Day 866 | Soaking Up the Sun

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Another gorgeous day here in WI so our weekly jaunt to the library + story time was trumped by a desire to take advantage of the sunshine.  Instead we headed off to Ferguson's Orchard for another visit and a trip through the corn maze. Unfortunately, the spooky barn was closed and there are no hayrides during the week (we missed it during our last visit, too!), so we'll be back at least one more time before the end of the season.

The biggest bummer? No apple picking. Boo! We were able to wonder through the Cortland trees in hopes of finding one that we could each snack on (we did), but that's about it. Stupid early frost (or was it a late frost?!?) taking away all our apples. Not cool. 

Day 865 | Sushi Mondays

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The boys and I have been treating ourselves to sushi on most Mondays since Chris went back to work. It's been lovely not having to think about what to serve for one meal during the week days and the boys gobble it up with no fights or complaints. Woohoo! 

**Special note: they're actually eating avocado/cucumber/carrot rolls, so nothing terribly crazy. Maybe I'll introduce eel at some point, though. :)

Day 864 | Top Ten Surprises about Living in WI

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The days seem to fly by around here. I realized that the blog was in need of an update on our life in Wisconsin. No, not another adorable photo of what’s been happening with the boys (they are adorable, though, right?), but real, substantive details about our life here. I’m sure you’re all dying to dig right in to this incredibly long post. 

The top ten things that have surprised us about living in Wisconsin: 

  1. THE WEATHER: I mean, I think Wisconsin is tricking us into believing that this is what every late summer / early fall will be like. Watching the slow and perfect transition into my favorite season of the year (yay, fall!), has been so glorious.
     
  2. BRIDGES + WATER: Being close to the water and all these bridges has definitely brought more joy to our lives than we would have expected. Somehow walking without a purpose seems totally ok if you’re able to look at how pretty everything is.
     
  3. THE EXPENSE: When we moved from DC, a lot of folks talked about how much cheaper the cost of living is here. Newsflash: it’s actually not. Not everything, anyway. Goods at Target cost the same. All of my Amazon purchases cost more (thanks, sales tax). And most of the indoor activities I’ve scoped out for the winter months cost money. I can think of many weeks in DC where I spent very little money being a stay at home mom. We would go to one of the ten libraries to break up the monotony, or one of the three rec centers, or one of the ten museums. We splurged every once in awhile, of course, but it seems like we’re going to have to budget a *bit* more for stay at home mom activities. Surprise!
     
  4. PERFECT BALANCE OF FAMILY TIME: It shouldn’t be a new announcement that Chris and I were a tad worried about how to balance having lots of family around and our need for some independence (after surviving for ten years in total isolation). This concern has been totally unfounded. We feel like we have stumbled upon the perfect balance of activities and distractions with the extended family and quiet, down time with our immediate family. Our goal, upon moving back, was to try to be engrained in the day-to-day of our families and it feels like we're actually doing it.
     
  5. SMALL TOWN IN A BIG CITY: We do not live in the same small town (~1,000 people) I grew up in. The city of Eau Claire is about 25 minutes away. However, the small town nature of our new city is very much present. We have been surprised how quickly word about this or that gets around and back to us from someone totally unrelated. It’s very welcoming (such a close-knit community!) and a little terrifying (be on your game, team!).
     
  6. THE DARK: It’s crazy dark here. When the sun goes down, there are just no lights. After living in a big city for so long, you kind of forget what the dark is like. No street lights when driving on country roads and dark sidewalks on quiet side streets. It’s something to get used to again.
     
  7. FURRY FRIENDS: DC had it’s share of squirrels, but nothing like here. Our yard is a flurry of activity from sun up to sun down with squirrels + chipmunks burying food for the winter (but they don’t seem to be very methodical about it, silly guys). And we have so many bunnies roaming our neighborhood. It’s as adorable as it sounds. I didn’t know I was missing the presence of such friendly yard critters but it definitely brings some joy to the days.
     
  8. SMOKERS: I haven’t done any sort of scientific sampling, but it seems like a lot more folks smoke here. I’m not sure why that is, but Chris and I both came to this conclusion independently so it must be true. Hopefully we don’t catch it. ;)
     
  9. HALF DAY PRESCHOOL: For any of my friends with kids, you know how much I agonized over the fact that Chase would be in a half day preschool this year (after his full day program last year). It seemed like a step back for him (he did SO well last year) and a step back for my life as a stay at home mom (I’m back to being responsible for two kids for the majority of the day again). I’m happy to report that the half day school has been just about perfect for me and Chase. He’s loving having the extra time with mom and brother (although he likes school so much he “could go full day”) and it’s been easier than expected to have both kids at home in the morning again. They’re definitely at an easier age where playing together is much more common than fighting against one another. It’s a lovely stage. And, can I tell you, it’s been beyond wonderful to have our mornings back and not have to rush off to school right away (Chase goes in the afternoon). Such a calmer + more enjoyable way to start off your day.
     
  10. HOW MUCH WE LOVE IT: Chris and I were both really excited to be moving back to Wisconsin. After talking about it for seven years, it was time and we were thrilled to finally be settling into our long-term home. Having said that, we’ve been blown away by how living here is even better than we had imagined. The boys are constantly playing outside, we love our house and our neighborhood (and it’s so much more walkable than we expected), there’s no traffic so Chris’s commute takes exactly eight  minutes, errands and “quick trips” are actually fast and manageable, we’re never searching for something fun to do (there’s always something going on), and more. 

So there it is. Has the entire move + transition to life in Wisconsin been totally perfect with no bumps along the way? No, I wouldn’t go that far, but all in all it has been hands-down the right choice for us and there are no regrets. My heart continues to ache for my dear friends I moved away from and Chris will forever look back at the SEC as one of his best jobs ever, but luckily we can stay connected to these folks in DC and we’ll be back to visit…soon I hope!

Day 853 | A Midwest Thunderstorm

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Thunderstorms are not a new thing, you know? DC has thunderstorms just like everywhere else. In the Midwest, though, these storms are no joke. I had kind of forgotten that. There have been a few other days of big storms since we moved but nothing like today.

It's been torrentially raining with crashing claps of thunder most of the afternoon. If you're safe inside with no where to be, man there's nothing better. I was sitting doing some design work while Chase was at school (and safely in an interior bathroom, it turned out) and Robbe was napping, while listening to the rain and enjoying the storm more than I probably should have been. That is, until the sirens started blaring. I thought, "a tornado?!?" and immediately checked the radar to see what was happening. No tornado warning. That's weird, I thought. I kept monitoring things until the sirens stopped and then went back to enjoying the pitter patter of the rain.

When I picked Chase up, his teachers informed me that the sirens blare for thunderstorm warnings here. Got it. Good to know. In fact, they're going off again as I type this. I kept my cool much better this time around.

With two happy and entertained children cutting teeny pieces of paper in front of me (they're really into scissors these days), I'll continue to enjoy the storm...and get off my computer.

 

Day 852 | Storytime in EC

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Today's storytime at our new library (L.E. Phillips Memorial Library) may have been one of the best I've attended. 

I don't think any will trump storytime at the Library of Congress (that was pre-blog), at least from an adult's perspective, but today's session was spot on with what my kiddos desire. 

What made it great, you might ask? Let me tell you:

  • The kids could each pick their own [awesome] puppet to fiddle with throughout the program (it did wonders to keep the little ones seated throughout).
  • It was the perfect combination of songs + action rhymes + read aloud time. 
  • The books were actually age-appropriate. It's a big pet peeve of mine when librarians choose super long books to wee ones and expect to keep their attention.
  • The words to the songs were printed out on large posters hanging behind the librarian...genius! I felt like I could actually participate and encourage the same from the boys even though it was our first time. 

After declaring that, in general, storytimes "weren't his favorite" on the way to the library, Chase changed his tune on our walk home. It's unanimous: we all had a great time.

For those interested, a couple of storytimes + library posts from the past (I guess we really like the library):

Day 43
Day 62
Day 221
Day 250
Day 295
Day 318
Day 323
Day 396
Day 410
Day 418