A Wisconsin Vacation Photo Review

Written on 7-29-23.

        I am sitting in the basement of our VRBO in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  We came her for a Swoperton reunion, and the main event is/was the Air Show in Osh Kosh this week.  We went on the hottest day, Thursday, and it was so very hot, but it was so cool, too.  The Swopertons know and understand that Eric and Kyle are the two who get jazzed the most when it comes to anything aviation related, but everybody had a great time.  

Becca organized an album for all of us online to link our photos, and they have trickled in throughout the week to show what we have done.  Let me look at them to give an idea of what the past week was like.

First up, I see a picture of James and Casey kissing out by the fire pit while James is holding a sparkler someone found (I think it was Eric).  We had numerous conversations by that fire pit, but the twins didn’t like getting smokey, so we have since moved to the gas fire pit by the house.  We’ve had multiple conversations up there, too, of course.

I see a picture of Matt lounging and reading a book up on the top deck.  He joined the 50+ crowd up there when we first arrived.  Belinda and I got a picture sitting up there all relaxed and happy, too.  It was such a good picture of the two of us I shared it with my family.

I see pictures of Kyle and Eric with that silly visor that has...

auburn-tinted hair sticking out of the top.  They look pretty funny.  Does it belong to Eric?  We brought that out around the gaming/dining table.

Now, I am looking at a picture of Danielle, B, and Casey sitting in the back seat of our rented, dark maroon, Dodge Durango.  James is driving, and he is making a goofy face, and I am sitting and smiling in the passenger seat.  That was from when we picked up Danielle, and she was the last one to arrive.  She is on her sixth fire season, of course, and was out of the loop when we all bought our tickets.  

James, Casey, Danielle, and Amy flew back today.  I think Amy is meeting a friend in Boulder, though.

The next series of pictures are from the “Shebiken” bicycle tour that we took on Tuesday.  B and I paid for that excursion for everybody, and it was similar to sweaty exercise with drunk, young people.  The younger generation drank and pedaled, and the 50+ group simply pedaled.  Amanda and Belinda took turns being the odd “woman” out, because a couple of spots in the back had no pedals.  Danielle pedaled so hard that her chain broke.

I lost my iPhone and my attached Pelican wallet during this tour, but the bartender went outside the bar where we started and found it on the street.  Alan, our tour guide, called to let him know I had lost it.  Thankfully, he found it and none of the cards were missing and the screen protector was the only thing damaged.  I think.  I haven’t removed it yet to find out.  We went to many of the bars on the tour (despite the small lost iPhone retrieving detour), and I believe Matt had the best time of all of us.  His was definitely the loudest.

Next, I see a picture of the backyard here, and it’s stunning.  This whole house is spectacular.  I am in the “movie” room as I write this.  The backyard looks out over Lake Michigan, and it has the fire pit that I wrote about already, but there’s more. It also has a couple of trees for shade, a large picnic table, a swinging bench near an outdoor brick oven (is it redundant to say it’s an outdoor oven?).  This is area where Amy saw her first fireflies!  It was great for lounging.

I see many pictures of airplanes from the air show.  They had every kind of airplane, helicopter, and jet there.  It was amazing, and I feel Eric and Kyle got their fill.  It was so hot, I think they would not have gone back yesterday if given the choice, however.  Eric told me he would go every other day if he would have had the freedom from the other activities.

I see lots pictures from the beach.  We all went down to the beach yesterday, and we got a group photo that Becca and Danielle organized.  We are a good-looking group of people.  We did a little bit of each of these things: swimming, tossing the frisbee, peppering with a volleyball, and digging in the sand. 

This morning, we went to the Famers’ Market in the town plaza, and we bought fresh cherries, blueberries, and peaches.  I was talked into buying $3.00 worth of cucumber water, because I was being nice and having conversation with a “micro greens” guy.  I also helped pay for tonight’s steak dinner, and I am looking forward to that grass-fed, delicious taste!  Oh, and Eric bought some homemade pies.  I will want to go buy some vanilla ice cream to go with those.

All in all, just a wonderful summer vacation.