Wisconsin is truly my home away from home. My parents moved back to their hometown in Wisconsin when Jones was a baby. Since then, I’ve been coming home 2-3 times a year with the kids. Each time we come up, there are always a few things we repeat, but I try to find a couple of new stuff to try.
- Go to the zoo – There are quite a few zoos in Wisconsin, plus it’s possible to make a weekend trip to Chicago or Minneapolis. Jones’ favorite is the Milwaukee Zoo, but the Henry Villas Zoo in Madison is free and it’s just enough to entertain for a morning or afternoon. (Perfect if one of your kids is not as big a fan as the other.
- Fly at the EEA Aventure in Oshkosh – My parents took the boys here while Beer Geek and I were having fun at the Great Taste. It’s got some great displays and flight simulators. They also offer free flights for kids under 18, but things did not work out for my boys to go up. Both my plane obsessed 10 year old and the teenager enjoyed it.
- Take a duck boat ride in the Wisconsin Dells – The Dells are very, umm, touristy. If you like that type of thing, you’ll love the whole experience. If that’s not your thing, the Dells offer a really fun duck boat ride and a ton of different hotels with water parks.
- Visit the Wisconsin State Fair – OK, this only falls during a certain time of the year, but there are rides galore and tons of animals and every fried food you can imagine. This year it’s fried fruit on a stick. (One year it was fried butter…)
- Go underground at Cave of the Mounds – These caves are not far outside of Madison and they are beautiful. The tour is manageable for kids, both in terms of time and terrain. My boys loved visiting there.
I’ve barely scratched the surface on things to do with this list. If you are looking for some more unusual activities, check out the Mustard Museum and House on the Rock (hoarding at it’s best). This weekend we are going to visit the International Crane Foundation, which is apparently the only place in the world where you can see all 15 species of cranes. My bird obsessed kid is pretty excited.
We’ve been enjoying our visit to Wisconsin and I’m as ready as I’m going to be for the two races this weekend. It’s looking like a rainy run on Saturday, but I’ll take that over today’s 95% humidity. Depending on how I feel after these races, it’s either time to get serious about MCM or transfer my bib.
Then it’s time to head home and get back into a routine before school starts. As per usual, I’m ready for fall. If only I could move somewhere that summer did not also come with heat…
Today, I’m linking up for the Friday Five with Courtney, Mar, and Cynthia for Friday Five. Check out everyone’s favorites for the Friday Five.
I have never been to Wisconsin and now that I have teenagers, all they want to do is go out and be with other teenagers ! But when they were little they were pretty much game for anything, except activities where they had to walk a lot.
Karen @ Fit in France recently posted…Vacation favorites & vacay-fessions
Thankfully my teen still loves zoos. His little brother, not so much…
You know how much I love Wisconsin. Since I grew up so close to the border, our school took field trips to the Milwaukee Zoo instead of ones in Chicago. It’s a great zoo. I’m with you on the Dells. We never took the boys there! They probably feel deprived.
We’ve done the duck rides and they are fun, but yeah, the rest not so much. Next summer we need to coordinate and meet up…
We love visiting zoos! It is the one activity the hubs and I seem to always do when we visit a new city!
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My older son is “collecting” zoos now. He’s got a scrapbook of zoo maps from all the ones we went to this summer.
The Texas state fair has released their foods for this year. We’re having fried jello this year, and I’m not sure how that’s done.
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That was my thought on the fried butter…
Have a great race! Are you really thinking about transferring your bib??
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My achilles has been complaining a bit, so I’ve been keep my mileage lower than I like to get through the races this weekend. If I feel fine afterwards, I’ll get back on track next week. If I end up injured, I’m done. I don’t have enough of a base right now to take time off and still be ready.
I’ve never been to Wisconsin. I think that’s fabulous that the one zoo is free! Can’t beat that!
If I ever get to visit Wisconsin I will make sure to check these out! I’d love to go to the State Fair, I have this idea that your Fairs are much better than the ones in the South! Fried butter?? Not sure about that but I’d so do the fried fruit!
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Have a great time with your family!
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner recently posted…What if…Girls Ran The World?
i don’t have kids but this all sounds fun! I loved Wisconsin when I visited last fall! such a cute state.
Mar @ Mar on the Run recently posted…Friday Favorites
When I was a kid, Wisconsin was the only vacation we took! Milwaukee zoo rocks but usually we’d hit up the breweries. Seriously. No lie.
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