Chicago and homebound…for mommy

The next day we drove we drove from the Dells to Chicago. We spent the day walking around the city and taking in the sights. Then we headed to Dicks for lunch. This restaurant is one of a kind; basically they insult you while you are there. When you order, when they bring your food and anytime they are around your table. The food is good and while it is not our local hang out, we thought it would be interesting for Karabo and my mom to see.

Millennium Park

Chicago

Navy Pier

Navy Pier

My mom and I at the Bean

It was funny, until I thought Karabo was going to knock the lady out. Karabo is a sassy girl who doesn’t take it from no one. So we quickly explained the concept of the restaurant and all was forgiven.

That afternoon we took Karabo to the airport for her flight back to South Africa.

The next day we had to take my mom to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye, but I know it’s a ‘see you later’ thing, so it’s okay.

Heading to the dells

There is a restaurant in the dells that Tyler and Karabo love, which I totally get as it serves comfort food and the atmosphere is relaxed. So off to the dells we headed so that we could indulge in Paul Bunyan’s. (Madison was a convenient stop on the way there.)

The Wisconsin Dells is a tourist trap. It is a town that comes alive in the summer as it filled with water parks and amusement parks. But only the indoor activities are used in the winter (which is more than half the year here.) It has a wooden Trojan horse, an upside down white house, a coliseum and even a pyramid!

While we did not visit the water parks (we have previously) we did visit the pyramid and the Dells Ducks. The Ducks is a tour that takes you around the town on the roads, and then around the lake…in the same vehicle. It’s a weird feeling.

Wisconsin’s Capital

We decided that while in Wisconsin, it was important for one to visit the Capitol, which is in the Capital Madison. It is a beautiful building, but I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Hitting a home run

I had recently found a Farmer’s Market that boasted a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and boerewors. Yes, boerewors!!! There is a South African man who married an American woman and is living in Wauwatosa making boerewors.

Farmers Market

I woke Karabo up (of course my mom had been a wake for a while) and we headed to Tosa. It was great to meet another South African, and of course eat some real saffa meat. While we were standing at the stall, we ended up seeing another South African family that lives in the area. Yeah for networking!

That afternoon we had planned a day of watching the Brewers play baseball. After getting my mom her very own Brewers shirt, a trip to the liquor store (for tailgating) we headed to Miller Park.

You see Americans, love to tailgate, which is where they play games (like bags), drink and eat before going into the actual game. This also means that you miss more than half the game, but it’s all about the socializing anyway.

The game was fun and I spent most of it explaining the game to my mom. (After checking with Tyler that I knew what was going on…I still don’t get all the little elements of the game.) The basics, those I have.

Summerfest at its best!

The next day, I woke up with excitement (coupled with a hangover.) Luckily we had planned it well and had a lazy day in store. At about midday we headed downtown to the Summerfest grounds. This is a huge music festival where I have seen bands like Relient K, Maroon 5, Britney Spears, Jason Mraz and Usher. We had no plans to see any big bands since between the four of us, our music tastes differ greatly.

After walking around we all settled on some ‘Fat Kid’ food (nothing at Summerfest is healthy) found a comedy show and relaxed into the rhyme of summer. 

MILWAUKEE!!!

View from Summerfest

Anything can happen on the fourth

As a way to arrange a double family (Tyler’s moms and dads side) gathering with my mom, we decided to do it on the 4^th of July…and make it an engagement party too!

Our kissing giraffes

 So Tyler and I had a taste of what our wedding was going to be like. We were constantly running from person to person meeting and greeting. (We supplied everyone with names tags to avoid any awkward situations.) It was exhausting, but good to see everyone having a great time on a lovely summer’s day.

Tyler and I, with his dad and Grandma Betsy

Mommy!!!

Tyler and his 4 sisters

Karabo - My Maid of Honour!!!

 

The Hehir kids and I

Tyler and I

Mommy and me

I feel like I hardly got to even see Tyler, well that was until Karaoke. We decided to open floor with a terrible rendition of “As long as you love me” by the Backstreet boys and I can truly say the night went downhill from there, but in a good way. Fun was had by all. I even teamed up with his sisters to belt out “Oops I did it again” by Ms. Spears.

Group Song

Tyler and I belting out a tune

Earning her Stars and Stripes

 On the 3^rd of July we took my mom and Karabo (my maid of honour to be) to a 3^rd of July Parade. We met up with Tyler’s mom (Mary), step dad (Max), other family members and friends. After we had a spot secured we snacked and watched the parade, and later the fireworks. It is a pretty neat thing to experience.

Tyler and Max

The Parade

The Parade

The Parade

Karabo!!!

Fireworks!

So Awesome

The last few fireworks

Taking in Nature

We (my mom and I, there is no way Tyler would have come) woke up super early to watch the sunrise…enjoy the pictures below…

Sunrise over Lake Michigan

The Milwaukee Art Museum

Down by the lake

Bradford beach

A fountain in Milwaukee, WI

The boys had a nature camp at the Audubon Nature center so after we dropped them off at camp I took my mom on a mini hike of the nature center. We even saw a squirrel (like 100), a turtle or two and a chipmunk (which I think are extremely cute.) It was great walking around and taking pictures of the bugs we saw. Felt just a walk we would have taken in South Africa, just with different looking bugs.

I also took my mom to Bayshore which is a shopping mall with an open plan layout. Basically it’s like a quad with shops on the outside and then fountains and play space in the middle. (http://www.bayshoretowncenter.com/)

Sunset at Bayshore mall

We had hibachi for dinner, which is an awesome experience. If you are confused, let me explain. When at a hibachi restaurant you sit around a griddle-table typeset up, and watch the chef cook your food. But of course they don’t just cook it, they add their flair. They make hearts, onion fires and encourage you to catch the food they flip at you…with your mouth. It really is a good time!

Rice and Sesame seed heart

Cooking up a storm