Memorial Weekend 2009

Shawn & Melissa joined Grandpa Fred & Uncle Fred in Door County for Memorial Weekend. We were so pleased as we had perfect weather for it. It was not too windy or cold and did not rain! We could not have asked for a nicer weekend.

We began our weekend with stopping at A&W in Manitowoc. The dogs were given a special doggy cone with a dog treat topper! They loved it.

On Saturday, Uncle Fred & Melissa went into town for some groceries while Shawn & Grandpa Fred stayed behind to do a little yard work and cottage maintenance. Saturday night we cooked out for dinner and Melissa was a little of her card playing game and let Uncle Fred beat her by over 100 points. Ouch!

On Sunday, Shawn & Melissa went into town to do a little shopping but with little success. On the way back we stopped at the marina to check out the new Yacht Palmer Johnson was building. It was a 150 foot long yacht, the Blue Ice. They were still working on the finish carpentry but looked just gorgeous. Rumors indicated that the yacht'sfinal destination is somewhere in the Mediterranean.

After we got back to the cottage, we relaxed in the shade and enjoyed some wonderful conversation with Grandpa Fred, Uncle Fred & Uncle Mark. Brewer and JoBu really liked to watch people walk or drive by the cottage. In fact, Brewer made a game of it to get under Grandpa Fred's skin...he liked to charge out of the driveway after people. Well. Grandpa did not think this was amusing so he took care of the situation and tied him up! Party pooper! Once Brewer was tied up, JoBu did his best to free Brewer of his new restrictions and get back to their game! That wasn't as successful.

Baby B's first Brewer Game

On Sunday, May 3rd, Shawn & Melissa went to the Brewer's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a beautiful, warm spring day which was perfect for a tailgate. Shawn mentioned that it was Baby B's first tailgate, so of course it needed to get blogged. We enjoyed a few Hebrew National hot dogs and beer (water for Melissa and company). The game was very exciting that resulted in the Brewers winning 4-3. Enjoy a few pics from our day.

Baby B 16 week update

So last night Shawn & I had another appointment for a Baby B check up. Things are progressing wonderfully. Once again the doc was not able to find the heartbeat with the Doppler but we were a little more prepared for that this time around, so in came the big ultrasound machine. This is always exciting because we not only get to see our little one but I also get new pictures for the scrapbook! Unfortunately, those who are dying to know if Baby B will be a girl or boy will have to stay in suspense with us for a while longer. We were able to see Baby B kick and punch at me so vigorously but yet I couldn't feel anything. Very strange. I asked the doctor what the percentage was that I would be bringing my own baby home with me. Click here for my reason of concern...it is where I am delivering! While he chuckled, he reassured me of the procedures that are in place. Here are a few Baby B pictures. Enjoy!

Dinner with the Maio's

Guest Blogger: Matt Maio

Review of the Bansemar Dinner

It was a cold and wet Sunday night, but the welcome was warm when we showed up at the Bansemar household. We came with a semi-fresh loaf of bread, but the Bansemar's pretended to be happy with our selection. Always the sign of a good host.

To start the evening we listened to stories of yester-year from Shawn and Melissa. They also went into the latest baby details, which warmed our hearts with delight. The evening took a sour turn when the Brewers game ended with a loss. But fortunately dinner was right around the corner, and the empty void in our souls would be filled with comfort food prepared by Shawn and Melissa.

Service was a little slow to start off, we had to cut our own bread and make our own dipping oil. The timing of the service was a little off as well, Shawn had completely forgot he made beans and was shocked when it came time to serve all the food. The kitchen really seemed overwhelmed to try and serve all the dishes at once. But it was eventually it was served and we were ready to dig in.

The complex flavors of the pork in the lime cream sauce more than made up for the near disaster in the timing of service. In each bite you could taste the tender pork, and the acidity of the tomatoes complimented with the flavor of the lime juice, it was a party in my mouth. There was also a perfect amount of heat from the jalapeno peppers, most likely picked out fresh that morning by the chef at the local market. The perfect starch of rice pilaf complimented the whole dish. Slightly overcooked, but still it made the entire dish come together.

The bagged salad was a little bit underwhelming. Nothing to write home about, but then again what do you expect from a salad in a bag. Both kitchen chefs were arguing about forgetting the tomatoes for the ceasar salad. Although ceasar salad is not supposed to have tomatoes, one of the chefs said it was "too damn bad, that's the way I make it," and the chef that did the shopping should not have forgot them.

Dessert was a wonderfully light bite of angel food cakes, whipped cream and strawberries. I thought I would miss the traditional sugar on the strawberries, but to my delight the fresh strawberries provided just the right sweetness to the dish. A lovely cup of smooth roast folger's crystals with french vanilla cream topped off the experience. Several comments went around the table about how good the coffee was.

Overall the experience was great, the complex flavors of the pork dish really made my weekend. The dinner conversation was top notch as well. Shawn and Melissa know how to keep the conversation lively. I would recommend dining here anytime.

Anybody missing this!?!?!?!?

So our dog, Brewer, has been throwing up a little bit each day over the last few weeks. He was acting "normal" with that exception. Well, on Tuesday night Melissa noticed that he was starting to gag himself so out the door he quickly went. Shawn & Melissa watched with great concern. We are first thought it was a black crow or another type of animal, but were we wrong! Here is what we found. (Beware the pictures are not suitable for the squeamish)

JoBu was very concerned about his big brother. He apparently had been wanting to try out the new neoprene chew toy. We are very thankful that this did not kill Brewer or cause any blockage. Not exactly quite certain how he swallowed this. Yuck!!!

If anybody is willing to claim this new mystery toy, we'll gladly clean it up for you and return with love from Brewer.

More Mexico pics

Shawn likes his Sake while...

Melissa doesn't exactly approve

Catamaran & Snorkeling

We love to go snorkeling so we booked a day excursion to Isla Mujeres. Our transportation was a catamaran with about 30 other people, all the drinks that you can get. Once we got near the island we jumped off the catamaran to snorkel for about an hour. After everybody was back on the catamaran, we went to hold an 80 lb specially-trained shark. We did a little shopping and then had lunch at the Beach Club. The day was very enjoyable and ended with a relaxing ride back to Cancun on the catamaran. Shawn enjoyed all the beer that he could get and Melissa drank lots of water.

Shawn & Melissa on the catamaran

We stopped for lunch at the Beach Club

Shawn was "forced" to have a tequila shot

Melissa was also forced to have a Kiddie's "tequila" shot

Our Mexican sunset

Mexican Paradise

Shawn & Melissa went to Cancun Mexico for a week mid-February. We thought it would be good to escape from the beautiful Wisconsin weather. We stayed at the Riu Palace Las Americas in Cancun. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and in the 80's the whole week.

Our hotel

The view from our room

Another view from our room

Shawn really enjoyed the Don Julio tequila

Melissa, the "Virgin" drinker

SuperBowl Weekend

We spent the first weekend of February with our friends in Rochester, MN. It is always great to get together with Kyle, Robin & Miles Kroening; Scott, Anna & Ethan Harms; and Matt, Sarah & Genevieve Maio. A quick rundown on our festivities...On Saturday, we went to a wonderful toy store, Lark Toys. There was even a hard-carved carousel. Afterwards, we went to Nelson's cheese factory for lunch. On Sunday, Shawn & I made the gang a delicious brunch, creme brulee french toast. Much to Anna & Robin's husbands despise, I introduced the ladies to the fun scrapbooking tool, the Cricut. Sunday night, we settled in for the SuperBowl and the Office.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

Lark Toys