Irish Fest 2017

We attended Irish Fest on Friday night. The weather was warm, sunny and perfect for this amazing music festival.

Map of Ireland. Our mother's great grandparents were from County Limerick ( south west).

Milwaukee Irish Fest is a yearly ethnic festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park, on Lake Michigan, United States, every third weekend in August. More than 130,000 people attend the Fest each year to take in nearly 250 acts on 17 stages. The four-day festival in downtown Milwaukee started in 1981. Irish Fest is the largest of the ethnic festivals held at the Summerfest grounds which report attendance, and holds claim to the largest celebration of Irish Culture in the world.

Perfect escape from the crowd.

Lou on the rocks!

With 17 music stages, there was music and dancing everywhere. Sometimes, it was hard to keep track of the groups we saw, but the music was such a nice change from the blaring electrical sounds of all the county fairs we have visited this summer.

Kavan from Cavan

Every Irish instrument represented in this group

Edel and Kate

Flute and Fiddle

The Irish step dancing is always a pleasure to watch since little girls and boys are usually the dancers. The energy and enthusiasm displayed by these young people is something we really appreciate.

Cashel Dennehy School of Irish Dance

Parents and Kids dancing together

We saw many men in kilts and quite a few in the parade that marched throughout the festival grounds. Paddy McFest  joined them on the march.

Paddy McFest

Can you tell which is the woman?

Of course, I always snap a picture of the human statue. This year, I saw him play the flute and engage with the crowd for a few moments before turning into the statue again.

Human Statue

The genealogy tent offered festival goers help with locating their Irish roots. A poster of common names did not have our maternal grandma's name of Minihan, or great-grandmother's name of Shaughnessy, but it was exciting to look for them anyway.

Friday's highlight was the Celtic Canines. These playful Irish Setters thrive on constant human companionship, and it was fun to watch the interaction between the dogs and their owner.

Irish Setters

Irish Terriers

No Irish Fest would be complete with something relating to the Titanic. Our very own great, great  uncle, Dr. William Minihan, drowned on that fateful night in 1912.

State Fair 2017

Thinking that we would avoid the crazy crowds common on a Friday night, we decided to visit the Wisconsin State Fair on Tuesday afternoon. Boy, were we in for a surprise! Lines getting into the fair were very long, and every food stand, vendor, and exhibit were full of people. Despite the crowds, we had a good time.

Below are some pictures of things we saw and did:

Talented Kids

Girl and Boy singing: "The Sun will come out Tomorrow"

4H Exhibit-spray painted bottle caps

Nutcracker-done by a young 16 year old girl

Interesting Sites

Flame Guy

Pow Wow

Giant Ferris Wheel

Molly Moo

Guess about Cows

Learn About Cows

Sleeping Steers

Beautiful Surroundings

Entry to Flower Building

Exploratory Park Path

Fattening, Unhealthy Food

Fresh Cut Pizza Fries

Spam Everything (ugh)

Door County Cherry Fudge Cake

Crème Puffs

Yes, we waddled back to the car, but since the walk was long, we lost a few calories. Well, two weeks to Irish Fest!

Ozaukee County Fair

This Saturday we visited the Ozaukee County Fair. The weather was warm and sunny and just a perfect day to spend outside.

We love this fair because of the 4-H horse riding by the young ladies. It is such a beautiful sight to watch the horses gallop, jump, and pose while being controlled by these little girls.

We frequently find interesting animals to capture. This year a chicken gets our vote on the most interesting feather design.

We received a nice surprise when we ran into some friends from church who brought their grandkids to the fair. What wonderful grand-parents Dr. Ken and his wife, Peggy are.

Our ritual is to visit the fair, then walk the town of Cedarburg. We visited a few of the shops, but were focused on getting a few pieces of Sal's pizza. The pizza, as big as one's head, is always served with warm, fresh, garlic bread. Oh, so good! Of course, we cannot leave Cedarburg without visiting Amy's chocolates and picking up a few pieces for gifts, as well as some for ourselves.

This continues to be the only free fair in Wisconsin and one we hope to enjoy for years to come. Although smaller than others we visit, it has all the essentials!

Waukesha County Fair

Saturday afternoon was so warm and sunny we decided to go to the Waukesha County Fair.

New cow every year!

As always the fair is just plain fun. The exhibits, music, animals, and food, are something that signifies SUMMER to us.

We always enjoy the 4-H exhibits. This year, there were some really nice looking bakery and preserve entries.

4-H train exhibit and  creator

4-H hot jelly

Talented Kids

The animals are, of course, are a must see. Odd looking ducks and speckled goats caught our eye. As well as huge turkeys and magnificent horses.

Grand Champion Steer

Such Pretty Pidgeons

Odd Duck

Who's your Daddy?

The pig, duck and goat races were fun to watch. We always marvel how these animals just run around the track and give the crowd such a good time!

This fair has some of the best food we have seen at any fair. The variety of meats is extensive, as well meat on stick and meat wrapped in bacon.

Meat everywhere!

This year, we opted for an ice cream dessert. The cookie dough sundae was about 16 ounces of vanilla ice cream covered with huge pieces of cookie dough and chocolate. So very good... and so very rich!!!!

Two weeks to State Fair!!

Doug and Tina came to Town

This weekend we got to enjoy a visit from Lou's baby brother, Doug, and his wife, Tina. We had a great visit catching up on their life in Arizona.

Doug is very active with the Habitat for Humanity, and has helped build many wonderful homes for those who through oppression or misfortune could not obtain a home. He also runs a high-end rug cleaning business-specializing in cleaning and treating wool carpets.

Tina is extremely busy with her church, and is very involved in fund-raising. Tina has a heart for young people, and has accompanied them on various missions. Along with doing interior design for clients and volunteering at her church, she is busy collecting pictures of her adorable grand-children.

We got to enjoy lunch with them and had a great time laughing about all of our little driving mishaps over the years, as well as reminding ourselves of all the wisdom that comes with age!

Doug and Tina may become snow-birds and may find a summer home in Wisconsin so that they can spend more time with their children and grand-children.

One thing that Lou and Tina have in common is their love for making spiced pecans. So, come Christmas time, we are going to have the great "nut bake-off" to determine if spouses can tell the difference between the goodies.

Happy house-hunting, Doug and Tina! Hope to see you soon.