Skip to main content

A Weekend in the Valley

We headed back to the Fox Valley again. This time for my sister's bridal shower.

.So, we had this A&W coupon for two years. We decided to finally use it and get it over with

I was asked to make cupcakes for Chelsea's shower. Instead of staying up all night the night before I made the cakes at home and decorated them when we got there. Well first we made a stop for ice cream at Dick's in Kaukauna. Somehow we both forgot to bring a camera along for this. 

Suffice it to say that we almost always stop at Dick's when we're in the Fox Valley. It's great, but I've been dying to go to Oshkosh's Leon's. I've always wondered if it could live up to the Milwaukee mainstay.

I tried glazing the cakes at first, but wasn't pleased with the outcome. 

Brooke was getting in her typical cake decorating mood, which means she was freaking out.

Then, after switching to a smaller tip, decided to decorate them with royal icing. 

When Brooke slows down everything seems to turn out OK. In this case the cakes were oh-so-precious.

The next day (Saturday) was the shower. 
Scott spent the day with my dad.


 We had to bring something to the party that Chelsea forgot. After that, we went to a sports bar where I got a burger and a brat on the same bun. It was awesome.

What was more awesome was a couple wearing matching naked lady-camouflage outfits.

If your curious about the mini tiered cake pan. You can get it here. 

After all, she works there.
Chelsea's shower made me excited for my own. 

That means you Katrina, Chelsea and Brittany.


Blake finally arrived after being in Canada all week. 

He got this sweet Mac Book Pro 'cause the art school at UMD requires it. As a computer nerd and a photographer I question that requirement. I love Macs, but what Adobe application can you not run on a PC?

Later on, some of the ladies from the shower met up at Fratello's for dinner and drinks. They had their Fox River beers on tap. I went with the Buzzin Honey Ale.

I have to admit I'm pretty impressed with Appleton. They've been fixing up the buildings and warehouses on the river and making it a pretty hip area. Almost like the 3rd Ward in Milwaukee.

Blake and I were hungry and bored. We asked Mr. Mike if he wanted to bike with us to Butch's Pizza. He decided to eat a frozen one at home. 
Apparently all of the employees at Butch's were criminals of sorts. At least that's what Brooke tells me.

When I asked for root beer in a pitcher they thought I wanted crappy Barq's. I wanted the Sprecher that was on tap. Since Blake's still a youngin' it was the closet we could get to the real deal.

Since Blake's a vegetarian, we ate a big cheese pizza. It was your typical paper-thin midwest pizza; as good as any other.


Chelsea's bachelorette party was a masquerade theme. After dinner we put on our masks and headed to "The Ave." 


Since we were already in Kimberly, Blake and I headed to Paper Fest. It was as exciting as it sounds.

After the uneventful small-town festival (it just couldn't live up to Cheese Fest's high standards) we biked back. I passed time by playing some Wii until I had to pick up the gals from the bachelorette party.

Swings for chairs. How strange.
This drunk guy made sure he talked to everyone in the room. He told Chelsea he liked her mask and then pointed at me and said "I don't like hers, it's too big".

Brittany wasn't enjoying the bar scene and eventually convinced Mom to take her home. I think mom would have stayed out all night with us.



The last place we went to was Cleo's. My dad knows the owner who, for fellow Appletonites, also owns Mr. Cinders. He installed the flooring behind the bar. Chelsea and I made sure everyone knew that.

Then my DF came to bring our drunk butts home.

So apparently df mean Darling Fiance. Anyways, they were all quite drunk. It was funny.

But first Chelsea had to order Toppers pizza sticks. 

We devoured it like wild animals. 

I told one of the gals that she reminded me of Sarah Palin. She talked like her, walked like her and, well, looked like her. She was not having it. 
 Good ol' Houdini Plaza.

To be continued...

Comments

Amanda said…
I loved this blog!
THe thing I don't like about Dicks is that they do not accept cards...a lot of ice cream places don't and it makes me mad - get with the times people!
Your cupcakes turned out really cute! You could do those for weddings Brooke, you should market yourself..I can give you the business card I made for you for my wedding! ;) I laughed hard when Scott wrote about the people at Butches were criminals...I've heard that too, not sure where it comes from.
You girls looked cute for the bachelorrette. Jeff and I LOVE Topper sticks...the past two weeks they were on sale for only $6 so we bought them probably 4 times. :) Weren't they good?
Nice blog guys.
Amanda said…
P.S. Scott, is that Spotted Cow you're drinking at the sports bar?! Yum.

Popular posts from this blog

Hike Trip with the Kids to Nerstrand State Park

Meadow and I had so much fun hiking and geocaching last weekend, we decided to do it again. I was busy photographing for a project in Lake City. Our state park pass expires at the end of the month so we decided on Nerstrand State Park. A short drive from Minneapolis I'd always wanted to go.  I love that they had this natural playground. First we wanted to see the waterfall. Little hiker. The waterfall was a lot smaller than I expected but it was open for free play. I let the kids play for awhile. Then we found another area to play. Mr Independent had to hike back himself. That's my stubborn little guy. We took a lunch break before geocaching.  Meadow didn't believe me she had smoothie on her face. Theo either. We finished our day by hiking almost the whole park to find the cache. Too bad Scott couldn't have joined us. 

Chelsea and the Boys Visit Minneapolis

  I told Chelsea earlier this year she was the only one who hasn't seen our house yet. She said she would visit this summer. She texted me earlier this week asking when she could come. Looking at our calendar I said, this weekend or the weekend after Labor Day.  When they arrived Theo gave her a tour of our house.  I told her we had plans to go blueberry picking and she agreed to go along too. They had never gone before.  Hoo, boy. Was I glad that I got out of blueberry picking this year. I spent the day painting back at home. I don't know why, but I do enjoy berry picking.  Afterwards we picked up food from the co-op and had lunch in Stillwater.  Then we went swimming at the St Croix River Boom Site.  We parked our towels right next to the natural spring that flows into the river.  Blake... The sunny skies soon turned to clouds and then it started raining. The kids just kept on playing.  I couldn't believe they were still out in Stillwater. Then we went over to Teddy Bear

A Twin Cities Mississippi River Summer Weekend

Two summer weekends in Minneapolis? Yeah, it's true. We followed Scott again on one of his jobs, which brought us to Maplewood Mall. I had heard there was a double decker carousel there and had always wanted to check it out.  There is a weight limit on the horses so Scott and I had to sit on the swinging bench.  Brooke and I must've had empty stomaches. We were both so dizzy after getting off the carousel. Or we're getting old. Scott always complains we never do things in our own city. Since we were going to be near St Paul, I had been wanting to take the kids to the Mississippi River National Recreation Area Visitor Center to get a junior ranger badge.  St. Paul is one of Twin Cities, so it's OK to have fun just across the border. It's those suburbs I loathe (though honestly sometimes enjoy). Downtown St. Paul maybe sleepy, but it's very charming. The Mississippi River National Recreation Area Visitor Center is in the Science Museum lobby. Somehow we had never