Chicago Vacation – Milwaukee Friends
The next morning after the storm, we were finally able to make our way up to Milwaukee. We had been invited by Kristen’s college friends, Jen and Chad to stay at their house for the weekend. This was the first time that their kids would meet our kids. The last time Mike and I were in Milwaukee, I was barely pregnant with Caden, Grace was a toddler, Luke was an infant and Ruthie wasn’t much of a thought yet! It’s amazing how much our families change in only 5 years time!
We started the weekend by going to see their kids in their final show of Bible Camp. I admit, we are not a church-going family, so I had to give Caden reminders on where we were going and how to sit. Caden was amazing and sat with his hands in his lap and watched everything. We then decided to have a good old fashioned BBQ. It was great!
Our plan for later that week was to go to Six Flags with them and go to Wiggle World. Jen told me that her kids have never seen The Wiggles, so Caden decided that he would make sure they were exposed before our visit. The kids learned a few songs before Six Flags and got to learn all the character names.
The next morning, we decided to start our day by taking a walk along Lake Michigan. It was nice to be able to stroll and have some great conversations and catch up on the last several years! Caden enjoyed seeing “Michigan Lake”, especially the ducks and running around with the other kids. Mid-way we took a break and had a snack on the stairs to the art museum and then headed back to the car to head to Marquette.
On our final night, after the Marquette reunion, we went to dinner at The Chancery and then went to Kopp’s for frozen custard. I have fond memories of going to Kopp’s in college and really wanted to make sure we visited before leaving.
The plan was for us to stay in their basement, but that was sidelined and we ended up camping out in their living room. Caden also decided to have a “sleepover” in Luke’s room, so it ended up being nice to be all on the same floor.
We had a great time and Caden got to do a few things he can’t do in Arizona like catch lightning bugs. The kids got to be good friends and were sad to leave each other. Although, I’m not sure they all understood how far away then live from each other. Caden and Luke have asked us if they can have each other over to their house. Maybe we’ll see them in a few years when they come visit us in Arizona.
Sidenote: Thanks Jen and Chad for letting us crash at your house and going above and beyond for our stay! We really appreciate everything that you did to help make our stay as comfortable as possible!
