Monday, September 29, 2008

Living the Wisconsin High Life

Standing in front of North Point Lighthouse, Milwaukee's first lighthouse.

This place is full of cool architecture. Look at this home!
Brooke, Katelyn and I in front of dirty Lake Michigan water. A little while later I chased crowds of seagulls to make Katelyn laugh. I'm pretty good at that.
Even the water pump house was gorgeous. This is Victorian architecture at its best.
On a stone bridge. I didn't have high expectations for Wisconsin. But it really has been a beautiful place to visit and enjoy. There are so many charming little houses and buildings. We have had a pretty lazy day today. We woke up and hung around this morning. Brooke and I made hairbows (her budding business) while Thomas worked. After lunch and Katelyn's nap we went out to some of these places. Then we picked up Tyler and ate at Kopp's. The hamburgers were three times the size of normal hamburgers but other than that were unexceptional. The custard though. We loved the custard and are going to go back about five more times before we leave on Wednesday. Katelyn loved it too. She was pushing Brooke out of the way to get more of it. We are having a great time here. Thanks Brooke and Tyler!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

One More Really Fun Picture

I couldn't resist throwing this one up as well. Erin is just beautiful!

Science and Progress

We took off for Chicago and Wisconsin last night. Erin has an advising conference next week in the Windy city, so we decided to come out a couple of days early and see the Hedins in Milwaukee and the Hollingshauses in Plainfield, Illinois. Thanks to Joy and Matt for letting us stay the night and for being so hospitable.
Joy took us up to Chicago and got us into the Science and Industry Museum.
We looked at the U-505, a German submarine that the US Navy captured in 1944.Erin decided she wanted to be a little taller, even if it was mostly her torso and arms that grew.I enjoyed the planes and fast cars.
And our super cute niece Katelyn posed for a bunch of pictures, including this gem.
Now we are in Milwaukee (Wauwatosa, actually), and we have already downed a Sprecher (root) beer. This town has a German feel to it for some reason. It's nice. We are having a good time with Brooke and Tyler; more to come in the coming days as we plan to explore Wisconsin (cheese curds and Lake Michigan are on the docket).

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"Hi, I'm Spokesmodel Barbie ..."

As a marketer for my company, I often receive phone calls and email from people promoting conferences, tradeshows and services for such events. But today, I received the funniest offer ever:

" ... a professional ,and [sic] enthusiastic model with extensive Tradeshow experience. I would like to extend my spokesmodeling/presenting/hostessing services to your company ...
"If you are looking to increase foot traffic, increase contact and lead prospecting, and bring people to your boooth, [sic] this is absolutely the way to do it!"

She even attached some pictures of herself. Can't you see Barbie doing this in a Toy Story movie (think Tour Guide Barbie, only in our exhibit booth)? Hilarious.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Evening at Sundance

We actually meant to post this a couple of weeks ago, but I dragged my feet on the program scan.
Utah Valley University (it's our university!) teamed with Sundance Resort to bring back a summer theatre program at Sundance's outdoor amphitheater. As you probably guessed from the image, this summer's performance was "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
We attended the closing night on a splendid, late summer evening. Sundance is the perfect setting for outdoor theater with the towering peaks that surround Mt. Timpanogos circling the resort. And of course, being outdoors creates an even more realistic setting for "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The acting was tremendous, with students from UVU and BYU, as well as other local and regional actors and actresses combining to deliver the perfect amount of humor and intrigue. We both highly recommend that anyone spending next summer in Utah attend the Sundance Summer Theatre.