O&H Danish Bakery

Viv decided that this would be her last time on this ride.

Jerry held Viv as she buried her face in his shoulder.



Happy



Happy Part II

Cotton Candy...a first

The back to school commercials have started already and the pressure mounts to squeeze every last drop out of summer.  Earlier in the week, Jerry and I discovered that we had 24 hours that were not accounted for and we decided that funnel cake and carnival rides needed to find their way into our weekend plans.  Lucky for us Racine, Wisconsin was hosting their county fair.  Racine also happens to be home to the world-famous kringle. 
Have you not been formally introduced to a kringle dear reader?  You must meet it's acquaintance.  Bear with me while this story takes a slight detour:  32 layers of light pastry, a masterpiece of the Danish immigrants that inhabited this area of Wisconsin.  Now sold in every truck stop and gas station within Racine County; we found ours at O and H Bakery.  To base a small road-trip around this sweet delight is not insane by any stretch, I promise. 
Anyway, we packed our overnight bags and drove north.  The Dan Ryan was fraught with weekender traffic.  But once we passed the Wisconsin boarder and soon after the Mars Cheese Castle the state's unofficial welcoming site, we were home free.  The Racine County Fair had all of the essential components: Livestock, 4H competitions, cheese curds, the requisite funnel cake and carnival rides with no lines!  Ella yearned for rides with names like "The Phantom Fury".  She enviously watched hoards of teens with heavily lined eyes shuffle into a gyrating sphere that would defy gravity.  She vowed to return once she was tall enough to join in.  Vivian quickly learned that she was much better suited for rides that involved handle bars (see motorcycle above).  Rides that involved heights and up and down motions were immediately eliminated (see sad face above).   The evening ended with smiles and a sampling of both cotton candy and some variation of fried dough with powdered sugar.  We woke the next morning and let them chase seagulls at the beach (p.s. free parking, the finest sand and no crowds). 
We were so happy to have had these twenty-four hours to try and pack in as much of the summer-bucket-list as possible.  Racine was the perfect host.  Still on our summer list is a picnic in Chinatown, celebrating a birthday with Lolo and a back-to-school brunch with the kindergarten crew (if I write it, it will happen).  There, I've committed myself.