Doty Island Family Fun Day

Danielle saw that the Caboose in Menasha was going to be open for tours. I saw that there were going to be wagon rides at Doty Cabin. I wanted to do both. They were both part of the Doty Island Family Fun Day going on in Doty Park.

Since I really didn't have much going on except baking at baseball, I decided to take part of the family fun day at drag Danielle and Gavin along.

Doty Island Family Fun Days were from 1-4. I wanted to get there as close to 1 as possible to so we didn't have to wait for a wagon ride. We actually got there a few minutes before one and looked around the cabin. We did not do the tour of Doty Cabin as I did it many years ago and Gavin really wasn't into it. I did learn that turnips dye things green not purple or red and the one couch in the cabin is not period appropriate as it is dyed fire engine red -- as nothing in nature will give you that color.

We got our tickets for the wagon ride. I was expecting just a little ride around the block. It was actually a 10-15 minutes ride around the island where our guide pointed out historical homes such as the Gibson House, one of the paper barons of Neenah. We got many surprised looks from the neighbors who did not expect a horse drawn wagon full of people traveling through the streets of Neenah.

After our wagon ride, we headed over to the pavilion for some crafts. Gavin was more interested in playing on the playground. Danielle and I did some marble painting. Other adults found marble painting more exciting than the kids.Who doesn't want to roll marbles around in a box to swirl around the paint globs??

Since Gavin really wanted to hit the pool, we left Doty Park and made our way to Smith Park to see the Caboose. I promised him the stop won't take more than 15 minutes and it took 11 minutes.

The Caboose is rarely open so it was a treat to tour. Our tour guide was phenomenal and gave us a history behind cabooses and what life on a caboose entailed. I actually learned a lot. Cabooses not only meant the end of the train but it was where the train engineer and conductor ate and slept. They also used it to look for which rail car was sparking. The hubby was jealous of me that I got to go in the caboose. He didn't realize it was renovated in 2014.

It was a fun afternoon learning the history of Neenah, Doty Island, and the caboose. If we had more time, I'd love to check out the cabin again as well as the Menasha Historical Society Museum.

Check out the Doty Cabin and Caboose when you have a chance.

Celebrating the Summer Solstice

The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass has Art After Dark on the third Thursday of the month. Danielle and I have been to several of them. This month theme was the Summer Solstice. Since we celebrated Festivus at the Glass Museum, I figured we better celebrate Summer too. They were promising me fire dancers. Ok, now I have to be there for the Solstice Celebration.

The Summer Solstice celebration took place on the lawn of the museum starting at 7:30 with ballet dancers. The fire dancers were scheduled for 8:30. We had to be back to my car by 10 since we parked at Kimberly Point Park and walked due to the amount of people there.

We snuck in the from the lawn while the ballerinas were dancing and plopped a squat on the grass. The ballerinas were very good. It was tough to see at times because of people with strollers in the middle of the grass but for the most part we could see. The dancers performed for about 30 minutes or so.

During intermission, I checked out the new exhibit downstairs. I wasn't quite sure what the exhibit entailed but it was very cool to look at, especially the women made from glass falling from the ceiling. I always enjoy looking at the most recent exhibit to see what sort of glass creations people make.

To advertise fire dancers, I was expecting several fire dancers performing at one time. Not one individual that did a few moves with a firey hoop for about five minutes... then we sat and wait (while the kids ran rampert around the grass) for the next performer. There was a good 10 minute break between preformers. And when I say performers I made one person with a firy hoop or rings. We stayed for three performances.

I get fire is dangerous and to have multiple people dancing with fire could get extremely dangerous but I felt very let down. Don't get me wrong it was still very cool to see them manipulate the hoops with fire through the air but was I hoping for a little more action.

Next maybe I will just celebrate the solstice by dancing in the yard naked.

4854. Go to the Menominee Park Zoo in Oshkosh

Living less than 30 minutes from Oshkosh, one would think I'd be there more than I have.  Sure I've been to the Outlet Mall. I didn't go to EAA Museum until last year. Besides high school sporting events, the outlet mall, and chocolate runs to Oaks, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been to Oshkosh. I've been meaning to check out the Menominee Park Zoo for the last couple of summers. Ryan mentioned they were going to and I decided to tag along.

 The Menominee Park Zoo is a free zoo located inside Menominee Park in Oshkosh and is only open during the summer. The animals are rented from other zoos. The zoo is only a couple 100 acres so it can easily be done in an hour.

Getting to the zoo proved interesting due to some construction and a fishing tournament but I made it. Ryan, Tracy and Carly were at the playground across the street. I parked in a small lot next to the zoo. Otherwise there was more parking across the street.

The park makes a loop of sorts and is relatively flat. Some of the animals didn't want to be out. I don't blame them.. it was cold and cloudy.

There were elk, horses, a wolf, and ducks when we first came in. The otters were hiding and not frolicking in the water which was disappointed.

We check out some birds and saw a gorgeous Macaw along with a turkey, vulture, and peacock.

There were llamas and goats.

A bobcat and two coatimundis rounded out our animal adventures. I really enjoyed watching the Coatimundis -- one was more acrobatic than his partner.

We probably spent about 30 minutes at the zoo. There is plenty to see and space for kids to run around. It is a definite to do while in Oshkosh, especially on a nice sunny day.

459. Go to Breakfast on the Farm

Growing up I would see articles about Breakfast on the Farm but we never went. Breakfast on the Farm is literally that... having breakfast on someone's farm. They are held on various weekend dates through June in honor of National Dairy Month. Most counties in Wisconsin have a breakfast on the farm or similar event in June. Wisconsin isn't the Dairy State for no reason. We sure do love our dairy farms.

Last year, I decided I was going to breakfast on the farm this year. I figured Stacy would like to bring Riley to one. After coordinating schedules, we opted for the Manitowoc County Breakfast on the Farm. Originally I figured I would just go to the Outagamie County one but turns out this one was closer and easier for Stacy to get to.

We decided to meet at the farm in Brillion. I gave Stacy directions to the parking since it was offsite. Tractors and wagons took us from our cars down the road to Haelfrisch Dairy Farms. It was raining while I was waiting for Stacy but by the time they got there it stopped.

For $7 ($4 for children), we had breakfast. Breakfast consisted of ham and cheese eggs, yogurt, cheese, sausage links, donut holes, bread, and milk of course. There was also ice cream cups for dessert. While we ate under a tent, a polka band kept us company. All the food was delicious. I could have had more sausage links. Everything was cooked right on site.

Riley especially enjoyed climbing on the farm machinery.

Besides farm machinery, there were games and a bouncy cow along with fire trucks for the kids. There were also baby animals to look at and pet.

Since we wanted to go in the barn, we got in line for the farm tour. Haelfrisch dairy is not a large farm by any means. Our tour consisted of learning about the manure pit and manure spreading process which honestly I can say is very interesting. There's more to cow poop than meets the eye.

We also learned about the cows diet and what they eat. It turns out cows are very picky and will push away bad grain and silage to get to the good stuff. A nutritionist monitors it very closely to make sure they are getting enough nutrients.

Inside the barn we saw the herd. There are only about 200 cows. Most of the were eating and really didn't want to be petted. We also saw the old barn which was now fitted to be the milking parlor.

I was a bit concerned about going to the breakfast on the farm because I heard it is usually crazy. Either Manitowoc County Breakfast on the Farm isn't as bad as Outagamie County or the weather kept people away. It was a nice morning to spend a few hours on a farm and seeing where my milk might come from. If you never been to breakfast on the farm, I would suggest finding one in your area and going one year. It is a reasonable family event. I think I will try to go as often as possible.