Christmas with Granddaughters

,It was a wonderful Christmas with our granddaughters, Chloe and Avery.  They bring so much joy to the holiday.  They are quite young and still do not quite understand the holiday but Chloe did love opening presents. 

Annual VA Hospital Christmas Visit

Candy gifts for the vets

Our Legion Riders group spent the evening visiting the veterans at the Zablocki Medical Center.  We always visit the paraplegic ward during the holidays.  A neighborhood elementary school makes and gives us hand-made Christmas cards to give to the veterans.  We take along little packaged of candy wrapped in red and green and my daughter, Jen gives us baseball-style caps from Harley-Davidson.  The vets are always thrilled to get the hats.  Even the hospital staff like the hats (we had a few left over to give them as well).  It was a heartwarming experience to spend some time with these heroes.  And we are glad to be able to do it.

Legion Riders at the VA Hospital

Vets receive quilts made by my church group



The group hands out Harley hats and candy

Oak Creek Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Grandpa and Chloe at the ceremony

We took our granddaughters to the city of Oak Creek's Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. It was a beautifully, warm day as December goes, around 45 degrees. Chloe has just the liner from her winter coat on, and it was perfectly comfortable. As the fire truck turned the corner with its sirens blaring, Chloe didn't seem to notice. She was having too much fun running around outside. 
When the fire truck stopped, Santa Claus got out and walked over to the stage where he introduced his helper, a child that was chosen to help him flip a switch. A few aldermen spoke then they turned on the lights and everyone cheered. The entire event took approximately 15 minutes, which was nice. No long speeches by politicians, just a quick introduction of Santa and viola! - the light were on. Chloe still didn't seem to care much. Maybe next year when she is a little older she will be excited about the whole event. Obviously, Avery didn't care either. At any rate, we all were glad to be outside getting some fresh air.

Santa shows up, sirens blaring to the ceremony

Santa getting ready to flip the switch

Avery at the tree lighting



Chloe at the tree lighting

Packer Games are Awesome

Just on a whim, I emailed my son and told him I had two extra tickets to the Packers game on November 4th and I offered them to him and his wife.  Since they live in LA, it was more of a jesture than and expectation.  His wife was feeling homesick so I thought if they even had an inkling about heading to Wisconsin, I thought this would give them a little nudge. 

Little did I know that he would email back less than an hour later to say he was coming, however, his wife was too busy at work to take the time off.  It sure was a little twist since she was the one to was homesick, yet he was the one booking a flight to MKE.  One of his closest friends, Khanh was going to take the other ticket.  Wow. What a pleasant surprise, he was really going along.

Jeff contacted our friend who books a luxury bus to the game and secured us some seats on the bus.  We love riding with this group.  They are so very generous and throw the most amazing tailgate party ever. We drank bloody marys on the ride up to Green Bay, ate steak sandwiches at the tailgate party and got to sleep on the ride back home.  It's the most perfect way to go to Lambeau. 

It was perfect tailgating weather, chilly, not raining or snowing and not windy.  That's amazing for any November day in Wisconsin.  We ate, drank, socialized, and ate and drank some more before we headed into the game. 

Since this game falls close to Veterans' Day, there was a tribute to veterans as part of the game-opening ceremonies.  We all had a poster on our seats that we were supposed to hold up at a specific moment, prompted by a person down on the field holding up a sign telling us to raise our posters.  I just had to peek around mine to see what it looked like.  I did get a shot of it with my camera, just before the military fly-by.  It was enough to give me goosebumps.

Being at Lambeau is one of the best experiences ever.  No matter how many times I've been there, it is still breathtaking and awe inspiring.  The history and heritage here is something that must be experienced.  I love every minute of being there.  And it's a bonus when the Packers win.  I am so glad we all got to go to the game together.

Welcome Avery Grace

Chloe and Avery

Last week our beautiful new baby granddaughter was born.  She was 10 pounds and 7.7 ounces and 21 inches long at birth - such a big and happy girl.  She has lots of beautiful dark hair just like her mother.  And as you can see, she is a lot different than her sister who was pretty bald (then blonde) when she was born.  I love the contrast between the two girls already.

The Kahn Wedding

Cincinnati Art Museum

My cousin Terry's son got married this past weekend. The wedding and the reception that followed were held at the Cincinnati Art Museum. It was the most beautiful place for a wedding. I felt like I was in a movie, with all the white chairs lined up perfectly in the courtyard of the museum while we were served champagne and cocktails and appetizers before the reception. It was a perfect setting.

Erica is a bridesmaid

Maren & Finn are the flower girl and ring bearer

The beautiful bride, Chris

The bride and groom, Chris and Adam

Aunt Florence, me and Uncle Ray

The wedding was a short ceremony surrounded by friends and family; I don't think there more than 100 people in attendance. Since my cousin and her husband and family live in Cincinnati, we do not see them often. Sadly, not many members of our family made the trek to Ohio, but what was nice for us is that we got some quality one-on-one time with my cousin's family. We sure felt special, and it is always wonderful hanging out with my aunt Florence and uncle Ray as well as my cousins, Michelle and Tom.


The bride and groom - dinner at the reception

 

It was hard to take photos and try not to intrude on the ceremony so I did as best as I could. The wedding photos didn't turn out too well but I did ask the couple if I could take this shot.  A nice different twist on one of the customs at the reception was that there was no bridal party table at dinner. The bridal party sat with their family and friends, interspersed around the room and the bride and groom had their own little dinner table. It was pretty neat. 



Korean wedding garments worn at the rehearsal dinner

The night before at the rehearsal dinner, Terry had a photographer make a portrait of the couple in their traditional Korean wedding clothing. It was a surprise for the bride and groom and was quite appropriate to have their portrait displayed at the end of a row of art on display within the museum.

Milwaukee Air Show 2012

 Our Granddaughter, Chloe loves airplanes.  She always has.  Since she knew what they were, she would run outside when she heard one or if she was outside, she would stop what she was doing to point them out. That can be a difficult thing since we live 3 miles south of the airport.  Play was interrupted all the time. So we take her to the airport on occasion just to watch the planes take off and land. 

And then there's the air show.  We get VIP passes to the event.  Chloe is mesmerized by the planes and she never tires of them.  For three hours she ooohed and aaahed with every loop and low flyby and aerial trick.  It is so much fun to watch her amazement.  Since her grandpa loves the planes since his Navy days, he is thrilled to share the joy with her.

A Sad Day in our Neighborhood

I know it's hard to see the helicopter in the photo but I took this from my front yard.  I've had to hear the sound of this helicopter as well as others for the past few days.  Considering the situation in my neighborhood, it's a small price to pay compared to what happened to the Sikhs this last Sunday.  On August 5, 2012, a mass shooting took place at the Sikh Temple here in Oak Creek with a single gunman killing six people and wounding four others. (I actually took that sentence from the Wikipedia page regarding the subject.)

The temple is very close to our house, when I take my granddaughter for walks, we get pretty close to it. That Sunday morning, the neighbor went house to house telling people to turn on the news.  The first reports that came in said they didn't know how many gunmen were on the loose so we were all locked down in our homes.  It was terrifying and somewhat surreal.  We are in a neighborhood where the sounds of children playing and people walking by is so common, especially on such a beautiful summer's day.  And now there was no movement on the streets, not even a car going by.  It was a type of fear I never knew before.

 

As the day went on, we would learn about a single, sick person who did this horrible thing. These quite, gentle people who never bother anybody do not deserve such hate, no one does. This is not the Oak Creek that I know and love. And not the kind of thing that anyone could have anticipated happening to a group of people just going about their business.

New York to Ohio to Home

After a busy day being tourists yesterday, we probably weren't going to make many stops today.  We did stop at the Buffalo Harley-Davidson store though.  I loved how they actually had a buffalo in the store.  It was a life-sized statue covered with signatures from people who all stopped in during the Harley 100th Anniversary celebration.  Maybe some of them were on their way to Milwaukee. 

I could think of a few places to see in this town like the Buffalo Bills' stadium, however we were getting tired and were ready to head home.  The only other stop we made was in Sandusky, Ohio where we met the most amazing people.  I learned that Sandusky is the home of the world's best amusement park.  The views of Lake Erie were gorgeous.  It was the kind of town I could stay in for a day or two just to hang out. 

 

Our last day of travel was hot but enjoyable until we hit the Chicago traffic/construction.  It gets a little stressful getting through there even though we expected it.  We were very happy to have an iPass to make the tools easier to deal with.  We pulled into our own driveway before 2 pm, unpacked and laid around the rest of the day.  It felt good to be off the bike and home safe and sound. 

 

 

These are two of my favorite photos of us from the trip.

Vermont and New York



As we headed back towards Milwaukee, we knew there were many places we wanted to stop along the way.  The first on the list was Quechee Gorge in Vermont.  The views here are incredible and with all the pine trees, the smells were heavenly.  It was like being surrounded by Christmas trees. After we gazed and wandered the area we prepped for some serious riding towards New York State.  

Quechee Gorge

The ride through New York took us to Cooperstown, the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  I think Jeff was in heaven.  All the plaques of his favorite players, the larger-than-life displays, the baseball art, even the old lockers and memorabilia from each team in the league were all on display.  There was so much to see we spent the whole afternoon there. 



National Baseball Hall of Fame

I was surprised by the location itself.  The building is tucked away in a little strip of shops and restaurants.  It was not a building that stood out at all.  And Cooperstown itself embraced the baseball theme with a amusement park and baseball complex for Little Leaguers and the like to play in tournaments.  This was a city geared for kids and their love of all things baseball.  It was a great place to hang out on a beautiful day. 

The trip would not be complete without a photo of Jeff in his umpire pose.  It was so fun to be here!

National Baseball Hall of Fame Courtyard

New Hampshire and Maine

Laconia

Today is touristy day for us. We are ignoring the rally and heading out to see it sights.  It is very hilly and so lush and green here. The air is so fresh. We took a ride through the hills and headed towards the east coast.
There are lots of little organic farms in the area.  I love how old some of the buildings are. It's amazing that some have been standing for centuries. Some you can tell have been updated but some look like they stood the test of time. Unfortunately, we didn't stop to get any photos of them.  If I did that, we wouldn't have gotten very far, there are too many cool old buildings everywhere you look, it's a nice reminder that we are near the colony states that started it all. 

We passed Lake Winnipesaukee which is the lake where Mitt Romney and his family spend their time in their fancy boat.  That's about all I know about that.

Lake Winnipesaukee

As we rode towards the coast I was amazed at all the quaint little towns.  Some were picture perfect.  Of course the down side of that is that they are also tourist attractions so we rode straight through.  It was a day of solitude away from the crowds so we just took it all in from a distance.


Old Orchard

We stopped at Old Orchard Beach, a small town in Maine right on the Atlantic Ocean.  The people were friendly and the town looked just like you see in movies, big porches on houses with clapboard siding all along the shore. The sign on the post was a reminder of all the bad things we do to ourselves and our world. 
After we walked the beach we rode over to Joseph's by the Sea, a wonderful restaurant in Old Orchard Beach right on the water.  The views were incredible.  Unfortunately it was too windy and as the sun was setting, getting too chilly to sit outside for dinner.  The ocean breeze is a little too strong to enjoy.

As we headed back to Laconia I realized that I just rode all these miles on a motorcycle and stepped in the Atlantic Ocean, a far cry from Milwaukee. What an incredible journey!



Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

New Hampshire - Day 2

We had breakfast at the hotel and took our time getting out the door.  We rode to Weirs Beach/Lobster Pound to attend the bike rally.  We parked our bike among the hundreds of other bikes there for the rally.  Since it was still before noon, it wasn't terribly busy.  There were vendor booths lined up along the lake as well as along the road.  We took our time walking from vendor to vendor looking at all the familiar things that were for sale.  After attending a few bike rallies, it seems that the items for sale are all pretty much the same, the only thing that changes is their names. 

We like to collect patches from events like this. One can only own so many t-shirts and the patches are easier to deal with so we bought some Laconia Bike Rally 2012 patches from the first vendor we saw that had them. Usually I will find a piece of costume jewelry to buy but I wasn't much for shopping today so I skipped it, or maybe nothing appealed to me, or maybe a combination of the two. We took our time working through the crowd along the water, then along the main road.  We saved the Harley area for last since Jen would be there.

One of the people who was at the Harley tent was a man who works with fibers. His company created a fiber coating that wicked away water and didn't leave behind the stinky smell that most fabrics like this did (like Under Armour, for example).  He was interesting to talk to.

One of the most fun things to do at the rally was under the Harley tent. They had an area set up where you could take a part off of a motorcycle and if you did it in less than two minutes you got a $15 Harley gift card.  Jen said she did it in a lot less than two minutes and it was a really easy way to get $15. So we watched two people give it a shot. One guy did it in less that two and a woman went over the two minutes so she was disqualified.  Jeff went next and easily took the part off with time to spare.  Both Jen and Jeff were trying to convince me to do it.  I was apprehensive - I didn't want to be embarrassed by getting beat by the clock.  After much debate I determined that we weren't leaving this area until I did it.  So surprisingly, I took the saddle bag off (just three bolts to remove!) in just over 1 minute.  It was pretty entertaining and easy money. 

After that, Jen took her lunch break and we all went over to the Lobster Pound where Jeff got the lobster roll.  It was a little better than average rally food, but nothing we would recommend which was no real surprise.  Like I said, rally food.

New Hampshire - Day 1

The hotel room Jen has is a 2-bedroom suite.  It is basically an apartment with plenty of room for all three of us although none of us plan on spending much time there.  With Jen working all day every day, we are on our own until after 6pm. It's in Gilford, not far from Laconia, yet far enough that the traffic shouldn't be too horrible.

We decided that we would not go to any of the rally events until tomorrow assuming that local people who were attending would be at work so it could possibly be less busy.  So we will explore the area like a tourist should. On our way out of town, we stopped at the Laconia Harley dealer and bought Jeff a souvenir t-shirt. Not surprisingly, the place was packed so we had to park in the overflow lot across the street from the dealer.  Busy or not, we are glad to have that checked off of our to-do list.

Laconia, NH Area

Gilford, Meredith, Franklin, Alton are all towns around Laconia. Then there's Lake Winnipesaukee, Lake Winnisquam, Paugus Bay and Opechee Bay.  The city is surrounded by water and is full of rolling hills as a result of the White Mountains.  It is pretty here and all the little towns are quaint and the buildings are aged but well kept.  It reminds me of our visits to Door County, Galena and Cedarburg.  In order to make the most of this trip, as always, a stop at a quilt shop was on the agenda.  Amazingly, Keepsake Quilting which is considered a quilter's mecca is located in Center Harbor, just 20 miles away.  KQ is a world renown catalog with a retail store as well.  This is where I like to spend my tourism money. Lucky for me, Jen has a suitcase that is only half-full and I can fill up the other half with my souvenirs so I bought a fat quarter sampler with 80 different fabrics! (as well as a few other things). Which is something I could never do if I had to take it back on the bike.

Keepsake Quilting Center Harbor, NH

After shopping we asked the sales clerks if they could recommend a place to get lunch.  They suggested we head to Canoe.  It was about a block and a half away so we chose to walk.  With close to 1,200 miles under our belts this trip, a walk would do us some good. The place was perfect.  We ordered a selection of white wines and enjoyed a fantastic variety of seafood dishes.  Jeff had a seafood chowder and I had a fish sandwich then we shared a dish of vanilla ice cream made by a local shop that used local, organic milk.  It was all delicious.  We enjoyed the walk back to the bike to work off some of the great lunch. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon riding to Portsmouth, NH.  It is a costal town where we assumed we could step into the Atlantic Ocean. We rode Highway 1 into town and took a turn on Market Street.  It was definitely a tourist spot loaded with restaurants and shops. As it turned out, the town is really located on the Piscataqua River which opens into the Atlantic Ocean.  From this vantage point, we could see the Naval Shipyard across the river and the Atlantic Ocean behind it, but we weren't going to get close enough to walk in the water.  

Naval Shipyard

We took a walk through the area. There was so much history here. We stumbled upon a building that was constructed in 1716. 

Before heading back towards Laconia, we thought we would stop and have a cocktail somewhere.  We walked into a brewpub appropriately named Portsmouth Brewery.  It was there that we talked with a local man who had a lot to say about the area.  We learned all about the Smuttynose Ale we were drinking as well as the city.  We got back on the bike to be back at the hotel just in time to meet up with Jen and her Harley co-workers for a really nice dinner at the Lyons Den in Golford. 

By the end of the evening, I felt like I had accomplished an entire vacation full of experiences. I left Jeff outside of the hotel where a bunch of Harley employees were enjoying old fashioneds.  He and Jen joined in and hung out quite late after I went to bed.