm finally back at my computer and  I'll try to fill you in on what we've been up to the last several months.

The Kirsch men;
Michael, Matthew, Jonathon and Maceo

Susan, Maceo, Zia

April visit to Arizona

Sharon and Mary

Jo E and Jo V

Sharon, Susan and Jo V

 Susan, Jo E, Jo V, Sharon and Mary
Girl's Night Out

There is nothing in the world like being with your 
sister girlfriends

 

Looking out on eight acres of woods. Our personal rain forest.
Adding the screened room onto the deck gave us a room we lived in all spring and summer.

Bene enjoying the screened deck

Our view 

     

Pontoon cruise on Lake Minoqua

Susan and Corinna
WAOPS Spring Meeting in
Minoqua

Visiting Kirsch Camp with Bene and Luce