ride 'em cowboy!

[flickr video=7656949542 secret=690ea03f34 w=400 h=225]

relief

Like many other parts of the country, Wisconsin has been in a drought all summer. Scorching heat and dead grass everywhere you look has taken away a lot of the joy of summer for me. Especially knowing that so many farmers around the state are suffering catastrophic losses.

But this week has brought several rain storms that have finally helped turn things green again. Last night Matteo and I went for a ride and stopped at a few playgrounds along the way. This was our first stop, at Yahara Park, and for the first night in a long time it felt like summer is supposed to feel - green, breezy, and relaxed.

natural history museum of utah

Matteo is really into dinosaurs right now so when we were in Utah my dad took us to the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City.



It was a beautiful museum and the dinosaur exhibit was amazing!













The museum also had a great hands-on space for little ones.



After the museum we had lunch at this little local burger place with a train in the middle for kids. It wasn't as exciting as the internet review made it out to be, but Matteo loved it. Lucky for us that kid is pretty easy to please.

basement playroom - the big reveal

Remember when we tore apart our basement this winter with the intention of turning it into a playroom? And remember how my last post about it was this, and then I never actually posted any photos of what it ended up looking like in the end? (Oops. Sorry.)

TA DA!!



We still have some decorating to do but the major stuff is done. The high cabinets hold our barware and the low cabinets are filled with toys. And with the extra window we get so much more natural light in the room.
We're so happy with it. And the best part is since Matt and I have our own spaces down there (his turntables and records are in another part of the room and my little office/project room is connected to the playroom) we can each be down there working on our own stuff knowing Matteo is safe and nearby and occupied in the playroom. We've already been spending way more time down there than we ever did. I'm so happy we did this.

oakley rodeo

Our third night in Utah was spent at the Oakley Rodeo. Oh WOW was it fun! We bought Matteo a cowboy hat outside and he wore it all night.











The rodeo stadium is located in the little town of Oakley, about 30 minutes east of Park City. With the mountains in the background, it felt like something out of a movie.





Here's a little video I took of some of the action:

[flickr video=7551940596 secret=422655ca91 w=400 h=225]

And a little video of Matteo doing some riding of his own:

[flickr video=7551909596 secret=3b0f9b313c w=400 h=225]

burley

Remember how I bought myself a Burley for my birthday? Our friend Steve gave my trusty old mountain bike an overhaul (I don't know what amused him more, the Grateful Dead sticker on the frame or the mysterious tufts of squirrel fur he found stuck to it) and last week we finally hooked them up and hit the road.



I'm so in love with this! Madison is covered in bike paths and Matteo and I have been out almost every day exploring our neighborhood. Playgrounds and coffee shop cookie breaks are our usual stops right now but I'm hoping we can take a longer ride out to the zoo soon.



It's good exercise for me and so much fun for him and I've fallen in love with my bike all over again. That bike and I have been through some serious adventures together - all through college and to Alaska and back - and after 10 years of growing rusty and dusty in the corner, feeling completely unloved and unappreciated, it's back in action.

park city fourth of july

We spent the week of Fourth of July out in Utah, visiting my Dad. It was so much fun! I'll try and get back in the habit of blogging this week by re-capping our adventures. First up: the Park City Fourth of July parade!

We had great seats right along the parade route and Matteo loved all of the floats. There seemed to be two primary themes for the floats - cowboy/pioneer or winter sports. There was even a team of lugers that whizzed by!

in the summertime

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM&w=420&h=315]

summerfest

Summerfest is the world's biggest music festival. It's held in Milwaukee every summer and features a pretty insane line-up of music. Matt, Matteo and I went on Saturday to check out the festival grounds.





Milwaukee is also famous for the Sausage Race, where people dressed as five different types of sausages race each other around the bases at every home Brewers game. As we were leaving Summerfest the Racing Sausages were just coming out to greet fans. Matteo walked right up to them and started shaking their hands, and giving them high-fives and fist bumps. They LOVED him. I think it especially helped that he was wearing a Brewers t-shirt.







The Hot Dog, The Polish Sausage, and The Italian Sausage circled around him and started imitating what he was doing. A crowd formed to watch and I heard people around us saying, "Look at that cute little boy!" and "He's not even afraid!" The crowd actually applauded Matteo after a few minutes of their little show.

[flickr video=7487040566 secret=e47595e04d w=400 h=227]