We have developed our first tradition since moving here, which it to visit the parks on Lake Michigan on Sunday evenings for dinner.  This usually entails getting together with some friends or family and taking a picnic to the lakefront in late afternoon, followed by playtime and dinner.  Last week we were enjoying dinner with grandparents Gary and Linda when a bus pulled up and several dozen college mascots jumped out.  We met the Cincinnati Bearcat (and I learned that the bearcat is a real animal known as a Binturong) and the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

We also met the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Panther and the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher.

But my favorite was the unidentified mascot below who has unmistakeable Sean morning hair.

As for Everett, he was a little freaked out by these people but eventually started warming up to them.

Another tradition we started this summer is visiting the Wisconsin State Fair which is held at the fairgrounds about a mile from our house.  It’s all about cream puffs, rock bands from the 1980s and getting in touch with our agricultural roots.  Highlights this year:

1. Chocolate covered bacon on a stick.  Both Melissa and I tried this and had a few thoughts.  First, the chocolate is messy, especially on hot summer afternoons while trying to eat off a stick.  Second, the flavors don’t really mix.  Instead we both tasted chocolate, then bacon, both delicious.

2. The Herb Kohl Milk House, where you can get any flavor of milk (and I do mean ANY flavor) for 25 cents:

3. Timber Tina’s World Champion Lumberjills who performed ax throwing, log cutting and log rolling.  They were fantastic.

A third tradition we participated in is ‘Tosa Night Out, which is a safety fair and concert they hold at Hart Park in early August.  The event ends with an organized flashlight walk at dusk which happens to run in front of our house:

I’ll end this blog entry with a video of Everett’s first bike ride, which will hopefully become another new tradition for us: