home in Wisconsin

I haven't posted in a while because we are visiting my parents in Wisconsin. They live an hour north of Green Bay.

Yesterday, we went to the neatest little amusement park ever. (Bay Beach) All the rides were so cheap and the lines not very long.

The rides were just the right size and speed for all three of our kids.

The ferris wheel WAS a little scary for me, however. (especially when it stopped at the tippy top to unload and load people at the bottom . . . yikes!)

We also went to a fantastic zoo in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

Wallace, MI is where my dad was born and raised. It is VERY small and in the middle of literally nowhere, I mean that.

BUT there is this amazing zoo!! It has more lions, tigers, and bears than our big Chicago zoos. I couldn't believe it. It has monkeys, white tigers, kangaroos, and much, much more! It is owned by a man and his girlfriend and they live at the zoo . . . you could say the zoo is in their backyard. They actually have a show on the National Geographic Wild channel. (I think it is called "My Life is a Zoo.")

(I will share photos of our experience there when I get home tomorrow . . .)

I had forgotten how beautiful it is where I grew up. John and I went for a run around the park in front of my parents' home this morning and it brought back many fond memories of living here when I was younger. There is this spot that I would always look for deer . . . right when I was telling John this, a doe and her two fawns walked right out in front of us . . . beautiful. Then we saw a wild turkey and some baby frogs (which John and I scooped up and brought back to the house for the kids). My runs in Chicagoland are just a wee bit different! :)

There's no place like home.