What Up August! Where did you go?!

Seriously, August is almost over?!   Ugh, so sad to think the summer of 2012 is almost dunzo. 

I do enjoy keeping a log of what we have been up to during the summer to look back on someday, so here goes:

We participated in the Miller Park Sausage 5K at the end of July.  Proceeds benefited the Fisher House Wisconsin which provides a "Home Away From Home" for military and veteran's families to stay close to their family member during hospitalization.  Tara and I walked this event and Chris ran the 5K.  We had no idea it would snake us through the stadium which was a cool surprise.  In fact, the excitement of running through the stadium gave Chris that extra boost to finish in his best time ever. 

Yes, Tara and I stopped in the midst of it all and took pictures:

In the dugout.  To quote Tara; "Ryan Braun's ass was here".

We may or may not be drinking a beer here at 9:30 a.m.

Afterwards Chris and I had our car already packed to head to Harrington Beach State Park to camp for the night.  Thanks to Karis who had written about this state park on her Milwaukee Blog which got me interested enough to reserve the last campsite they had available for that weekend.  Riding around the campground, we decided that this would have been the campsite we would have favored had we gotten a choice.  Large, shaded and quite private.  Although, we did manage to get in trouble right as quiet hours had started because the music playing from our Ipod was too loud.  Really? 

We rode our bikes and relaxed at the beach most of the day which had a really nice breeze.  I never got past putting my feet in the water because the breeze did keep me cool and I'm glad because on the way out we noticed a sign about e-coli in the water.  I also got a lot of 50 Shades of Grey reading time in.

On the agenda that night:  brat burgers and beers.  It was a great night away with just the two of us.

I also took a day off work and attended the State Fair all day with Tara, Erik, our friend Tara2 and my Dad.  We also met up with Chris, Dan, Anna & Liam that night.  Going to State Fair is a tradition going way back with our Dad.  He would take us three girls to the State Fair each summer and we would get to ride all the fair rides we wanted as long as we would switch on and off and behave as we walked through the expo centers.  We loved watching all the people selling things, getting my Dad to buy said things, eating and enjoying the games and rides in the fairway.  We would literally go all day from mid-morning to sunset, sometimes even staying overnight in hotels. 

So, with all that said, naturally I was game for taking the day off for a good old fashioned fair day.  Tara and I decided to pool $20 each and use that towards sharing food.  We sampled a lot of goodies.  First up, the Hot Wisconsin cheese curds of course.  These are a State Fair must. 

Next stop was Machine Shed for the firecracker chicken.  These were a miss.  For one because they were deep fried and then sitting in a warmer, therefore not very crispy like I would like to have a chix strip.  Secondly because the sweet batter flavor combined with the jalapenos just didn't work together, plus they didn't have any dipping sauce besides packets of ranch.  Eww.

Next stop was the deep fried stuffing at Rupenas.  This was by far the best item we tried this year.  They serve it with a side of gravy.  I'm debating trying to recreate it and perhaps deep frying a few items for something different at our next bbq.

We also sampled the Brewtons at Water Street Brewery.  Two deep fried wontons stuffed with a chicken and cream cheese mixture.  Meh, they were just ok.  Not a lot of filling.

My Dad lead us through the Wisconsin Pavillion later that afternoon so that he could get a polish sausage topped with peppers and onions.  That sandwich was a steal at just $3.00.  Tara and I decided to splurge and get a grilled cheese there for $2.00.  If you want good food for a great price, this is a pavillion to visit.  I think you can get slices of pizza for just $1.50.

Other foods I sampled:  a steak sandwich from the Steak Stop as a co-worker said it is the best steak sandwich ever.  It was pretty good, very tender and I am sometimes leary of steak sandwiches because they usually are tough to just bite into.  It was served with lettuce and tomato which I also liked.  Chris went with the Goolsby's bacon cheeseburger (of course) which I also sampled.  Same with the fresh cut french fries and tater tots with cheese.  It is easy to try different things when you go with so many people.  Surprisingly, I never tried any dessert and the State Fair is known for deep fried treats!

Of course, the Tara's and I did manage to go on a ride called the Freak Out for $5.00 a pop.  We go on it every year.  Totally worth it as I love being swung around high in the air while screaming and laughing.  It is a good release! 

Here we are with Dad right after meeting up with Anna, Dan & Liam.

 

Liam also turned two and had a pool birthday party with just family.  Anna went with a beach theme and even made cake pops to look like beach balls, inspired by Bakerella.  Tara and I were recruited to help, although I was more the dog watcher and babysitter than the helper.  The cake pops were a bit too meticulous for my shaky hands! 

Liam and I were in charge of handing the cake pops to Tara for dipping and I would grab each one from the freezer, hand it to him and he would pass it to Tara.  He would beam with pride every time Tara would say 'thank you' as loved to be helping.  Then he would get so excited for us to pass the next one to her.  This would make me giggle, which would get him to giggle to imitate me, causing me to go into full blown laughter and then he would do the same thing.  Tara and Anna had to turn around at one point to see just what the two of us were laughing  at when we were really just laughing at each other.  That laugh and smile of his is just so catching!

This is his cheesy smile after blowing out his bday candles on his cake pop.

I also had the pleasure of brunching with some wonderful ladies just this past weekend.  Some of whom I've briefly met, but feel like I somewhat know since we have been reading each other's blogs for awhile now.  It is always refreshing to meet new people and while we all have similar interests,  (like taking pictures of our food), surprisingly the conversation wasn't just about food as let's face it, women always have things to talk about!  Karis seved an amazing brunch of homemade cinnamon- sugar donuts, a greek yogurt bar and a vegetarian frittata.  If you want to learn how to make homemade cinnamon-sugar donuts, check out Karis' blog to find that and other vegetarian recipes.  I will be buying a donut pan soon to make the donuts! 

From left to right:  Karis, Lisa and Alysha. 

 

This past weekend Chris also participated in the Warrior Dash in Johnsons Creek for the first time.  I have a lot of pictures from that, so that will have to get its own post.