We got carrots

 Our raised beds continue to amaze us and for the first time in our gardening experience we managed to grow carrots of a size you could actual eat them for a meal and not just a quick snack.  The did come out of the ground looking like they grew next to a nuclear facility but they tasted delicious as we roasted up a bunch for dinner the night we picked them.  This along with another cucumber and bean harvest meant we spent a large portion of the weekend in the kitchen packing away our vegetable treasures to enjoy through the upcoming winter (another 8 jars of pickles are now in the basement).

The rest of the week was filled with resettling into our routines after our vacation and family visits.  I spent a day in Chicago to catch up with my sister and we enjoyed walking around Navy Pier and taking a water taxi on the Chicago river.  Unfortunately I was battling a bit of a cold during the visit which limited the amount we got to do.  Hopefully, I didn't leave that behind for my sister.  I was tempted to ride the Ferris wheel, but just didn't feel up to it, so that will have to wait until a future visit. 

We spent some of the remaining weekend on fill-up runs to Woodman's grocery store and Target, watching our Wisconsin football teams struggle (that's the Badgers and Packers for those not in the know on football), and catching up on some reading.  Monday, Jo's HR team had an outing to the Brewer's game.  We sat out in right field which was a first for us at the Brewers.  It was a pretty slow game until right at the end and fortunately the Brewers came out victorious.  As is my tradition, I've included a photo of our racing sausages but the finish line instead of mid way through the race (completely changes your interest level in the race, doesn't it?).  For those tracking on their Excel spreadsheets, the Chorizo and and Italian sausage are tied with 16 wins each - it is going to be an exciting sprint to the end of the season! (full results are at the link - check it out, you know you want to).

With all the family news last week, I forgot to add that we visited our favorite local beer garden in a nearby park with our nephew Drew and his girlfriend.  We mostly go for the wonderful pretzels and cheese sauce (it is Wisconsin, so you must have a cheese sauce) although the beer is pretty good as well.  Although with the shorter days we need to drink our beer a little faster than before and remember to bring jackets to stay warm.  We took our bikes this time as it is close to a bike trail that isn't too far from our house.

That's all the news for this week.