Outtakes and Sweet Memories from Our Trip

It just works out that on the final day of our trip recap, we offer some thoughts stories {and drooling} right out loud about our trip. And our out-loud thoughts on technology too. Those stories aren't as fun{ny to us}.

Click here to listen.

Well, I had just a few random photos I wanted to share, and they didn't fit neatly in with any other post, so today they appear here!

I think somebody loves his daddy!

She wanted me to do her hair for Sunday. Few things inspire more fear than having a child ask for a non-hair-doer to do hair ON THE LORD'S DAY. 

{I was short on caffeine. Excuse my vacant eyes.}

When the balloon floats downward just as you take the photo...

{He felt so miserable here but he was still being a trooper and playing balloons with Ruthie and me after church and before lunch.}

Helping Mr. Ryan roll up the air mattress.

I. Just. Die.

They're called cheese whips. They look questionable but taste delicious.

Someone was not as excited about me as I was about him.

Car karaoke. {Five hundred miles.}

He didn't.

Church library find...

...and another...

...and a couple more:

We crack ourselves up.

Ryan won the prize of the year for playing an animal sounds game with Ruthie on a long car ride:

Abram's thoughts???

It was a fun trip, although cold! Looking forward to seeing where our next adventure takes us!

It's a Dairy-Palooza!!!

Well, a week ago today, we were in considerably COLDER temperatures, taking in our last day in the lovely state of Wisconsin. The perk of taking a trip to a land where friends reside is having a built in travel guide with an inside scoop of what's best!

Ryan really wanted to see a cheese factory {we are both lovers of cheese} so Olivia and the kids took us to Henning's Cheese Factory in Kiel, Wisconsin.

That particular day, they were having a staff meeting, so we weren't able to take a behind-the-scenes tour, but they do have a whole area set aside for visitors to watch the factory happenings through windows. Ryan and I had no idea cheese-making was such a physically demanding job. The employees have to lift heavy blocks of cheese and work all day walking around on a concrete floor wearing big rubber boots. We appreciate their hard work for our delicious cheese!

We also got to watch some videos on the ins-and-outs of cheese making: 

These guys were cutting and flipping HUGE slabs of cheese, and then a few minutes, they'd cut the big block again and flip it again. Heavy work on a bent-over back!

 This guys was monitoring the cheese curds. Mmmmmmm. Warm, fresh Wisconsin cheese curds. Oh yes, please. {And we did help ourselves to samples when they were ready!}

 Tour guide junior, pointing out the workers.

 This guy had round containers that resembled large springform cheesecake pans, full of cheese, that he was putting through 2000 pounds of pressure...and then he'd add more pans and more pressure. Fascinating. 

We sampled cheese, because you must when you're in a real cheese factory. We did a little shopping...so we're still enjoying a literal taste of Wisconsin!

 Did some souvenir shopping too. {We...uh....got a Christmas ornament instead of these cheese hats.}

Also that day, we had a chance to go see one of the farms where Tom works as a full-time veterinarian. I did not realize that farms had staff vets, but I guess it makes a lot of sense if you have something in the neighborhood of 8000 cows! That's a lotta cows!

He actually works on two different farms, but they're both strictly dairy farms. He gave us a tour of the milking area and the grounds, and it was a lot of fun to see everything up close. {Possibly closer to a cow's rear end than I have ever been and probably as close as I really ever need to get.}

They milk 24/7/365 at this dairy, and here's a view of HALF the milking carousel.

And to prove we were there:

Tom explained to us all about the herds and how the cows are cared for and how they keep track of which ones are producing and which ones aren't...so much detail that I never would have imagined.

Then he walked us through the actual milking area and showed us where the milk goes and how they process it and chill it and feed it inot the milk trucks. Oh my goodness - the men who have the jobs of preparing the cows for the milking itself got our incredible respect. Another long, monotonous job that takes all day every day.

Tom took us into one of the barns where they feed the cows, and we even got to see a birth {from a bit of a distance}. Cracked me up that the mother ate all the way through the birth. Sounds like something I would have done. I'm having a baby? Well pass me some chocolate! {Clarification: I am not having a baby and the cow was not eating chocolate.}

Even got to see some newborns!

For the rest of our tour, Tom drove us through the farm, pointing out different buildings and explaining how they turn manure into energy {!?!?!!?} and how they mix all the food for the cows. Apparently cows, much like humans, would pick and choose their favorite foods and skip eating the rest. So they mix it all together so they can't pick out their favorites and they get all they need. WHO KNEW?!?!?!?

It was a fun and very educational day in the world of dairy. We appreciated them showing us around and taking time to let us peek behind the dairy scenes!!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we were still in Wisconsin, and we had the chance to attend church with Tom and Olivia {and hear the keynote speaker from the conference}. That afternoon, Olivia took us to a cute little coffee shop in their town, and that night, Ryan and I enjoyed some time alone together while they all went to their small group meeting. {Since it was our birthday trip, we figured, we needed some alone date time!}

 * Monday was our last day with Tom and Olivia, and while I haven't had a chance to tell you all about it yet, we got to visit a cheese factory {Ryan's big Wisconsin wish} AND go see the dairy farm where Tom works. Late that afternoon, we packed up our car to come home, since Ryan was still sick and needed to just get home to rest. The trip home was blissfully uneventful and MUCH less snowy than the trip UP!

* Tuesday, we had the entire day at home, and we had really been looking forward to that day of down time and productivity. Unfortunately we both had different goals out of the day and we failed to communicate them to each other and then everything that could go wrong DID {in the world of technology}, leaving us with no TV, no internet, and no smiles by the end of the day. {The one bright spot was we DID get to take a walk together!} Definitely not our best day and no way to end a vacation. 

 * Wednesday we returned to normal, and the cat and I curled up by the warmth of the sun coming through the window to work on computer stuff and do our devos and all that. I worked to do laundry and put things away, and I ended up with this one dish that I could not figure out my designated spot for. I'd had one, and then I used the dish, and then I couldn't remember where it was supposed to go. WHOOPSIE!!! And I spent my entire night on the phone with ebay and the US Postal Service, trying valiantly to win some justice for a purchase we made. My thoughts on THAT...

 * Thursday night, after Ryan got off work, we went back to our Marion house to get our lawn mower and some bookshelves, and spring was so beautiful there! :) On our way home, we went by Lowe's to pick up our new counter top for the wall we took down our first week in the new house. That thing is HEAVY. He's going to have to find muscular friends for that installation. I'm out.

* Friday was stunning, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood just because it was too pretty to stay inside! That night Ryan and I worked to clean out the shed, and then we put the cover on our new pirogi! Yep, our new house came with a pirogi, and while it is different from the last one we had, it is lovely and we are excited!

* Yesterday was a long day with hard work from sunrise to long after sunset, but it was so rewarding! We {along with my parents and our friends John and Sandee} moved all the stuff from our old garage to our new house. It was SO RELIEVING to get that all done!! There was a new{ish} donut shop in Marion that we ran out of time to try, so we made that our treat before the day began. OH. MY. WORD. It's good we're moving farther away. So grateful for the help of our friends and for a husband who perserveres in getting everything done well!

Random Fun in the Food World

I wanted to show you some of the random food fun Ryan and I had while we were in Chilton, Wisconsin, for our birthday trip!

After the Women's Break Away, Tom and Olivia took us out to eat. They took us to a pub that is known for fabulous fish {one of Ryan's FAVORITE things}. I am not a fan of fish, so I went the burger route, and I was told I couldn't escape without their famous cheesy potatoes, so let's just say this was not one of our healthier meals. But it lacked NOTHING in terms of deliciousness!

{They were hosting two surprise birthday parties at the restaurant that evening, so we appreciated them finding a spot for us in the corner, away from the madness!}

And then. OH. YOU. GUYS. The crowning moment of the entire food portion of the trip.

THIS.

 Scoops Ice Cream. Homemade ice cream in flavors to die for. I fancy myself a bit of a connoisseur of all things salted caramel and their salted caramel ice cream was absolutely the best I have ever had in my life.

 I mean seriously. The best I have ever had. The perfect amount of salt, real caramel syrup. Heaven in a cup.

Ruthie had "buh-lue" ice cream and she loved it.

Tom is a veterinarian on a dairy farm, and Sunday afternoon, he got called in to do surgery on a cow {a sentence I've never been able to type} so Olivia and the kids took Ryan and me to the Terra Verde coffee house in Chilton. It was delicious.

 Ruthie wanted to blow on Ryan's fresh brew since it was steaming.

 This one just cracked me UP.

Ryan and I stayed behind that evening while everyone else went to a small group meeting. It's possible we sneaked BACK to Scoops for more of that salted caramel ice cream.

{Ryan's pick was caramel cashew in a waffle bowl dipped in chocolate.}

Monday, in between fun stuff, Olivia took us to another coffee house in another town, Mud Creek Coffee, and it was delicious too!!

I want to pause to give a HUGE shout out to Olivia, who {on all the in-between meals} cooked healthy, clean eating food for us, complete with an abundance of fruits and veggies. She worked hard so I could keep as close to my plan as I could, but I didn't feel the least bit guilty about indulging in some of the local food fun while we were there! Thanks, Olivia, for working so hard so I could eat what I should!