Josh turns 16!

We started planning for Josh's 16th birthday, months in advance.  Josh did not want a big party or time with his friends, he asked for a family weekend away.  So we started to discuss heading to Camp Luther and hanging out, but then we realized the lake might still be frozen.  So finally we decided to head to Chicago for the weekend.  But at last, we forgot about baseball and the baseball schedule came out.  It had Josh playing a doubleheader in Madison.  But we decided that that would still work until he was changed to a different JV team and now his game was in Green Bay.  So reservations were changed and hotels were booked for Milwaukee.  Who would have guessed that the week before April 21st we would get a blizzard and there would still be snow on the ground?  So with baseball canceled, we decided to leave a little earlier for the birthday trip.

We started the day with a birthday breakfast for Josh.  He wanted pancakes and then we opened gifts.  Dave and I had decided that it would be too hard to drag along his birthday gift of skis! We made him head out on a scavenger hunt to find them.  Then we were off on our birthday adventure.








First stop was the Cheesecake Factory in Milwaukee.  Josh wanted cheesecake for his birthday, but unfortunately, we got the worlds worst server.  We told her it was Josh's birthday and she ignored us, she got our orders wrong and brought us the full-size portions instead of the lunch ones, so by dessert only Papa had room for cheesecake.



Then it was off to downtown for a surprise.  We parked and decided to walk the riverwalk until we found our next location.  It was actually turning into a nice day.  Our surprise for the boys was the Safe House.  Because it was a birthday, we could not give the password but all had to bow before King Josh. The boys did the scavenger hunt and we had appetizers in the Newsroom Bar.


Next, we checked into our hotel and the guys took a nap, while John, Nana and I went for a walk to the stores close by and then to Starbucks. Since the naps through the timeline off, we decided to go to dinner first. Josh requested Red Robbin.  While we waited for a table we checked out Barnes and Noble and the mall that was attached to Red Robbin.  We had free appetizers and Josh did not turn down his birthday ice cream sundae!


It was time for another surprise and so we headed to Brookfield and to Dave and Buster.  Everyone had fun playing games and we discovered we are still addicted to the tractor pushing coin games.  Grandma Ohlson would have been right in there with us.













Our time ended early as Dave and Busters was closing for a high school prom after party. It was determined that Josh still had not gotten his birthday cheesecake, so at 11pm the seven of us headed back to the Cheesecake Factory for another try.  This time we were on the other side of Milwaukee and it turned out to be a great experience.




After a restful night of sleep, we woke up and headed back downtown to Discovery World.  The positive thing was it was earth day so it was free, the negative thing was it was earth day and it was free.  Needless to say, it was crowded, but we were there early enough that we could see most of it before it got too crowded.  We then headed back to Dave and Buster for a little more time playing and finally a quick stop at Culvers for a birthday milkshake and a sundae for Josh to cap our his outing. 










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Robin

Image
Working from home has brought me the opportunity to increase my appreciation of my home and nature around. Every year a pair of robins tries to build a nest above my front door. Normally we keep cleaning it off and work hard to keep that nest from forming above the door, but this year I decided to let them construct their nursery. Everyone was excited when four little blue eggs were added to the nest and we all watched eagerly, waiting daily for the eggs to hatch. Then one day, we saw one of the robins bending down and sure enough, four little birds were in the nest. They were so small that their beaks did not even reach the top of the nest when they opened their mouth for their parents to feed them. Day by day they grew until we looked yesterday, and it almost looked like four grown robins in the nest. They started bantering for spots and occasionally moved (or were pushed) out on to the window ledge. It seemed like overnight the birds had grown from helpless to ready to leave.
Read more

The New Puppy

Image
Hi, my name is Jean Luc.   13 years ago I was adopted into the Nolan family and became Laura and Dave’s first child.   Life was great for the first 3 years.   Then one day they brought home a baby.   I punished my mom for 6 months and would not sit with her.   Unfortunately, it did not work and the baby stayed, so I gave up and went back to sitting on my mom’s shoulder.    So we all settled into life. Three years later they showed up with another baby.   By this time I had learned how to ignore these little people and it really did not bother me.   They did their thing and I did my thing.   Turns out that only worked so well.   I guess boys want dogs and my being cranky was not working for them. Ryan kept begging for a dog.   My parents almost gave in last fall, but when they took me to meet the dog at the humane society, I acted scared and my mommy felt bad for me.   But then this weekend happened.   Nana and Papa took mommy and the boys to a pet expo, next thing I know is
Read more
Image
Good Bye By Bandit Since Jean Luc was the one who introduced me to this blog, mom decided that I should be the one to write the goodbye to my brother.  I joined the family 3 years ago and during that time we became good buddies.  At first, I do not think that Jean Luc was very fond of me, but in the end, we could often be found sleeping side by side.  I would also run and wake him up if he did not wake up when the family came home, so that he would not miss out on our family time.   Jean Luc's was much older than me, in fact, he would have been 17 years old on July 7th. My mom and dad joked that he was their first child, at least that is what it felt like when they first brought him home and he woke them up at night.  When you look back on it the fact that Jean Luc and Dave and Laura found each other is a miracle from God in the first place.   It was Labor Day 1999, and Dave and Laura decided to use the long weekend to visit Dave's mom, Rosi.  Since it was a 1
Read more