Mom's Second Visit West!

I've been pretty busy lately, mostly tying up loose ends at work, but I wanted to post about the really fun visit from Mom a mere week ago. This week has seemed so long, it feels like at least two weeks ago. Anyway, Arlo at work, cats and dog quiet, seems like a good time to turn off the trashy television shows and reflect. Speaking of reflecting, I had a bizarre dream and it's made me really paranoid that I don't reflect on my actions, how they affect others, and what's been happening, nearly enough. Hopefully with my time off in a week (!) I will be doing more of that. Onto the visit!

Thursday night Mom arrived, mostly so that she didn't have to travel on Friday the 13th. Picked her up after working all day, and Arlo was awesome and made an incredible squash soup with biscuits. We relaxed and I think went to bed really early. Mom stayed in Marley's room and Marley stayed with the sitter.

Friday morning, lazy morning, got a late start. We hung out, ate kringle, played with the accordian (yes, that is my mother playing Arlo's toy accordian). I took Mom to Cedar Valley Cheese Store, where we ate our weight in cheese samples. They had a paltry display by Cedar Valley standards... only a mere 12 varieties to sample. It was delicious! After that we headed to Cedarburg, a place that, upon first glance, I was certain my mother would love. It did not disappoint. We ate lunch at a restaurant in a restored barn, called Anvil Pub, and then drank wine samples from Cedar Creek Winery. After that, we went through three FLOORS of boutique shops. I think my mom could have actually stayed there all day, and the only thing that made her want to leave was the prospect of more shopping out on the main street. We spent the rest of the day shopping until we headed back home in time for a fish fry. That night, Arlo, Mom, and I met up with Jerry, Arlo's dad, at Lakefront Brewery, which has a Friday night fish fry and live polka music. It was a lot of fun, and it gave Mom the polar opposite of the first fish fry at Cliff's, a restaurant that has about 8 tables, in that it probably had 50 family-style tables, was crazy busy and really loud. Now, she's had both ends of the spectrum.

Saturday, Arlo, Mom, and me went to tea at Watt's Tearoom. Arlo's first experience with tea, and it was a pretty good one. It's funny, it feels like everything is bigger in Wisconsin. Here, the tea sandwiches are huge, like actual sandwiches, and on the dessert tray, there was an entire slice of cake. For anyone who has been to tea, you would know that that's strange to see. From there, we went to Miller Brewing Company, where we went on a tour of the brewery and then had free samples. As you can see from the pictures, the samples too were huge, at least for samples. We had a good time and Mom enjoyed looking around the gift shop. We went home for a bit to hang out and relax our bellies before heading out again to eat, this time to Mader's. Last time Mom was here with Marylou, we took them to Carl Ratsches, so this time it was Mader's, the other really well-know Milwaukee German restaurant. We had some of the best food I have had in a long time, and everyone had a nice time talking and eating off of eachother's plates. Afterwards, we hung out at home, watching t.v. and relaxing.

Sunday, Mom and I went to go shopping yet again. This time, she took me to Stein Mart, a place that I've never been to, but where I found at least a few Christmas presents. Finally, shopping bug satiated, we returned home to relax a bit before the flight. For dinner, we took Mom to Jalapeno Loco, a local (and loco!) Mexican restaurant. I mean, why not round out her ethnic experience, right? After another awesome meal, we dropped Mom off at the airport for her flight.

It was a really fun weekend and a nice break for all of us. I don't want to rush time, but I am looking forward to this next week being over so that I can be blissfully unemployed. I hope everyone is doing well on the East coast (and uber East coast). Take care, y'all.