On the Future of the Domes

Some of my best memories are of the Domes, and I would miss the *idea* of them being in our city. But let's be honest. As an adult it's a half hour visit at best, and only the tropical and desert Domes are even worth a look. If it's going to cost $75 million of public money to bring them up to their less than impressive status quo, I say it's time to part ways.

Adorable!

This was taken July 1st at the Domes

The Domes

I've posted about the Milwaukee Domes before, so I'll spare you much of the standard preamble. This past Monday we took advantage of free admission (and having only our two youngest in house) and visited the Milwaukee icon. 

It was a trip probably (and sadly) most memorable for the fact that I was nursing a bad knee injury that left me sidelined by the second dome, and by the third Lisa was forced to get a wheelchair for me to finish the circuit. :( 

Here's Smiley posing by a Sausage Fruit tree. 

On the way back, because the Domes are in our old stomping ground, we showed the kids three of the flats we once rented. This one, on Orchard, did not at all impress the kids. We rented the upper back in '97. Our last flat is still well maintained and pretty, but Smiley no longer has any recollection of it, and Junie never set foot in it - some small proof that we have moved up in the world in the last decade. 

Picture pages, picture pages August 7th

Normally I wouldn't find pics of someone else's wedding worthy of a post, but when my friend Wil got married yesterday his bride chose YaYa as a flower girl (and yours truly as an usher).

Here's a pic of the whole bridal party at the Domes, YaYa being on the right (of the pic) as is only natural for a future Republican President . . .

They then took a horse and carriage to the church . .

No pics (on our camera) of her walking down the aisle, but it was cute. Here's two of her alone:

She made a few friends at the reception . . .

While the Kodak's a great camera, it's pretty dang poor at limited-light pictures. Still, I had to post this one of the girl who wouldn't stop dancing. . .

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The Trip with All the Kids March 28th

Fair Warning: This is one of those sappy parenting orientated posts that are really just an excuse to avoid scrapbooking. Read at your peril.

Today, in exchange for getting out of cleaning the house, and to honor a promise to my daughter over her spring break, I took my three rugrats and their three cousins  on a road trip to some local sites.

Alone, without any other adults. Yikes!

The Mitchell Park Conservatory - which is something it's never called, it's The Domes for cripes sakes - are three conoidal glass domes that have been a Milwaukee landmark since the '60's.

There's a desert dome

 a jungle one,

and a temperate dome that rotates through different themes throughout the year.

My Dad, if memory serves, worked there before he went to Vietnam, and I've probably seen the things a hundred times.

This was the third trip for my eldest - we went there on Sept 11, 2002 when many city landmarks were free in honor of 9/11 - and once last fall with my youngest daughter along.

 This, naturally, was Parkers first trip.

It went suprisingly smooth, despite having the Brady Bunch along. The eldest denied remembering the place, but suddenly remembered an obscure donated art project that's tucked into a corner of a dome. The search for this art class globe was one of the centerpieces of the expedition.

Afterwards, the kids enjoyed running in the drained pool outside and called me over to tell me they'd found the 'rest of the water' - a puddle that had formed over a drain cover.

I tried taking them on a tour of a firehouse, but unlikemy childhood, the firefighter told me I'd have to clear a tour with the bigwigs downtown. Not today, folks.

So I went throught the KFC drive-thru, and took the gang down to Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers.

On this gorgeous spring day we picniced in the shadow of the stadium, then spent a good half-hour playing on the elaborate jungle gym that can be found by home plate.

 

 

Still on the plate for this spring break week: No, not Daytona. A visit to a firehouse, a sleepover, Betty Brinn Children's museum, and (hopefully) some rest.

Hope your Easter went well.

 

Ps. Thanks to Jonah for taking many of the pics along the way. Good job!

ps2. Over Easter a neighbors soccer ball got stuck in Jonah's tree, and he was kind enough to leave the festivites to climb the tree and retrieve it. Here's a pic, which is cool enough I felt forced to tack it on to this post.