Heidi's Parents came to visit!

My parents came to visit for a few days! We had not seen them since we moved here, so it was quite a treat to have them finally come to see where we have been living. They must have brought the beautiful weather with them because while they were here we had gorgeous weather and since they left, it has been raining. With the wonderful weather, we were able to travel around quite a bit. I have lots of pictures so make sure you scroll down to see all the fun things we did.

Here in Williams Bay, WI, we have the Yerkes Observatory. They only give tours on Saturdays, so luckily we were able to finally go on the tour. The observatory and the land it sits on are both owned by the University of Chicago. It held the largest refracting telescope in its time, and I think it is still one of the largest in the world. The building had really intricate designs inside and out. Each part of the design has its own meaning and really adds to the old feel of the building. The floor below the telescope is a giant elevator that can raise up to a whole story of the building and the ceiling can open and rotate 360 degrees! If you ever visit this area, be sure to go on the tour...it's free too, which is an added bonus.

In the afternoon, we drove to Illinois to go to Medieval Times. On the way, we found a Cabella's store to wander around. They have a huge aquarium, a stuffed safari area, and a old airplane hanging from the ceiling. We had fun walking around and I even found a hat...can you see me? :) At Medieval Times, we cheered for the Black and White Knight (he lost if the first round of jousting), watched a horse who learned how to dance and jump like a bunny, and ate the spectacular food with our hands!!!

We also took some time to walk around and shop in Downtown Lake Geneva. My dad and Dave had fun trying on hats at the Irish shop while my mom and I laughed :) One of the shops we went into had some stuffed animal wall hangings and some really creative towel holders. It was a clear, sunny day which allowed us to drive around the lake and look at the huge mansions! The lake was still frozen when they arrived, but by the time they left, the lake had melted completely.

One of the days, we took a drive to Milwaukee, WI, to go on two brewery tours. We went to the Miller Brewery and we also went to the Lake Front Brewery. The tours were very different because Miller is very large and commercialized while the Lake Front Brewery is locally owned and operated by two brothers.