Racine Zoo Classic Car and Bike Show

Today is officially the last day of vacation for our family and we kind of went in two separate directions. My husband took our son to his soccer tournament in Waukesha and I headed down to the Racine Zoo to help out a friend selling 50/50 raffle tickets at the annual classic car and bike show. To be quite honest, I am not much of a car fanatic, and definitely not into classic cars. However, I think I may have changed my mind a bit. It was quite the exciting event and I saw how thoroughly into the cars some of these people are and what a beautiful art form some of the vehicles actually take on.

I must say I am a bit of a geek when it comes to the types of cars I enjoyed because they were not your typical souped up hot rod or classic vehicle. I absolutely fell in love with a 1966 Volkswagon Van and a decked out Mini Cooper. There were some pretty cool motorcyles, of which, I fell in love with a lime green, skull laden chopper.

Red Star Soccer Club

Our son is a huge soccer fan and has played soccer since he was five years old...all but the one year dad talked him into trying football. This is the first year we will be experiencing club soccer as he made the Red Star club team which plays all year round. Practices have already started, but they have not played an official game yet, until this weekend when they went straight into tournament mode. They had one game scheduled each day - Friday through Sunday - in Waukesha. So the finish of our vacation was spent at soccer tournaments. He did well, but he does have a ways to go to catch up to the boys which have played at club level for a long time. They won one game out of all three they played.

Milwaukee Zoo Ala Carte

Now back from Chi-town, we had tickets to the Milwaukee Zoo Ala Carte event thanks to one of my husband's vendors - Pieper Electric. We have been invited to this wonderful event for the past several years, and were once again very thankful to attend. Pieper Electric has their own tent set-up in the Maple Grove picnic area outside the zoo where you can talk to your contacts, drink beer, and this year they even added food. We mingled for a bit and then Matt was given a stack of tickets to go inside the zoo to enjoy more food from several local restaurants. None of us were able to move much once we made our way around the complete zoo. We tried things such as chocolate covered bacon, gazpacho, sour cream and chive french fries, carrot cake, Firecracker shrimp, chocolate covered strawberries and so much more. There was great music and all the food you could ever want to eat all within the zoo. The highlight of our night was the Birds from Down Under display where we were able to feed and touch parrots, cockatiels, and parakeets.

Chicago Fire Game

FINALLY...we have taken a vacation as a family. However, with the economy how it has been, we decided we could only do a stay-cation this year. Not really a good thing when you run a business out of your home and your husband is within driving distance to his job -- we both ended up working. I finally decided not to check my e-mail or even bring my cell phone with me. This was a vacation I needed to take and was determined to erase thoughts of business from my mind.

We were lucky enough to get some tickets to a few events and actually left the comfort of our own backyard to go enjoy some real vacation time.

Our first excursion took us down to Chicago to see the Chicago Fire game against LA Galaxy, and we were able to get enough tickets to bring my brother and his family. Unfortunately, Beckham got himself a suspension in an earlier game and was not playing. LA definitely did not miss their all-star player as they ended up winning. It was still a very enjoyable evening away and spending some time with my brother and his family. Not to mention, our son particularly enjoyed watching his favorite sport - soccer.

Happy 15th Anniversary

Hard to believe my husband and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary today! It seems like only yesterday we were walking down the isle, and here it is 15 years later, and our home is still filled with lots of love --and two beautiful children, animals and lots of stuff we have accumulated together.

Cheers to us on our 15th anniversary!