My Fair lady....

Michele mentioned a few days ago that she'd like to spend some time with a gal pal of hers. I didn't hesitate to give her the "go ahead" and told her to pick a day and disappear.
Uhhhhhh - it's a quarter after 5 P.M.
We haven't seen her since 8 bells this morning.
The State Fair was calling and the last 2 times she's texted me she's been either: drinking a beer and relaxing while listening to some live music or shopping.
Shopping at a Mall - I know I'm a country bumpkin sometimes but even I know that there's no real Mall at the State Fair. So, she has escaped the masses and headed for retail refuge.
Sounds like a perfect day for the Mommy....Lord knows she deserves it.

As for the rest of us, I have managed to not lose any kids today. I don't think we've broken anything and I'm pretty sure we've had a productive day. After some morning cartoons and a phone call to Grandma Jeanine, we cleaned up the house a bit while I mulled over Adventure Ideas. As the lunch hour approached, it came to me that today would be a perfect day for a picnic at the CREX. The kids helped in the picnic assembly line and were eager to grab the duck and goose calls and get out the door.
The CREX is a replenished Bog wetland conservation area just across the border in Grantsburg, Wisconsin and it's usually good for some wildlife viewing. After seeing all the dead stuff at the visitor center, we hit the road to take in: A spotted fawn, hundreds of geese and sandhill cranes, diving ducks, a Hawk, A doe and her yearling whitetail, a chipmunk, a Swan, a dove, a Blue jay, a sparrow and a rooster pheasant. (Not bad for just over an hour or so drive)
I think the kids blew on their calls at every creature we saw. Mom might not have enjoyed the honking and quacking inside the car as we drove around but without her along, I tolerated it and even chuckled some.

Bear was out just minutes after we made it back to the pavement and Minnow even rested up a little on our drive back west. After a quick stop at the ATM, I made good on an earlier promise. In exchange for good attitudes and better behavior on our picnic adventure, I said we would hit the Casino Arcade up in Hinckley. 10 bucks = 50 tokens and we made those tokens stretch out into another hour and a half of good fun. We even scored a few trinkets to bring home as evidence that we can leave the house while Mom is away and not self destruct.

Missed you though Mom - Hope you had a good day away.