A Trip to Wisconsin!

Eric's cousin, Alyssa, graduated from high school, so we took a trip to Wisconsin for her open house and to see Nana and Bah-Pah B. When we pulled into the driveway around midnight on Thursday, Helen was sound asleep. As soon as we turned off the car, she opened her eyes, threw both fists in the air, kicked her feet and shouted, "NANA'S!!!" She was so incredibly excited that she couldn't get to sleep until 1:30am. Of course, that didn't stop her from waking up at 5:30am, ready to greet the animals and play with all her toys.
Even on very little sleep, she was beyond thrilled to go to the amazing (and free) Vilas Zoo in Madison.
She rode a giraffe on the carousel with Nana:


And then she and Nana rode on the train. She's still talking about the "tunn-uh" (tunnel) and how dark it was:
We saw so many animals up close: seals with long whiskers and big eyes, otters diving and playing in a turquoise pool, flamingos, peacocks, an ostrich, goats, a huge lion sitting on a rock, a tortoise eating grass, and so much more - all just steps away from us. It was a wonderful place to visit. Here's Helen's up-close experience with a huge tiger!!


Here we are swinging in the back yard at the end of adventurous day one:
Helen had such a fun time with the next door neighbor, Sully. He likes to run around and smash things, which she found a little disconcerting. Judging by the names of her best friends (Neave, Layla, Iris, Sayen and Chloe) you can see she's not around boys very often. Even in music class, the boys are much more subdued than the girls, so it was funny to see how she reacted to Sully's behavior. She looks pained in this video, but she really did enjoy playing with him. Wherever he went, Helen would run after him calling, "Suh-Yee!!!" He really is a sweet heart. Each time he would smash into a truck, Helen would run to it and pick it up, give it a hug and set it back into place:


Helen spent the whole weekend getting in and out of Sully's car. She didn't want to push it anywhere, she just wanted to get in and out, then say "uh-thuh side" (other side) and try to get into the side without a door, then go back to the door and get in, over and over. She filled the back with rocks and "money" (grass that she would pick from one particular spot in the lawn).
On Saturday, we went to the Cambridge Pottery Festival just down the road from Nana's. As we looked for beautiful mugs (and found them!), Helen chilled out in the stroller:

She had to get out after a little while and she couldn't resist the free samples of kettle corn - just like her Mama:
On Sunday, we saw Alyssa, the graduate:
And played with Helen's second cousin, Alexandra. Here they are chasing the top of an ice cream pail (make-shift frisbee):
And filled the bird bath with rocks. Give Helen some rocks or pebbles and a receptacle of some kind and she's occupied for ages:
After a great time with all the relatives and lots of running around, we headed off to Minnesota. Moments after we pulled away, she was fast asleep:

What a wonderful weekend!!!