Crawling through Oshkosh for Cocoa

I saw on Facebook that Downtown Oshkosh was doing a cocoa crawl. The price was reasonable and Danielle was willing to drink cocoa with me.

There was 18 stops mainly at businesses along Main Street in Oshkosh, two of which were food stops. That means there were 16 stops for cocoa... 16 samples of cocoa. It doesn't seem like a lot until you start drinking it.

Each business offered a sample of cocoa. It wasn't just plain cocoa. These were fancy cocoas. Most came with extras such as cookies, marshmallows, whipped cream, etc. That's a lot of sugar and richness. Donuts do not belong in Cocoa. I discovered I'm a traditionalist when it comes to cocoa.. marshmallows and whipped cream. Everything else makes a mess and gets stuck at the bottom.

Danielle made it about 10 stops before giving in to the sugar overload. I made it to 14 before giving up. After the trying the Nutella Hot Chocolate and heading back to the last couple stops I was like I can't do this any more. I think I am going to be sick. I really wanted to do the Quinntastic Cocoa at Caramel Crisp but I couldn't stand to look at any more cocoa.

Each stop you went to you could rate them. 1-5 cups and then vote for your favorite. The problem was the ballot drop off was really in the middle of the walk unless you crossed the street multiple times. We never did vote. However, if we did vote  I would have a hard time deciding between the Dark Chocolate Raspberry and the Neapolitan. Danielle would have voted for the Black Cherry Bourbon.

They either need to split the cocoa walk into two sections and you pick which side you want to go to or we need to take the full 3 hours to do the crawl to have time to rest our bellies between stops so we don't get sick. It's a great event. We found a few cute stores we wouldn't mind looking around in longer. I would definitely think about doing it again next year.

Sock Gnome Fun

Facebook told me the monthly Monday craft at Little Chute library is making gnomes. The pictures looked adorable. I need to go. Luckily the hubby had a game so it was perfect. I even managed to drag Danielle along.

We get to the library about 15 minutes after it starts. Little Chute Library craft night is drop in so no registration is usually required and you can get in and out rather quickly. I shocked to see that all the tables were pretty full. Usually there is a handful of people.

Danielle and picked up our supplies.. a grey sock, a colorful sock, some yarn pieces, a cup of rice with wooden nose, and some glue dots. Then we found some open seats and one of the librarians came over to give us directions.

The directions are pretty simple.

1. Pour rice into grey sock after taking out the nose for later use and tie it off.

2. Fold sock over the knot.

3. Glue yard to folded sock to make a beard using glue dots. Warning -- Glue Dots are as sticky as all get out. 

4. Add colored sock for a hat and glue on the nose.

5. Untwist the yarn to fill out beard.

6. Add accessories. I waited to get home to add my accessory. Danielle opted for no accessories. We could have made them Irish gnomes with shamrocks, rainbows, and pots of gold. I wanted a Brewer gnome.

I now have a cute gnome sitting on my computer at work.

I am so glad that Kimberly-Little Chute Library offers the drop in art activities on the fourth Monday. I don't have to sign up and if my schedule allow it I can drop in and create a cute project. If I don't feel like going, I don't have to. I will keep dropping in as long as they have this program and time allows. 

Titletown Winter Games

For the second year, US Venture and the Titletown District has come together to put on Titletown Winter Games. It is a chance for people to try winter sports they might not normally try. It's a two day free family event. Last year the weather was not very nice. This year I really wanted to try the luge.

Danielle and I headed to Green Bay. I was worried about parking and what not but we parked right in the Titletown lot and it was a short walk to the Winter Games. After signing my life away, I got my ticket to play. Danielle was just along to document everything.

The games included luge, curling, ice skating, figure skating, cross country skiing with the biathlon option, and ski jumping. I really wanted to try the luge, biathlon, and maybe ski jump.

We headed to the luge run which was being done on Arian's Hill. They were awarding prizes to the fastest times each day. In order to qualify you actually had to make it down the hill without crashing. Yeah, me and the walls were friends. I made it no father than half way down on either run. I decided that luge is not for me.

We skipped the curling since I've already had tried that once and like luge, it wasn't the sport for me. I really didn't need to ice skate. I might have been able to handle trying curling again since it was a smaller area and not full curling sheet but I decided to stay off the ice.

Next up was cross country skiing. I did this once back in high school. I figured this should be a piece of cake. After getting my skis on, I head out to do a loop around the football field. 50 feet later, I'm on my butt. I continuously landed on my butt every 50-100 feet. Apparently my balance isn't the greatest anymore (or maybe the ruts were causing me issues). Finally half way through, I got frustrated I attempted to take off my skis and walk back. I couldn't even get the dang things off but I successfully managed to take off the top strap of one of the skis. Just by doing this, I managed not to fall any more.

By this time, I'm cold and snow covered. I am no longer having fun. Snow down my pants is cold.

We skipped the biathlon only because the line was long. They used lasers instead of bullets. So I might have been safe. Ski jumping was out of the question since I probably would not land on my feet and end up on my butt in the snow again.The ski jump was only like two or three feet off the ground.

The Winter Games is a great idea. It gets people out and trying new activities. If you don't want to participate there were plenty of restaurants to visit as well as ice sculptures and music.

I probably won't go again only because I'm not all that keen on falling in the snow anymore.  I would definitely suggest checking it out in the future especially if you have kids. They would have a blast.

6682. Luge

The Titletown District and US Venture have sponsored the Titletown Winter Games for the last two years. One of the events you can try is luge. I've always wanted to try luge, skeleton, and bobsled. Those are among my favorites at the Winter Olympics. Skeleton and bobsled are actually on the original bucket list. Luge for some reason never made the original list.

Since the weather was supposed to be nice, Danielle and I planned on going to Green Bay for the winter games so I could luge. We get there and it started snowing.

I registered for the events and headed over to the luge which was being done on Arien's Hill. After a quick lesson in how to steer, I climb to the top of the hill carrying my luge. Unlike Olympic luge which is done on an icy, enclosed track, my luging adventure was done on a short, snow covered tubing hill. I probably wouldn't have attempted this if it was being done on an actual luge track.

One of the junior luge team members pushed me down the hill and off I went. I made it about half way down before I hit the wall and crashed. Apparently I forgot to lean into the wall as oppose to away from it. I walked the rest of the way down. I could feel the bruise already forming.

I did it. It was fun... but there was no video or pictures to prove I did this.

So I put my helmet back on, grabbed a new sled and head back up the hill. By this time there was a short wait to go down.

I should have skipped the proof and called it a day. My second run wasn't any better than the first. I made it about a 1/3 of the way down before crashing into the other wall. Again the whole lean into the wall is the bane of my existence.

But if you are going to wipe out, you might as well wipe out with style. I flipped the luge and slid a few feet on my stomach. One of the people in charge heard the thump when I hit the snow.

Okay so luge is not the sport for me. I was not going to try it a third time because either 3rd times a charm or 3 strikes and you're out. Knowing my luck, it would be the later one.

Despite the crashes, I had a blast. It was fast and fun. The hubby wasn't thrilled that I did this. I probably won't get to it again. However, if luge is on your bucket list head to Green Bay next winter for the Winter Games and give it a shot. Maybe you would actually make it down the hill.

260. Take an old-fashioned sleigh ride

When I saw that Fox Valley Driving Horse Association was going to offer free sleigh rides in Hortonville, I made sure to mark it on my calendar. Stacy and I tried to do this in December but there wasn't enough snow and we had wagon rides. Luckily we just had about 6 inches of snow a week ago and cold temperatures to keep the snow on the ground. Sleigh rides for all.

Danielle and I headed to Grandview Golf Course. After dropping off our can goods, we got our tickets and got in line. We arrived shortly after it started and it wasn't as busy as I expected. There was a short wait but they had multiple sleighs going. We probably waited about 10 minutes if that.

We were in a smaller sleigh pulled by only one horse and it was more of wagon than a sleigh but since it had runners and not skis under the wheels, it was definitely a sleigh in our book. I was kind of hoping for an old fashion bobsleigh but I won't complain. There were jingle bells on the horse and a horsehair blanket so definitely an old-fashion sleigh ride.

The ride lasted about 10-15 minutes and went around the golf course. It was a bit windy but it was still a beautiful day for a sleigh ride. We even saw a bald eagle.

There were many families there. It was a great family event that created some great memories. It is not every day that you can get pulled through a field on a horse drawn sleigh.

Hopefully Fox Valley Driving Horse Association will offer more of these events in the future and maybe just maybe one day the hubby will get to join me.

63. Go to the Russian ballet

When I put go to the Russian Ballet on the bucket list back in 2001, I really meant to see it in Russia. Who would have thought I would actually see it in Appleton. I picked up a FAN pass to see Cinderella Ballet at the PAC performed by the Russian National Ballet. I've never been to the ballet and thought this would be a good opportunity to go. I never even realized "go to the Russian Ballet" was on the original bucket list until later. I categorized it under European Highlights which since I'm not planning on going to Europe any time soon, I usually skip that section when reviewing my list.

I know the story of Cinderella.. who doesn't?? However to see it performed live at the ballet is an unique experience. The story line follows the tale of Cinderella to a extent but it is done entirely different. She still has a wicked stepmother and stepsisters along with a fairy godmother. There is still a ball and a prince and lost slipper. But there are several other twists to it such as foreign dignitaries who perform at the ball. Disney may have ruined the whole Cinderella story by adding mice and pumpkins...

The other thing I forgot about the ballet, at least initially, that it's all classical music for the most part and there's no talking or narrator. The movements tell the story. It was very graceful and intricate. I was on the edge of my seat most of the show trying to follow the story.

The ballet was very well done. The gracefulness and stamina of the dancers is amazing to watch. I have a DVD of the NYC Ballet work out so I recognized some of the movements but they were way more graceful and skilled that I would ever be.

Musicals and plays are still my favorite form of theater but the ballet is not bad. I would definitely go again especially since see The Nutcracker is on the bucket list.