Get Out

Whining, crying, arguing over tractors and multiple timeouts all by 7:30am. As soon as I started counting the hours and minutes until nap time I knew it was going to be a "get out" day. As much as I like the indoors and would have loved to curl up with a hot cocoa lounging in pj's well past mid-morning it wasn't going to work. Ever since Trexen was wee little and testing my patience I've said, "if I can just get out everything will be better"and 99% of the time it's true.


































Thankfully the weather was cooperating and our energy levels high making the dash outdoors quick. We got dressed, sprayed some dry shampoo in my dirty locks and called friends- meet us at the Mackenzie Center ASAP.










































Life is all about choices, I could have easily stayed in jammies, continued to referee spats but quite possibly not made it nap time with my sanity. Although it was work to get us ready, fed and in the car getting out of the house was worth it today.

Secret Snack Spot

Here I go again with the alliterations, I just can't stop! Today we went with my mom and her daycare kids and found a secret snack spot at the Mackenzie Center. It really wasn't secret, instead a spot we walk by each and every time during our weekly visit. The Mackenzie Center is a free environmental education center that is operated by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and the DNR. The center has a variety of natural habitats and exhibits featuring animals such as wolf pups, a bald eagle, river otter, badger, mountain lion and more.



















This now weekly highlight of ours was the location of my very first picnic. As a baby my parents loaded the car and made the trek "up north". At the time they lived near Madison and oh my Poynette was so far away. It also used to be a dreaded field trip for me in grade school, a day in the woods looking at boring animals fighting off biting bugs. I just couldn't figure out why anyone would find that enjoyable but those teachers loved it. Traipsing through the woods with fifty plus kids trailing beyond they would get all excited at every new animals requiring us to roll crayons over the foot print tiles, write down not so fascinating facts and sit on hard logs listening to a boring DNR representative.





















Funny the perspective I have these days, I look forward to our weekly Mackenzie Center visit anticipating the quiet in the woods, starring at common animals such as deer and seeing my kids light up when I mention a secret snack spot. It is the small things, we walk by the hard wood benches every week but today used them for our snack spot and my little ones thought it was amazing.




















I love having a place that no matter the day, time, moods or how many times we visit it will always prove to be a success. Never dreamed that place being in the woods surrounded by bugs, animals and nature (I had a shopping mall with girls wearing pink dressed in mind) but I am thankful for our spot. Thankful for the memories, pictures, conversations and pure joy our spot brings.