Mommy and Me: A Vacation in Two Parts

My mom and I got to take a trip together to visit her old stomping grounds, friends, and family!

Part One: Wisconsin!

We flew into Milwaukee, picked up my first rental car (woot), and drove up to Brit's house in West Bend.  My iPhone decided it would be fun to take me to the "sponsored" link in Grafton instead of the address I typed in.  That was exciting.  "Hey Brit, be there in 1/2 hour!"  "Hey just kidding.  1/2 hour later, and now add another 45 minutes!"  It was a beautiful drive.  I fell in love with Wisconsin.  IN LOVE!

I haven't seen Brit in a few years (and haven't seen Taytay in even more years).  Plus, I had not seen her newest child, Sophie!  We played with the kids and had a delicious meal (one of many this trip).  

Friday morning, we had quite an amazing experience.  Part of the reason for the trip was to figure out how to sell the cemetery plots we have for Oma and Opa (since they switched to SLC).  We knew they were in the Wisconsin Memorial Park, one of FIFTY cemeteries in Milwaukee.  My mom also wanted to see the grave of her bff growing up, Michelle Kindt.  Michelle died in a car accident when they were 15.  My mom was in the car and was one of two survivors.  Three people died, including her best friend.  My mom didn't really wake up until after the funeral had already passed for her best friend days later.  When I was born, she wanted to name me Michelle, but realized that might be a little too tough, and named me Lindsey Michelle instead.  I have always felt a connection to my namesake for that reason.

We had no idea where Michelle was buried.  My mom had never been to the site.  Since we were staying with Brit, and her Stake President is Chris Kindt (Michelle's cousin), we were able to get his number and do some detective work.  We ended up calling Michelle's two brothers, but they could not remember where she was buried.  They were very young when she died.  One said that he remembers it was on the way to Uncle Walter's, and that it may have been off Capitol.  Mom mentioned that the cemetery we were already going to was off Capitol, but they agreed it was too far west.  I did a little googling, and found this:

The same cemetery, out of 50!

We left for Milwaukee and went to the cemetery first.  It is almost a square mile big.  We talked with a creepy gentleman for a while, who clearly works with dead people all day, and found that the plots we were looking for were in adjacent blocks, about 100 yards apart.  He also showed us all the artwork in the main building, which we honestly didn't care about, but it was pretty.  "I can show you a 400-year-old reverse lampshade.  Yeah.  Come with me."  Umm... what?  "Remember the Chief of Police?  That's his crypt.  That's his window.  Isn't that amazing?"  Umm... yep.  He finally left us alone once we reached Michelle's grave.  It was rainy.  We were under an umbrella, emotional, and just stood there in silence for a few minutes.  We bought some flowers and my mom went over some fond memories.  It was really sad and sweet.  I was so glad I was able to be there with her for it.

After being told we needed to just sell Oma and Opa's plots on Craigslist and got the necessary paperwork for when that does happen, we left to see more of my mom's home town!

The last Milwaukee home the Strangfeld family lived in, and the only one in a neighborhood we could enter now:

 Lake Michigan, where my mom and her friend, Abby, would go to the beach and hang out on Lake Drive:

 The awesome homes of her friends growing up, on Lake Drive:

 The church my mom found her testimony in, had a reception in, and went to church in all growing up:

We drove back up to West Bend for the evening and played with Brit and the kids.

Saturday, we went to breakfast in Port Washington, a charming port town that made me really want to live there!  Apparently, this guy also lives there.  Yeah.  This is his house:

He is sure a long way from Screech Powers these days....

After touring and breakfast, we drove up to Plymouth for their Oktoberfest.  We were so excited to have that authentic German/Wisconsin bratwurst and party!  When we finally did find it, it was in a tent enclosure the size of a Sizzler, and there was a Polka band playing.  We left.  

We got back to West Bend, packed up, and headed off to part two!

Part Two: Illinois!

Mom and I drove down to St. Charles, to Kiera's house.  We were staying there for the rest of the trip and surprising Aunt Uschi for her birthday!  Side note - Brit's mom was friends with Uschi (coincidentally) when they were kids, and uploaded an actual video recording of Uschi as a Primary kid in the 1950s to show at the bday party!!

We got to Kiera and Josh's phenomenally gorgeous home and got ready for the surprise party.  Ushci thought she was coming over to babysit Benson and Cason while Kiera and Josh went to a work party.  Josh's boss is in their ward and lives down the street.  It was a perfect cover for the cars!  There were about 70 people there.  Tori and Jared flew up for the occasion from Utah as well.  Katie and Luke and fam drove from Ohio.  Uschi's friends and neighbors were all there.  The Blonquists did an awesome job of keeping it secret from Uschi for months!  Noel drove her over, we hid behind the walls, and shouted, "Surprise!" when she walked in.  She was in total shock and was mad that she was in regular clothes with no makeup.  Haha!!  She was greeted by her daughters at the door and screamed.  My mom and I waited in a corner so she could catch her breath and see all her friends before our surprise.  She finally came around to our area, and my mom walked right up to her.  Uschi stared at her for a second or two, not processing it... (looking in a mirror, maybe?), then screamed again.  They hugged for a good minute while we cried and adored.  It was so precious.  

 Here I am with Katie's son Spencer - who feels a closeness to his namesake, too!  He points out Spence in pics!

The party was 1950's themed.  I cannot rave enough about Noel/Katie/Kiera/Tori throwing this party.  Luke  and Jared were perfect soda jerks.  There was Elvis music playing.  People dressed up in '50s costumes.  It was so fun!  We danced and partied the night away!  

Poor Tori and Jared both got super sick that night and were out of commission the rest of their trip.  It was so sad!

Sunday, we went to church and then toured the renovations on Noel and Uschi's house in Batavia.  We had dinner there, and as proof that no good deed goes unpunished, I tried to help with the dishes afterward.  As I pushed a glass onto a shelf, it pushed another off.  That glass shattered on the counter and I screamed in horror.  Uschi's kitchen is sacred ground, and I offended.  It wasn't until she pointed out that the glass had crushed her favorite hand-carried-from-Mexico-glass-pitcher-that-she-bargained-for-and-loves, however, that I started bawling.  Josh seized the moment to get me back for years of torturous mocking for doing the SAME thing to my mom's favorite hand-carried-from-Austria-crystal-goblet-that-we-searched-for-again-and-love.  He had every right to do so, but I still yelled at him with great fervor, "JOSH!  I CANNOT HANDLE YOU RIGHT NOW.  GET OUT."  I was a mess.  It was so awful.  I still feel awful.  Anyone planning a trip to Mexico soon????

We said our goodbyes and left Monday morning.  I absolutely loved the trip and wish we could have stayed longer.  I don't get to see Kiera nearly enough, and I miss her so much.  I hadn't seen Brit in years - Katie and fam, Uschi, Noel, all of them!  I got to spend time with my mama.  I loved it!