I realise that this is long overdue. I got a little caught up in wedding festivities and the like. I'm now in Ontario at my Uncle and Aunt's house but I would like to tell you about Wisconsin; rather than rattling off a 700 page essay here are some highlights:
The Wedding
Obviously, this was the main highlight, the reason I am over this side of the Atlantic and also around about the middle day of my stay. The day was lovely, at a hotel by a lake, the service was outdoors overlooking the water whilst the reception was inside and very tastefully decorated. There was a theme of birds and blue and yellow; Erin had been able to find some ceramic birds at a local antique shop and these were on top of the cake. The cake itself was an 80 pound baked cheesecake! That's enough for a pound of cheesecake for every guest! It was delicious. Possibly the best cheesecake I've ever tasted. Dafna will need to take some lessons.
Erin and her dress were also beautiful to behold. Her Aunt had made the dress and had done a great job, although it was very successful at catching mosquitoes with the layers and layers of fabric. Erin and Thomas managed to truly personalise the day by wearing unconventional footwear (Converse and Toms), giving their bridesmaids homemade jewellery and leaving the service to a Coldplay song plucked out of a harp.
My dad sang a song for Thomas and Erin, he sang it for them when they got engaged too. One of the bridesmaids played a song on the piano. Frosty gave an excellent groomsmen speech. The food was delicious. The photographer was hilarious. The bridesmaids jumped in the lake. The car was admirably decorated and included streamers that trailed behind the car for about the length of the car park. All in all, a good day.
The Lake
Most of the time in Wisconsin was taken up with wedding and sitting around chatting. The latter isn't so exciting to write about. However, we also had our very own lake house… or house by a lake. The lake was marvellous, it shone and sparkled in the day time and had a worrying glow to it at night. We had a pedalo (or paddle boat) which was fun, in it's own way, you never knew which direction it would take you when you turned the handle nor how fast nor when the paddles were going to break. Nik had to test out his swimming skills when we realised that the paddles were no longer turning for Frosty and he was slowly floating away across the lake. Despite the temperamental nature of Mr Pedalo, it did help us to discover an island, "coax" Thomas into the water and it provided adequate protection for Thomas' glasses on said occasion when we "coaxed" him into the water. The only casualty of the lake, unfortunately, were my trusty flip-flops. Never again shall I leave a beloved pair of footwear on a floating jetty thing, never again shall I abandon such wonderful things to the cruel elements of nature. A maniacal gust of wind stole them away, sweeping them into the blue where they set off like sailboats preparing to discover new worlds. Fare thee well, flip-flops, fare thee well.
Chicago
For those of you who are good at geography (or have seen a map of the USA), you will know that Chicago is not in the state of Wisconsin, it is in Illinois. However, I went on a trip to Chicago whilst staying in Wisconsin so it still applies under this section. We only had a short time in Chicago but it was still fantastic. Simply being in the streets made me feel like I was in the computer game, Midtown Madness, or living out a real life Blues Brothers. We parked at Moody Bible Institute, which is where Thomas is studying and we hailed a taxi (such fun) to go to Sear's/Willis Tower. Thomas decided that he would sit out this one and headed to McDonalds. The rest of us headed up the tower. A few queues, some security checks and a surprisingly interesting video later, we were there. At the lift entrance. Everyone squeezed in and a video was shown above us to demonstrate at which points we were passing other great heights. A giraffe, the Great Pyramid, the Eiffel Tower; once we were past the Empire State Building I knew that I was higher up in a building than I had ever been before. 103 floors up, 2 popped ears we burst out into the sky deck. The view is immense. A great lake on one side, Chicago around you and 4 different states in viewable distance. A key point of the tower were the glass boxes that stick out from the side of the building. You can step into these boxes and it looks and feels like nothing is holding you above the distant streets below. I'll be honest, it took me a few moments to get out there. I thought that it wouldn't be a problem until it came to taking that first step out of the visible, opaque, safe building onto glass. Isn't glass known for it's breakable qualities? You don't say someone has a concrete jaw and people who live in steel houses can throw all the stones they want. Anyway, I survived. It was exhilarating and terrifying but I would do it again. Last of all, we went to Navy Pier. I'm not sure what Navy Pier is famous for but there were pirates there and pirates are always a selling point for me. Except for real pirates which are probably not a great experience.
We also went to a baseball game, a great experience in terms of atmosphere, I'm not sure how many people were actually watching the game but there was a real buzz in the stadium. And to the International House of Pancakes and the Original House of Pancakes; I can tell you which was better for sure.
I'm going to sign off here. Tomorrow is Niagara Falls day and I think I'll have to get up early if I'm not awoken by a 2 year old before then. Good Night!
