Scenes from Pioneer Cottage

Home Sweet Home

Eating Lori's Diner Pancakes

Deef on the Beach

Allie the Amateur Photographer

Holly's Shadow

"Three Flushes and a Plunge" Paulsen and Jashon Max

Fred & Fuzzy's Favorites

Building Sand Castles

Swamp Creek

Catching Minnows

Meet Chundun

SueBoo and Lovi Panzler

The Twins

The Whole Gang

Door County Vacation Part 3: Just the Four of Us

Day Five

We headed to Northport and took the ferry to Washington Island.

Once on the island we ate lunch and stopped at our favorite place...Schoolhouse Beach.

We also found a couple of geocaches on the island.


We headed home mid-afternoon so I could stop at my favorite Door County shopping destination, Ecology Sports.

Day Six

Rain, rain, go away. Come back when we're not on vacay!

It's not hard to occupy your time on a rainy day in Door County, as long as it's just for one day!

We drove into Sturgeon Bay and the girl's spent their money from Grandma Ruth (on what else...stuffed animal kitties) at a great kids store called Child's Play.

This is Mittens and Whiskers.

Next we spent a couple hours at the library, checking our email and reading the paper. The kids read books and played in the children's area. After lunch, we spent two more hours swimming at the YMCA. For supper, we found the most amazing pizza place, Sonny's Pizzeria.

Day Seven

The weather man said it was going to be another gloomy day but when we woke up, the sun was shining so we loaded up the bikes and took off for Peninsula State Park. The weather can be so different depending on your location. On the Green Bay side it may be hot and sunny, but back at the cabin, on the Lake Michigan side, the temp is considerably cooler. On this morning, it was sunny on the lake side but as we drove over to the bay side, it began to cloud up. No matter, we rode the 9.6 mile Sunset bike trail anyway.

Halfway through our ride, we stopped for a break and a picture. It was quite windy!


For lunch that day we found a very unique place to take the kids, PC Junction. You sit on stools surrounding a large bar. It has a big train track that circles the bar and a train delivers your drinks and meal to you. Depending on where you are sitting, the waitress will call out something like "All aboard! Next stop Ellison Bay"! The train will come around past everyone else and stop at your spot delivering your lunch! You grab your food off of the train cars and off it goes.

We decided to head home that night. The kids were devastated! But by day seven, when you've only showered once, you've found a bat in the upstairs, a mouse in the kitchen, and there's a bucketful of sand in your sheets, home sounds really good!

Door County Vacation Part 2: Diarrhea

At some point during the "fun" part of our vacation, Jason asked the Paulsen kids if they knew the Diarrhea Song.

Here's how it goes...

When you're running down to first and your pants begin to burst, Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
When you hit yourself a double and your pants begin to bubble, Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
When you're sliding into third and you lay a juicy turd, Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
When you're running down to home and your pants begin to foam, Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
People thing it's green and gross but it's really good on toast, Diarrhea! Diarrhea!

The rest of the vacation was spent coming up with new lyrics and laughing uncontrollably.

Do you have one you'd like to share? Then leave a comment!

Door County Vacation Part 1: The Paulsen's

Day One

This year's Door County vacation would have been a major bore if not for these two people; Lori and Jay, and their three hilarious kids; Ted, Holly, and Eli. They drove from Iowa to spend half the week with us at Pioneer Cottage.

Our first stop was for lunch at the Morning Glory Cafe.

Can you tell from this picture who's the real clown of the group?


Like father, like son!

Anyway, we knew it was going to be a good time. Especially after we figured out the sleeping arrangements. The kids wanted to sleep together and to do so, they'd all need to be upstairs. That left the four adults to sleep downstairs. Lori and I called "dibs" on the double bed and made the boys sleep in the twins.

We had fun whispering, telling secrets, and laughing as we eavesdropped on the boy's conversation ("Jay, do you know what a shart is?") in the next room. Not surprisingly, Jay did know what a shart was.

Day Two

In the morning, we ate Lori's Diner Pancakes. These are the best homemade pancakes in the world. If anyone wants the recipe...leave me a comment.

After breakfast, we headed over to Cave Point County Park.


Ted and Jason found a geocache.


Allie and Holly jumped along with the crashing waves.


And Lori and I posed for a picture before Lori got her shorts soaking wet!



Day Three

Another breakfast of pancakes and another geocache search, this time at Cana Island Lighthouse.



We ate lunch at Fred and Fuzzy's Waterfront Bar and Grill where the best thing on the menu was the Door County Cherry Margaritas. This was a really neat place, one I'm sure we'll go to again. The seating was just plastic tables, with umbrellas, and chairs...right on the Green Bay shore.


That night, we built a beach fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.


Day Four

Finally, a hot and sunny day. We spent the entire day at the cabin, walking along the beach, playing at swamp creek (where Lily Bay Creek empties into Lake Michigan), swimming, and boating.



Out of nowhere, a dark cloud of gloom overtook our happy vacation as the Paulsen's packed up their minivan and got ready to say goodbye. Lori dragged her feet as long as she possibly could but, alas, the time had come. Hugs were given and more than a few tears were shed. The rest of our week just wouldn't be the same. Stay tuned for Part 2: Diarrhea!

One of My Favorite Places

One of my favorite places to go while in Door County is School House Beach on Washington Island.

You have to take a ferry across a part of Lake Michigan called Death's Door. It was given that name long ago because of all the shipwrecks that happened in that area.

The ferry ride is always fun and only takes about 30 minutes.

Once you drive your car off of the ferry, it is a short drive to the beach.

The unique thing about the beach is that, instead of sand, it consists of millions of smooth stones.

The stones are so interesting to look at, play with, and lie on. It would be fun to just take a few home. But there is a $250 fine if you are caught stealing one!