Wisconsin

Peter and I finally made it out to visit his parents in Wisconsin during my fall break. We were there for about 4 days and we packed it in. We picked a great weekend to go, or the U picked a great weekend for fall break, but either way it was great timing. It was General Conference weekend, so they didn't have their regular schedule of meetings so we got to spend more time with them. To make things even better, the leaves were changing and the colors were spectacular.

We got there on Friday night and headed to Los Besos for dinner to celebrate Peter's mom's birthday which was a few weeks earlier. It was a really fun restaurant with loud Hispanic music and yummy food. For dessert, we headed over to the famous Kopp's Custard. It was so yummy! 

 This is the view we had as we came in to Wisconsin. We couldn't even see the other side of Lake Michigan from the air. It is huge.

Saturday morning before Conference, Peter and I headed out on a run. We were training for a half marathon in a few weeks and we needed to get a few long runs in during our vacation. We didn't exactly get a long run in, only about 6 miles since I didn't realize that we would be going to the church to watch Conference and I couldn't just be in my pjs with wet hair, but it sure was beautiful. We ran along a river and it was really amazing.

We watched Conference with the missionaries and some members from the area and then we went to Kopp's for lunch. We had to try the huge hamburgers, of course, and get the obligatory picture of it. 

Then we drove through downtown Milwaukee, which was really interesting. It is the strangest thing to me that there are so many trees in the city. It makes it so much more pretty. We even saw Rapunzel's Tower.

After the second session of Conference, we had dinner with the Tuft's, who are from Peter's ward in Monroe. Sister Tuft is from Wisconsin and they were out visiting family. The boys headed to Priesthood and I stayed back with Peter's mom and Sister Tuft. 

Sunday we went to the two sessions of Conference again and then they took us to see the mission office, which is in this really cute town. It reminded me of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. They even had a similar town square and gazebo. It was very charming. We saw the transfer board. I should have taken a picture. It was quite overwhelming.

Monday morning we went on another run. This time we ran through the Botanical Garden that is down the street. I could seriously get addicted to running in such beautiful places. Redwood Road is just not appealing compared to these views. We got a little bit lost, but that just added to the adventure. 

After our run, Peter's mom took us to see a lighthouse. It was so beautiful. Also, Lake Michigan is so big that it has a tide. They have surfing competitions there. I didn't even know that was possible on a lake. It was super windy as we walked along the shore, but it was amazing.

 See? Windy.

After lunch we went to Holy Hill, which is where they have this really old, beautiful church and you can climb to the top. I think there were something like 147 steps. The view was magnificent. It was really windy at the top, though, so I could only stand to be up there for a few minutes. It was a little too scary for me.

The view from the top of the church.

I made Peter's dad stop the car on our way out so I could take these pictures. So glad I did.

We flew out Tuesday morning to head to D.C. We had such a great time with Peter's parents and exploring Wisconsin. I was almost convinced to move there. It was like being in the mountains all the time, without hiking to get there! 

Where are Peter's parents in all these pictures, you ask?

Well, I'm terrible and didn't take any with our camera.

They really were there. 

Peter's mom's camera has the proof.