We spent the day in Merrill visiting Grandpa.  We were able to check out the River Bend Trail.  The River Bend Trail is a that connects the downtown of Merrill out to Council Grounds state park.  It is a very nice addition to the community.  While on the River Bend Trail we found some of the Merrill Rocks (Facebook Group) that people paint and hide along the trail (and other areas of Merrill).  A visit to Merrill wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Sawmill Brewing Co.  It was nice to be able to get an anniversary drink.

When we arrived back in Rhinelander we had a campfire and enjoyed the sunset.

After a restless night for the smallest member of our group we spent the day in Minocqua.  We visited the beach, downtown and Otto’s Beer Garden.  While at the beach Madison enjoyed picking rocks from water and putting them in her bucket.  After the beach Mom and Dad enjoyed lunch.  We all enjoyed going to the small shops that Minocqua has to offer.

Back in Rhinelander we were able to get our first Old Fashioned (Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet with a cherry) of the week. Getting an Old Fashioned has been our unofficial start of vacation while we are in the Northwoods.  At dinner we were able to share it with Grandpa Dick.

I was able to get some night photography in.  Being away from the big city allows for you to see many of the stars including a very light milky way.

Our trip started leaving Milwaukee and heading to Rhinelander. We did have to make a couple of stops along the way. Our first stop was to Dairy State Cheese in Rudolph. As in the past we usually make it to Dairy State Cheese, just before it’s about to close to get our Dairy State Cheese squeaky cheese curds and beef sticks from Pete’s Meat.

We then headed onto Merrill to visit Grandpa Dick.  After a quick visit to the Sawmill Brewing Company we then headed to the Happy Snapper in Tomahawk.

After our visit in Merrill we finally made it to our final destination Rhinelander.  We are looking forward to our time up north.

Check out some of the highlights of our Spring Break

Here is a video of our day out in the snow.

Today we woke up to about 8 inches of snow so we bundled up and checked it out. Here is a video of the short adventure.

Today we had the chance to visit the The Lionel Railroad Club (Milwaukee Chapter).  Madison has enjoyed trains for some time with her favorite show being “Chuggington” and she enjoys saying “Choo Choo” when she wants to watch it.  We enjoyed seeing the trains on display and Madison had the opportunity to drive the train by taking control of the switch.  The displays they have are remarkable and the attention to detail is amazing.  Check out the video below to see some highlights.

What a busy weekend!  Madison enjoyed her second year trick or treating, although this year she was able to walk by herself.  On Friday night we attended the school dance at Scott’s school.  Madison was wondering what was going on with all the costumes, some she liked while others she was not sure of.  On Saturday night we went trick or treating with Madison’s cousin Nora.  Madison did a great job this year walking up to the houses and putting her bucket down. She even did a couple of double grabs of candy from the bowl but everyone thought it was cute.  This year she could say “Treat” (Trick or Treat) and “You” (Thank You).  Thanks to Cindy, Brad, Nora and Maya for inviting us Trick-or-Treating, we had a great time!

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This past week we had a Mini-Vacation.  While we didn’t go too far we did get a chance to visit Bookworm Gardens with some of Madison’s playgroup friends.   We also went to the Blue Harbor Resort and Waterpark.  Madison enjoyed the pool and lazy river.  The views of Lake Michigan from the resort were amazing.  Lastly we did get a chance to visit Zoo a la Carte at the Milwaukee County Zoo, unfortunately we did not stay late enough to see Everclear. We did have plans to visit Bay Beach but Madison came down with a fever fortunately nothing came of it.  Below is a quick video of the fun.