The Quiet Ride Home

When you look at a map of Wisconsin you will notice it has a thumb. That thumb is Door County. It contains some of the most beautiful (read expensive) real estate in Wisconsin. Yesterday MyHero and I went to Door County for the day. He wanted to preview some properties for the company he works with. I went along for the ride (well, anyone that knows me knows that I drove) & to get away from Green Bay for an afternoon.

We felt like 2 kids sneaking away from family and friends. Ooooppps...too late. We are going from property to property when my cell phone rings- It’s the kids- TPot & TheBrawnyMan. "Don’t answer it", MyHero said....Too Late! The car speaker phone is blaring & I have pushed the connect button. Where were we they wanted to know. Uh...we are in Door County. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! (Remember Gomer Pyle saying that). Only it was more like SARPRIZE! SARPRIZE! SARPRIZE! They wanted to know if we had eaten lunch yet. Too bad, so sad-we already ate (at Al Johnsons). Oh, but, wait...wait....did we want to meet them for coffee while they ate lunch...they had the KIDS with them...surely, we would want to see the kids.

MyHero is shaking his head so violently back and forth that I can hear the beans rattling. I pretend I don’t see him. "Sure~We’ll meet you-where & what time?" "Al Johnsons", came the reply. Al Johnsons is a Swedish restaurant and during the season it has goats on its grass roof...people come from far and wide to see it. We didn’t bother telling them we had already been there earlier.

MyHero said- "We are just going to have a quick cup of coffee and leave, right?" Right-0
"SweetCheeks is NOT riding home with us, right?" Right-O. And Lulu & Lucy are not riding with us either, right? Right-O. And I am NOT sitting next to SweetCheeks either! RightO...NO problem.

When we get to Al’s Place (see how familiar it has become) SweetCheeks climbs out of the car with her two sisters. They are all smiles. She walks over to the Gnome that stands guard outside the entrance. I asked, "See the Gnome?" "I dunno em". No..."GNOME’...."I sayed I dunno em" (I realize at this point she thinks I am asking Do-ya-know-em) Whew...never mind..."Hey...wookit dis...I can stick my fingah up hims nose". "Booger eater", teases Lulu. Instead of protesting that she DOESN’T eat boogers, SweetCheeks smiles and pops her finger in her mouth. "Yeah, I gonna eat boooogers foah lunch, Lulu, wanna eats sum too?" Whereupon the joke has turned and so has Lulu-she is now green & nauseated looking. Great~ We are off to an exciting start.....lunch should be even more of an adventure.

Our first stop, of course, is the bathroom. There is one stall for ages 12 and under and that is worth a few laughs-Especially if you are old enough to USE it but too young to WIPE yourself. It has a miniature stall with a minature toilet (truly it does) and makes "going potty" a whole new experience. Try wedging your adult body into a child's space, bending over, wiping, flushing and redressing a 3 year old. It is a task best left for someone under 12 (like the sign says). What WERE they thinking?

Lunch was actually a rather quiet affair-no spilled milk, no crying, no one choked~all in all, a great meal. MyHero, giving me the evil eye, stage whispered- "Let’s go- before they get done so the girls won’t want to leave with us". So, we bade them good-bye and headed back towards Green Bay. As we are climbing into the car MyHero looks at me and says, very seriously, "We should have probably brought one of them home with us." Quick, quick....Remind me not to push him out of the car when we stop!