On Saturday morning we woke up in Green Lake Wisconsin in time to head to town for a fishing license and a cup of coffee. Scott and I joined Dad Seitz, Eric and Sarah Seitz, Mark and Linda Seitz for a day of trout fishing. In Wisconsin, we not only had to purchase a temporary fishing license, but a Trout Stamp as well. Dad Seitz chartered a pontoon boat and captain, along with his grandson to spend the day trolling along Green Lake, fishing for trout. And we were not disappointed. We pulled in quite a few trout-about 30 lbs worth!  It was a wonderful way to spend the first day of vacation. Meanwhile, Tom, Allison and Mom Seitz were running errands and picking up provisions. We all met up in the evening for dinner out. Stacey and Matt arrived later in the day. Unfortunately, Susan and John were not able to join us this year and stayed back in Florida.

On Sunday morning, we were all up for church and brunch in town. We spent the afternoon on a bike ride with a visit to a local winery. In the evening a few of us tried a dip in the lake. I blew up a few floaties. The lake is very weedy, and our beach had a sharp drop down to the lake, so you had to climb down a ladder from the dock. The water temperature was perfect. On Sunday evening we enjoyed eating a portion of our fish off the grill. I think this was the first time I had trout-a bit like salmon. Tasty.

On Monday, our family headed out to Stevens Point brewery with Mom and Dad Seitz for a taste testing, along with a stop into a local dairy for squeeky cheese curds. After lunch we caught the SpiderMan movie.

On Tuesday, the whole clan headed over to Osh Kosh for the famous air show. We were certainly amazed by the extent of this event. The fairgrounds are permanent, with an air museum. Once a year, pilots from all over the world converge on the fairgrounds with their lightweight planes, experimental planes and historical planes, including bombers and bi planes. Every day there is a different air show and lots of things to see and do, including exhibits from NASA, Ford Motor Company and plenty of food and "AS Seen on TV" sales booths. We had a wonderful time walking around the fairgrounds, checking out all the amazing planes and helicopters. Scott even located a Western Michigan tent advertising their Aviation school. He had a chance to talk to some of the student representatives about the engineering program and even got free Western tshirts!  It was even more exciting to sit along the runway and watch the air show. We even got an extra taste as most planes flew over Green Lake.

On Weds our family took to the lake and the road. Allison and I took my double kayak out for an hour long paddle down a small estuary off Green Lake. Tom and Scott meanwhile biked a bit around Green Lake. We were amazed at quite a few large estates along the lake. And we were all amazed at the wildlife in the area. When we arrived we pulled up to the house surrounded by deer, an owl, rabbits, raccoons and during the day we spotted wild turkey and lots of cranes. Apparently the SandHill Crane spend their summers in Wisconsin. And Allison and I spotted deer, geese, carp, cranes and witnessed an Eagle and an Osprey in flight, attacking each other. Turns out the Osprey was protecting a nest of fledglings. Very cool.

On Thursday we packed up and headed out to Western Michigan. I wanted to take a drive up north and swing through Northern Michigan with a stop in Charlevoix. But we had limited time and too far to go. So we traveled south with a stop over at the German village in downtown Milwaukee for lunch. We also picked up some sausage and cheese at the Usinger sausage factory. We then made our way around Chicago and over to Benton Harbor for the night. On Friday morning we headed to Kalamazoo and a visit for Scott to Western Michigan. We arrived in time to speak to an admissions counselor, right before a presentation at noon and a 2 1/2 hr walking tour of campus! We actually went on a tour before and sat in on a student presentation, but this was so much more in depth. And it was very helpful to speak to an admissions counselor about the engineering program. After our tour we were starving, so we went into town for lunch at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange. We just had enough time to run over to the Engineering campus to pick up the syllabus for the Manufacturing Engineering program, and a quick peek into the labs. While standing in the hallway, one of the professors came by and let us in for a personal tour and to speak to Scott about the engineering program. Turns out his sister lives in Ellicott City. We also ran into a student from Columbia Maryland, the town next to ours. His Dad works for Southwest airlines, so he said he often flies home on a non stop from Grand Rapids to Baltimore. Good to know.

We traveled to Ohio for an overnight, and then back to Maryland on Saturday afternoon.