Flying Sunday

On Sunday Zachary and I went flying with our friend Kate. It was a beautiful fall day and great conditions for flying. We met at Brennand Airport in Neenah.

The first destination of our flight was to Sheboygan, for brunch. There is a great restaurant at the airport, called Final Approach. As you dine, you can watch the comings and goings of aircraft out the windows overlooking the runway.



Quilted patchwork of farm fields.
After brunch and a fuel up, we decided to fly north along Lake Michigan to Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport in Door County for aerial sightseeing. Here is a shot of Whistling Straits golf course, home of the 2010 PGA Championship this year.

Lake Michigan shoreline. The dark spots in the water are cloud shadows.
City of Manitowoc.
S.S. Badger at dock in Manitowoc.
After arriving at the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport, we used the loaner bikes to ride to Fish Creek for ice cream at Not Licked Yet. The ducks offered us entertainment as we ate by the creek.
The bikes we rode were interesting, they were auto shifting pedal braking bikes. It was a little tricky to get used to and to remember to brake with your pedals instead at first, but a fun ride nonetheless.

Our trusty bird.
Zach and I.
One the way back to Neenah, we flew over Green Bay. That is Lambeau Field, home of the Packers.

Contact

Woo hoo! We got to pet one of the new cats last night, Tigger. Zachary won her over with ear scratches and she was very affectionate. She is still skittish and has a lot of adjusting to do yet, but we are thrilled she is starting to warm up to us.
This morning I continued interacting with Tigger. Tiger, the male, even let me get a few head scratches in. I got a hiss and a purr from him this morning, so that is an improvement from yesterday when it was all hisses. But I don't want to rush him, he is a bit intimidating. I like keeping my fingers intact. :-)

So far he has been spending most of his time laying in the open pet carrier. Tigger has a spot near a chair she likes to lay, but she is starting to wander the room more than he does.

Caturday

Everyday is Caturday at our house, but especially so yesterday. Zachary and I are taking in his sister's 2 cats. Turns out little Landon is sensitive to the cats and it is best if they found a new home for Tiger and Tigger.

Little Landon.

So that is where we come in. We met up last night to pick up the cats. We've talked about adding another pet to the household, but always worried about Queequeg's reaction. Pitiful as it sounds, our little world revolves around her. :-) We decided to give these 2 pretty cats a chance and see how they fit with us and Queequeg. We aren't worried about Maggie, she gets along with everyone. We aren't crazy about their names, so we are currently brainstorming for new ones.

This is Tigger, the girl kitty.
This is Tiger, the brother of Tigger. Both are very large compared to Quee and he is even bigger than Tigger.

We have them set up in their own private room for now, to get used to the smells and sounds of our house. I can tell they are stressed from the 4 hour move north and are a bit suspicious of us. We plan to be patient with them and hopefully in a few days they will start to warm up to us.

After we can establish friendly terms with them, then phase 2 will begin, the introduction of Quee. Currently she knows there is something interesting behind a closed door we frequent. She is currently behaving herself nicely and acting normal, but her real test isn't for a while.

Arrgh

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day, Mateys!

Trip to Minnesota

Zachary and I went on a road trip Friday and Saturday to Minnesota. Our main reason was to visit the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee. We are pretty good about not getting lost in our travels, but we got a bit sidetracked and ended up missing an off ramp and driving about an hour north before we realized it. Talking about Futurama at the critical highway change will do that to you. Zach said at one point to me, "Boy, this area sure looks like northern WI."
Due to our detour, we discovered a great state park on the border called Interstate State Park, in St. Croix Falls. Pretty place for a lackluster name. Zach and I went for a hike on the rocky steep trails.
The view up top, Minnesota is across the river.

Once across the border, we stumbled across Franconia Sculpture Park. It is a large green space for artists to live, create, and display their sculptures for the public to enjoy.
One of our favorite sculptures was call Evening. The outside was a large dark gray box with a door for the viewer to enter.
The inside had an opening on one end with slats to filter the light in, creating a perpetual evening shadows.
If we ever have kids, I hope they have something like this for a play set.
Saturday we made it to the fair. We were worried if it would be as good as Bristol, but our worries quickly dissolved.
Lots of buildings, entertainment everywhere. We were impressed.
Even a giant chess set to play.
The only Ren fair flare I had was my horns.
But I think I would like to get a dress like this for next year.
Gypsy Turtle.
Plenty of fairies.
Fiery entertainment.
A familiar face, Moonie. He is our favorite act to see at Bristol, and were surprised to see him here. Turns out it was his first and only weekend at the Minnesota fair and we happen to catch him. Zach narrowly missed being called up on stage to be Moonie's helper. The guy in the picture was sitting right next to Zach. Needless to say, Zach was relieved.

Eggplant

I picked our first eggplant yesterday. I tried growing one last year, but the plant never made it. Isn't the color delightful? This calls for some Eggplant Parmesan.