Weird News Wednesday

This is one that we tried desperately to see. James and I got the kids pizza, let them eat it in the car, and drove almost 2 hours to WI to try to see the Northern Lights. After playing in the park in the dark for over an hour, we came back. Unfortunately, we should have gone to Michigan instead. Check out these photos! We did get to see about 6 shooting stars though. By the way, the next cool astronomical thing going on is the Perseid meteor shower on the 12-14.

Sometimes (when I remember), I dress the kids in the same bright color to take them to the park. Like red. Papal red.

Anyone up for some papal souveniers? Celebrate your enthusiasm for your favorite sports team the pope! Don't forget to stop by the Catholics with Attitude site as well.

I wonder if they have any papal onesies. Are you due to have a baby sometime soon? In that case, I know what you were up to during the blizzards last winter! Apparently, hospitals are getting ready for a baby boom. Because, you know, building snowmen is only fun for a little while, and then you gotta find something else to do...

Warning! This is not a snowman. This is a creepy creepy robot, who according to my friend, looks like a quadriplegic baby. I agree, but with zombie overtones. Yeesh! Maybe some papal-phenalia would help.

MORE things about the Midwest I didn't know - 1 grit

1. Do NOT pour water on your windshield if it's covered in ice. Yes, I know that this works in GA. Here, if it's hot water, it will crack the windshield. If it's cold water, it will just refreeze. Stop the Insanity! Here's a trick - put cardboard over your windshield the night before. Unless it will be snow mixed with rain. Then you will just end up with a box/ice/windshield sandwich.

2. People think it's OK to run red lights. And the cars coming from the other way EXPECT it. They wait for those extra 3 people to run it. So if you're new here, get used to it. Or at least get insurance.

3. There are a ton of parks here! We've been to tiny towns in Wisconsin that had a park right in the middle of town. The bigger "cities" have them too. You can even walk to them, since there are sidewalks everywhere. It's awesome! The South could definitely learn something about this. C'mon GA, pull it together.

4. Wisconsin is beautiful. There is glacial country that makes me glad to be a live. The lakes are beautiful. Along the river is beautiful. There are also lots of caves. We took the kids camping near a cave where they do boat rides through. It was great. Our kids love caves. We try to take them through at least one a year. We've been through 3 this year. I know that isn't a lot, but hopefully it's fostering a love they can cultivate later on their own. I've heard the east side of WI isn't as nice, but I probably won't make it over there anyway. And WI is one of the leading states for organic farms. Yeah, I didn't know that either. OK, that's my plug for WI. I don't want to take too much time talking about it since I'm not getting paid or anything.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll add a few things as I go...