'Sconsin

Ah, the Great North Woods. Ain't nothing like it. You betcha.



Isn't the scenery beautiful up here?

We're up in Neillsville, Wisconsin at this very moment. Have I told you about Neillsville before? It's the town where my dad and his two brothers and one sister grew up. My Grandma Fern and Grandpa Cal still live here, in the same house where they raised their children.

Neillsville is a small town located smack-dab in the middle of the Great State of Wisconsin. A true one-horse-town if I ever saw one. Look! We even saw that one horse!

Uncle Aaron and Grandpa Dave have been up here for the past few days, while us girls were in Milwaukee. We pulled in to the driveway this afternoon, and were shortly joined by these two strapping lads who had come home from a rainy day of fishing. Precious little hillbillies, aren't they?

The best part is that my father did not pack any water-resistant clothing, so he's wearing Grandma Fern's windpants in the photo above. As if wearing his mom's pants wasn't dorky enough, he also had to carefully affix his car keys to his granny pants in true safety-nerd fashion (I can hear his retaliation now: "Well Kari, you know that metal sinks! If it had been you fishing out there, those keys would have been at the bottom of the lake. Then who would have been laughing?")

Uncle Aaron, Aunt M and I just got back from a "trip into town." Grandpa even lent us his shiny red pickup truck for the ride. Snazzy.

We stopped at the local Bob & Caryl's IGA, where we discovered that this month's bratwurst is CHEESE. Go figure.

La loves it here. She's already picked raspberries in the yard, put together a big puzzle with Grandma Fern, and right now she's sitting by my feet looking at old photo albums.

I always forget how gorgeous it is up here, with the dense woods, blue skies and rolling hills in the distance.

And wow. My dad is truly in his element. I mean, where else can you sit outside on the picnic table with your wife and simultaneously shave your beard?