Door County 2015

John and I had already made the reservations for a Door County Weekend for our anniversary on June 12, but things changed in the fact that John got a job.

More on that later.

He was due to start tomorrow (Monday) and there would be no vacation for awhile as is the case with new jobs, so we changed our plans, changed our reservations, and took off for Door County this past weekend.

The weather didn't sound all too promising for Saturday with cool temps and rain, but we put the bikes on the car and took off.

As soon as we got up there on Friday around 1:00, we took a bike ride on the Sunset Trail in Peninsula State Park.  It was a gorgeous day for a ride and the trail is so nice.

 Getting ready to ride.  We parked on the street near the entrance and rode in to avoid paying the fee.  We have a sticker but we could not find it, so we did it this way.

 Took time to sit on the big chair in front of Julie's restaurant.  Sometime we will have to eat there.

 This sign was posted as we entered the park.  We climbed this tower on our trip to Door County on New Year's Eve and now look it is unsafe.  John mentioned as we were climbing it in December that it seemed unsafe.  Lucky we made it down with our luck!

 Just some pretty scenery along the trail.

 The trail.

So many pretty places to stop along the trail.

We checked into our motel.  This time we stayed at The Voyager and it was great.

I wanted to do a fish boil this time, so we decided to go to the Viking Grill and have a traditional fish boil there.

It was lots of fun and tasted so yummy.

 Boil over!

After our delicious fish boil meal, we went back to Husby's Garage in Sister Bay and enjoyed a few beers in their outside bar.

It was a great first day in the Door.

On Saturday, it was in the low 50's and rainy.

The rain stopped by 10:00 so we decided to head to the Cana Lighthouse.

We had a great tour of the lighthouse and climbed to the top.

It was so windy and cold on the top, that a smaller person could have blown off, I think.

We really wanted to go to Washington Island on Saturday so after our Lighthouse tour, we did take the ferry over to the Island.

It was a rough ride with big waves and wind.

We did have our bikes on the car, but we never took them off, it was too cold and windy to ride.

We did drive around the Island and take in some of our favorite sites.

 We enjoyed some lawyer, which is a delicious fish, at this restaurant for lunch on the Island.

We had actually eaten at this restaurant on our last visit to the Island which was about 14 years ago.

 We stopped at school house beach which is one of only five beaches in the world with these smooth stones.

It is beautiful but the wind and cold put a damper on it.

We spent about three hours on the Island.

It was fun despite the weather.

When we got back to the mainland, we took some ABC photos in downtown Ephraim, Fish Creek, and Egg Harbor.

After that we headed over to JJ's in Jacksonport.

JJ's is one of our favorite restaurants.  I love their fish tacos and their salsa.

The margaritas are yummy, too.

On Sunday, we woke up to temps in the 50's and sun.

We decided to go to our two favorite spots, Cave Point and Whitefish Dunes.

We took a three mile hike which included Mt. Baldy, the highest sand dune on Lake Michigan.

We enjoyed a lunch of leftover salsa and chips.

It was a great way to end our stay in the Door.

 On top of Old Baldy

 On our way home, we got to end the weekend the best way ever with a stop in Oshkosh to have dinner with the girls.

Now we are back home and trying to get things in order for the upcoming week.

I start my tutoring and John is starting his new job.

Bring it on!

Sherri's Shots and Mrs. Damman's Summer Scholars

When John lost his job, yet again, I started to think creatively to make a little extra money.

My daughter, Courtney, who successfully runs two businesses that she started, suggested that I tutor Preschoolers for the summer.

Thus began my Mrs. Damman's Summer Scholars program

I have a full schedule on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and am looking forward to starting this endeavor next week.

Business number one.

Now let me tell you about my second business.

Two years ago, at the Cow Chip craft fair, John and I saw some alphabet photos that people had made into photo collages.

The idea intrigued us so much that we went around Sauk City and took photos of anything that resembled an alphabet letter.

That Christmas I made photo collages for all family members who liked them, but that was the end of that or so I thought.

About two months ago, the idea was reborn when a friend of Alissa's noticed the collage I had made for her and asked if I would make her one.

Here is the one I created for her:

The Brockmans loved it and I got paid.

I also made collages for two 8th graders at St. John's for their confirmation.

Here they are:

 We actually used photos from around St. John's to make them meaningful.

I am making one for each of my nieces who we will see this summer.

So far, I only have Katherine's done:

I have made one more for a friend who is giving it as an anniversary gift and I have two more orders for Father's Day gifts.

I am really hoping that my little business takes off and I make a little money on it.

If any of my readers are interested in one of these unique, individualized gifts, just go to my Facebook page, Sherri's Shots.   You can find it by typing it into the search bar.

If you are not a facebook user and would like to order one, just send me a message on her or at dammanw@aol.ocm and I will be in touch.

Think graduations, anniversaries, weddings, or Father's Day.

I will do any theme that you may want (sports, architecture, nature, toys, etc.)

We are headed up to Door County this weekend and I plan on taking many photos up there.  I see letters in everything lately.

Oh, and by the way, John is starting a new job on Monday.

Totally a different area, something brand new to him, but we feel God has led us there.

Thanks for all the prayers on our behalf.

Memorial Day and a few new ventures

It's Memorial Day.

It's rainy and windy, but that is okay because we took our annual bike ride on Saturday and the weather was perfect.

My last day of school was Friday.

It is always bittersweet to say "Good By" to a school year.

Sweet because everyone loves and needs a summer break.

Bitter because it means that I have to say "Good by" to some preschoolers that I will never see again as they go off to classrooms away from St. John's.

I always pray that I have served them well and given them a good start and a great love for learning.

After school on Friday, John and I took Soli back to Oshkosh. 

She had been with us since Thursday.

She was able to be in our all school spring sing on Thursday night.

My kids sang "It's a Small World" and "The Micky Mouse march."

They did good.

Back to Friday.

We took Soli home and surprised Tiz by picking her up from school.

We all rode our bikes to the zoo.

Went out for pizza and called it a night.

On Saturday, John and I left for our annual bike ride to Point Beach State Park.

The weather was perfect.

We had a good ride and enjoyed our lunch by the lake.

After our ride we rewarded ourselves with a three dip sundae at Beerntsens in Manitowoc.

We had door county cherry with cherry sauce, chocolate with caramel, and vanilla with a shot glass of hot fudge.

It was so good.

We went back to Oshkosh to stay at the Van Auken B and B.

They were camping.

We had dinner at Beckett's and it was so yummy.

I had white sturgeon and John had pork tenderloin.

The wine went down easily, too.

We came home on Sunday.

Grilled brats on Monday.

It was a great memorial day for us, but we must not forget why we can celebrate.

Thanks to all who sacrificed so much so I can enjoy my freedoms.

I have started two new ventures, but I am going to wait until my next post to tell you about them.

Time has gotten away on Me! Yikes

Wow, time is just flying by and I have so much to do for the end of the school year that I have forgotten about my blog.

So sorry to the ten or so faithful readers I have out there.

Here is the last two weeks in a nutshell.

John is still looking for work and when I say looking, he is really looking hard.

It is frustrating to say the least, but we are both staying positive and looking for the good in it all.

He is able to do lots of things around the yard and house which is nice.

Last weekend we celebrated Mother's Day.

Courtney and family and Alissa came to town.

We went out on Friday night with my brother.

Paul and my mom took the little girls home after dinner at El Mariachi while the rest of us hung out at Anne's.

It was great fun, always is when we have a few beers, chat, and laugh.

It was the best way to start Mother's Day.

On Saturday, the ladies all went to Ebert's to look at the pretties.

We all enjoyed it except Alissa.  If you know Alissa, you know that all those flowers, all those wagons, and all those people buying plants would drive her crazy and make her weak.

Well, needless to say, she was driven crazy.

After returning home with a few purchases, it was time to head out to Kohl's to spend Marge's Mother's Day gift cards.

Now this kind of shopping is right  up Alissa's alley.  I think she was made to be a senior's shopping assistant.

She found just what my mom wanted and we were on our way home.

John, Paul, and Soli took a bike ride.

We grilled brats and sat on our patio in the beautiful evening air.

The girls made a friend with our neighbor's granddaughter so that kept them busy.

We ended the day with a less than good movie about a dog named Sox that the guys and Soli had picked out on their bike ride.

Corny and low budget but I think we will be talking about it for awhile.

It was another great night.

On Sunday, my little ones including Soliana sang in church for their moms.

It was beautiful and I was again very proud of them.

After a nice lunch, everyone headed home.

The past week was my second last of school.

Courtney came in and did zumba with my kids again, it was so much fun.  She is a really good teacher and you can see how much she loves her zumba.

Soli stayed with us on Thursday night so she could go to Gymtastics with the class on Friday.

We took her to a park and then to Mullen's for dinner.

It was a great night.  She fell asleep on my lap and I rocked her for an hour.

That was so nice!

On Friday we took our annual trip to Gymtastics.

John was able to come along with Soliana which was nice for her and him.

After that, Courtney came and picked her up.

We all enjoyed a lunch from Schuett's before they left.

On Saturday we had a rummage sale.

Again, John was able to help me so much with getting things all ready

We made around $200.00 which was nice.

We were all cleaned up by 4:00.

Relaxed with a few beers, some TV, and a frozen pizza.

Today (Sunday) I am doing report cards, getting things ready for my summer tutoring program, and just relishing in the fact that this coming week is bringing another close to a school year.

Time flies whether you are having fun or not.

Most of the time, we are having fun!

 

A Visit to Illinois

This weekend John and I traveled down to Bloomington to spend some time with our favorite younger daughter and her husband.

On the way we stopped at Starved Rock State Park.  It is a beautiful area tucked away in an otherwise very boring, flat central Illinois.

Unfortunately, because it was such a gorgeous day, everybody and his brother and his dog was there, too.

So many dogs!

We managed to get a few photos without any other people or dogs on them.

 Best part was that we were able to put over 11000 steps on the fitbit.

We had lunch at the concession stand at the park and then headed on to the Hunter House.

We went out for pizza and beers and then enjoyed a few more beers on their lovely deck.

It was a great night.

On Sunday we had our breakfast of donuts out on the patio and then played some wii fit.

On our way out of town, we stopped so that I could chat with Abe before heading home.

Fun, early Mother's Day!