WI Vacation, June 2011: Days #6, 7, and flight home

Friday morning, while Austin was sleeping, Seth and I headed out to do some exploring in Eau Claire. I had heard that a lot of places had grown or changed since I'd been home, so I wanted to see for myself. Our first stop, though, was at Shopko (which is like Kmart or Target), and we totally hit the jackpot! All of their Brewers, Packers, and Badgers stuff was on sale, so we completely stocked up. That's where we got Austin's Cheesehead (it's a baby size), my new Packer's Superbowl Champion shirt, a water bottle for me (Have I ever mentioned how addicted I am to water bottles?), a Brewers romper for Austin, thank you gifts for our two hosts during our stay, and a few other miscellaneous items.

After Shopko, I had wanted to go to the mall, but we didn't have time. We did, however, make a quick trip to Michaels. I picked up some stickers while Seth did a 'store visit.' It was overall a fabulous outing, but it was also just really nice to have some time just the two of us.

We had lunch with my grandma and aunt, and then headed to Colfax for the Colfax Free Fair to meet up with a friend and take Austin on his Merry-Go-Round. My mom's always jokingly called it the Colfax World's Fair. It's quite small, and I had a blast messing with Seth's head all week as to what to expect. Austin even wore Colfax colors--red and white! :-)

First thing, we got a bottle of water while waiting for Gail (and sister and niece) to arrive, and I saw this sign. Woohoo! Finally an explanation! I feel like it's a regional thing, or something, but people down here always talk about funnel cakes, and I respond with (because I don't know what a funnel cake is) "Is that like an Elephant Ear?" And here, at the Colfax Fair was my answer!

After sitting and talking with Gail and Robyn for awhile, we decided to go play a few games (for Austin's sake and Julia's (Gail's neice) sake. Austin reached for the ducks quite well, but had a hard time actually picking them up. We picked up the ones he seemed to 'choose,' and he won a pretty sweet prize!

After playing a few games, we go back to the picnic table to feed Austin, and decide to get some food for ourselves. My mom meets us for dinner, and afterwards agrees to help take pictures of Austin's first Merry-Go-Round ride. He had a great time, but like Momma and Daddy, was ready to go home. We were hot, tired, and fairly dirty from all the dusty dirt. One of my big regrets from this day is that I didn't take a picture of Austin with Gail. Well, not an official one, anyways... That's her arm in the background!

Isn't he just the smiley-est baby ever!?

After a shower, we changed into jammies and pretty much went straight to bed. We spent the next morning cleaning up, packing, putting Grandma's house back in order, etc. My parents picked us up, took us to lunch and then it was off to the airport. Pretty much immediately after they pulled away, we learned we had a 2 hour delay. Boo! Austin was a MESS the entire delay and it was all we could do to keep him managed. But, he must have got all his crying out during those two hours, because as soon as we got on the plane, he crashed. We were fortunate enough to be in a row that was three seats wide, with one empty, and so this is how he spent the majority of the flight.

Seth's dad picked us up at the airport after having dropped Georgia Mae at our house (that's where she spent the week--with Seth's parents) and turned the AC back down to reasonable levels. It was still HOT when we got home, and I don't think the AC stopped running all night, but we did save money by having turned it up while we were gone.

Overall it was a great trip and I look forward to going back again (hopefully) in the summer of 2013! Love you Wisconsin!