A Sconnie Summer

Madison, WI, Prairie Du Chien, WI, Elkhart, WI, Minocqua, WI, and Chicago, IL

June 1-August 4, 2010

I know I've been a bit lax about my posting, but my business has no real end in sight, I'm taking this opportunity to have a study break and reacquaint myself with the internet. But before I get to my photo-recap of my lovely Sconnie Summer, allow me to share the inspiration behind my blog title. It's an old fire side song from my days at Camp Black Hawk called "On the Loose" that I've always had a soft spot for. I posted it in the side bar of the blog, so take a peek if you're interested. I also headed it with my favorite picture from this summer-- it seemed particularly relevant.

Before I move on to the pictures, I have to give a nod to the one big part of my summer which I have no photos of. Some of you may know I took an internship as a communications specialist for the UW Madison Veterinary School this summer, writing articles, pamphlets, and press releases for the school. The internship involved interviewing a lot of really amazing scientists and compiling their stories for the Vet School, the university, and to publicize into greater media circles. For a look at some of the stories I wrote over the summer, I've put links in a box titled "Veterinary School Internship Portfolio" at the bottom of the page-- check it out if you're interested.

Now, for the good stuff--

Hillary, digging stuff out from under her bed. Packing up at the end of the year was an interesting process.

Melissa and a floor covered in boxes. We all seemed to have a lot more stuff that we realized.

World's Largest Brat Fest! Kate and I enjoyed the brats, music, and atmosphere, and I even came out of it with a t-shirt.

The Wisco-sonoran Brat Expiriment-- brats, boiled in beer and onions, rolled in bacon, then grilled. Sound delicious??

It was-- here's Jp taking the test bite.

The beautiful Elkhart Lake (at an ungodly hour of morning) for my dad, my aunt Anita, and Laura to compete in the Elkhart Triathlon.

JP wasn't so excited about the early morning-- he has that "You woke the sleeping beast" expression on his face.

Funny how his wife-- about to do an olympic distance triathlon-- looks way more cheerful.

My dad was even jumping up and down. Yes, that's him, waving his arms in the air at the back of the wetsuit-clad crowd.

We got treated to a beautiful rainbow on the drive down to our cabin in Prairie du Chien.

That same night, the sky cleared up just enough for one of the most fabulous sunsets I've ever seen. This picture was taken over the Mississippi River, looking towards Iowa.

A fish boil at the cabin-- everything tastes better when you're the one that lit the fire under it.

I dabbled in a little tree climbing at the cabin, but didn't have all the equipment I needed to take advantage of the fabulous cottonwood in the yard. Next time...

A bald eagle landed in the tree right above our deck, literally 15 feet above us. I don't think we would have even noticed him except that he started screeching.

My dad and I explored the water lilies and scoped out the eagle's nest by kayak. We were rewarded with a peek at some baby birds in the largest nest I have ever seen.

One of my projects for the summer was buying and repainting a new bookshelf for my room, which of course involved a massive reorganization of my books. As they piled up on my floor, I came to the conclusion that I own A LOT of books.

For the Fourth of July, Melissa and Tahra joined me in Mineral Point. We made a cherry pie completely from scratch (and we made it in style-- note the aprons).

It turned out fabulously-- picture perfect AND delicious.

We joined in the traditional Mineral Point parade, brat boil, pie sale, and concert, but we were rained out of the fire works at the end of the night. The thunderstorm provided a different kind of light show.

Kate, Nim, and I went up to Kate's cabin in Minocqua for a weekend. I think Nim got the whole sun-bathing thing wrong here... pretty sure you're not supposed to cover up with towels.

Me, chopping veggies for a stir fry. We did a surprisingly good job of fending for ourselves when it came to food.

Kate introduced me to my first time making bread from scratch-- it was easier than I thought it would be, and it came out delicious.

Tahra invited Melissa, Robbie, and I to visit her in Chicago. Here's Tahra and Melissa playing in the fountain at Millennium Park.

The famous bean-- who's entire purpose in life is for tourists to gather and take pictures. Which we did.

And of course, summer wouldn't be complete without horses. Cowboy spent the summer going English, complete with some dabbling in dressage. Now that he's all of 6 years old (scary!!), he has a new spring in his step, and took to the flashy arab trot quite nicely-- if only I had time to show him.