The visit
Posted by Carrie on 13 Jul 2009 | Tagged as: Familial things, Pictures and movies
Mom and Dad are now off enjoying Minnesota (where they had originally intended to vacation last summer before I managed to wreck that with my Magical Mystery Disappearing Air Trick), so I can sit down and recap, at least in part, what was a fabulous and relaxed visit. 
They got here on Wednesday evening, and we didn’t do much of anything; I had the lentil chili going in the crockpot, so we just hung out around the house and enjoyed each others’ company. Thursday, Eric went to work, and the parents and I took the kids down to Kenosha for a picnic lunch. We visited the public museum for a bit, then ate our lunches at a nearby playground; after that, we had ice cream from a nearby stand, and the boys splashed in a fountain for a while before we took a trolley ride back to the car and headed home. (Sounds idyllic, and it was!) Eric got home, and we drove down into Illinois to show my parents the culinary explosion that is a churrascaria. We all enjoyed ourselves – especially Sam, who has officially decided that it is his absolute favorite way to eat. Even Gabe was relatively cooperative; he doesn’t care much for the meats, but he’ll eat some of the things from the cold bar, and since he’s still able to eat free there, I don’t see the point in forcing the issue. We made sure he was tanked up on snacks before getting there, and he played happily with the Wikki Stix that the restaurant provides in lieu of crayons and paper.
Friday, Eric had off from work! We made a quick trip to our regular Friday farmers’ market (kohlrabi, raspberries, potatoes, and some applesauce cake), then drove to Milwaukee to partake in some of the more low-key Bastille Days festivities. We explored some of the booths, let the kids play on a playground in the middle of the square, and ate lunches from the vendors (I had a great mixed green and goat cheese salad with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts!); we shared a strawberry crepe between us, too. After that, we walked a bit around the area, exploring Old World Third Street and the RiverWalk. Came home, and Eric made us some delicious ravioli while the kids played outside.
On Saturday, we again packed up a picnic lunch, and we went downtown to see the Dragonboat Festival. We didn’t actually get to see any of the races, though. 
The boys were a bit irritated with that idea, and we wound up just eating our lunch there, letting them paint some fans and jump in a bounce house, and then heading down the street a ways to get to a playground and the beach. It was very go-with-the-flow, and it made for an easy day. The sun was lovely, and everybody had a good time before we headed back home so we could have homemade pizza for dinner.
And then, yesterday, the parents left. And in case my day wasn’t going to be enough of a bummer due to that, I managed to lose a crown off one of my molars. I guess I decided to cut my losses, subconsciously, because I got really sleepy after that, and I took a long nap while Eric and the boys went back to the beach. When I woke, I took a walk, and then the family caught up to me and we did dinner and bedtime; I fell asleep early and deeply.
Hopefully I can get my tooth fixed today. In the meantime, I’m consoling a couple of very grumpy little boys. 
2 Comments »
on 13 Jul 2009 at 10:13 pm
Kay said …
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I’ve always wondered if Texas de Brazil is very expensive. We’ve been tempted to go everytime we’ve been on vacation. It sounds right up our alley but looks very high end. Just wondering
on 14 Jul 2009 at 7:40 am
Carrie said …
It’s not cheap.
But what you want to do is make certain you get on their Club mailing list, at which point they begin emailing you lots of discount coupons. When we went this time, we had a “half off all adult dinners” coupon – score!