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90th Birthday Party

This spring was a special event - Sandy's mom had her 90th birthday. The family planned to throw a big party for her and we definitely wanted to be there. We built a big trip to midwest around it.

We started off by going to Yorkville to spend some time with the grandkids. Usually they go to day care on Thursday and Friday. On Monday thru Wednesday they stay home and Grandma (the other grandma) who takes care of them. Sandy flew out on Sunday so that she could do a shift so their grandma in Illinois could have a week off.

I flew out Tuesday and got in that evening, so I got to spend all day Wednesday with them. That gave Sandy a little bit of relief too. I was excited to see them. It had been nine months since my last visit. Kids change really fast when they are so young, and there certainly was a big from difference over that time. Brooklyn was talking up a storm. She was downright gabby. But she also loves books so I spent a lot of time reading to her. She has a large box full of books in their playroom. A kid after my own heart.

Warren was talking a little, although not nearly as much as Brooklyn. She's a year older but he also seems to be a quieter kid in general. Last time he had bearly been able to walk. Now he was all over the house. You couldn't take your eyes off of him for thirty seconds because he was always trying to climb on something - a chair, a book case, the kitchen counter, a table. In retrospect, I guess it was a mistake to let him watch Free Solo. Now he thinks he's Alex Honnold.

Next day we left town and drove up to Milwaukee. We had dinner at Barbiere's Italian Inn, an old haunt from my college days. I drag Sandy there every time that we go to Milwaukee. She just accepts it as my price for coming back to the midwest. After dinner, we went to the Brewer game and saw them beat the Reds 1-0. Not a lot of scoring but we didn't mind. The Brewers won, plus the game was quick. Afterwards we needed to drive to Stoughton, where we would be staying for the next three nights. We didn't want to get there too late.

The next morning we took Sandy's mom out for breakfast and met up with her sister and nieces. Then just the three of us drove up to Sun Prairie where we were joined by Sandy's sister Lynn and her husband Dan. During the afternoon we visited the Cannery Wine Bar & Tasting Room, where we tasted wines. They had a variety of samplers so we got to try all different wines. We didn't have to worry about crowds either. We were the only ones in the place. After wine tasting, we went to Nitty Gritty's for dinner. Sandy's mom got special treatment when we told them she was celebrating her 90th birthday.

Saturday was the big event, which was held at the Elks Club in Madison. It's right next door to the condo where Sandy's parents lived for a long time and was their standard place for dinner for those years. The party had a good turnout. Sandy and I had fun because it was a chance for us to see a lot of her family members that we had not seen in a long time. I think Sandy's mom has a good time too. She got lots of attention, which was well deserved considering the occasion.

Sunday we were off again, going to Milwaukee for another Brewer game. They beat the Reds again, this time by a score of 8-2. Jackson Chourio was the hero, hitting two home runs. It was a good weekend for the brewers, taking three out of four from Cincinati.

Since it was an afternoon game and finished right around dinner time, I proposed that we eat at Ned's Pizza. For many years that was my parents' favorite pizza place. Whenever I came home to visit them, my dad and I would drive to Ned's to pick up pizza for dinner. Sometimes on visits Sandy and I would go and eat in their restaurant, which is what we were going to do today. But when we got there they gave us funny looks. Turns out several years ago they eliminated dine in and now only do carry out. Oh well. So much for that plan.

We were still hungry and had a long drive ahead of us. There's a Walmart right across the street from Ned's. We decided to stop there to get some snacks for the car ride, and then hit the road before it got any later. Walmart is not known for having the classiest clientele. Memes about WalMartians are a standing joke on the internet. This store was in an old neighborhood, in what used to be a shopping center. When I was growing up I spent a lot of time there. But that was a long time ago and the area has deteriorated quite a bit. So a lot of the folks at this Walmart were pretty seedy. We got our snacks and got out of there as fast as we could.

We drove back to Yorkville to complete our loop trip. The snacks held us until we got there and we could scrounge a late dinner.

I had one more day in Yorkville. I got to read a lot more books to the grandkids. My favorite is one that I got for Brooklyn, Quantum Physics for Babies. I wasn't showing favorites either. I got Calculus for Babies for Warren.

I let Warren try on my Brewer baseball cap so he could see how cool he looked wearing it. Living in Illinois, I have to make sure that he doesn't grow up to be a Cubs fan.

I left super early the next day to fly back to Boise and relieve our dogsitter. Sandy stayed for the rest of the week to get in some more grandma time. All in all, it was a fun trip. We got to go to a special celebration, spend lots of time with family, and see some Brewer games (that they won!) in person.