Expecting the Unexpected: Milwaukee Moms Night Out and Doors Open Milwaukee

Usually Mondays are not one of my favorites, but today is a good one.

Mke Moms Blog is officially live! This site is going to be an amazing resource for moms in the Milwaukee area. I am so honored to be a part of it and I can't wait to watch it grow. There will be a ton of giveaways all week, so make sure you're following along. We'll also be announcing the first in-person event soon, as well! Stay tuned.

All the wonderful Mke Moms contributors.

On to the weekend. First off, can we talk about how gorgeous the weather was all weekend? I'm pretty sure I told Matt 100 times how much I loved it. It was sunny, warm, and just the bluest blue skies. I wish it would stay like this til next summer. We can just skip all the freezing temps and piles of snow. That's fine with me.

Saturday morning off with a trip to the Tosa Farmer's Market. We picked up some flowers, shared a few apple cider donuts, and watched the band for awhile. Callum was in heaven. There were quite a few other kids dancing, too, and he was more than happy to join the pack.

We also tried and bought ground cherries for the first time. They are tiny, super sweet tomatoes, and are so delicious! If you stumble upon them, make sure you give them a try.

Elm Grove Art

Saturday night, I attended Elm Grove Art's Milwaukee Moms night out. It was hosted by two of my favorite Milwaukee bloggers, Keila and Amber. There was wine. There was chocolate. There was painting. It was a wonderfully relaxing evening, and it was so great to meet and connect with other moms in the area. Everyone has their strong suits, and painting is for sure not mine. But, I still really, really enjoyed doing it. Elm Grove Art plans on hosting more of these events in the future. I'll definitely be back.

So, on the left is what my painting is supposed to look like. Then, on the right, there's mine. Hahaha. Like I said, no awards for my masterpiece, but it was still a wonderful time.

Doors Open Milwaukee

The rest of our weekend was filled with visits to a few places that were open for Doors Open Milwaukee. I had a list of about 15 places I wanted to check out. We were able to squeeze in three. I have this little condition called a toddler that tends to slow things down. ;)

We went to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the top of the U.S. Bank building, and the Pritzlaff building. Every place we went to was so kid-friendly! Callum obviously won't sit still for any sort of tour or presentation, but we had no problem walking around with him while either Matt or I were able to enjoy the tours.

My favorite was the Islamic Center of Milwaukee. It was so informative, and everyone was beyond helpful with answering questions and giving tours. I was a little apprehensive about bringing Callum in to the mosque, but as soon as we walked in, a woman there told me that it was more than alright for Callum to run around and play. I will never forget Callum in the mosque, running circles around a couple of wrestling boys we just met. :)

In addition to the mosque, there is also a K-12 school at the Center that we were able to tour. Our tour guide was a junior at the high school, and she did a wonderful job giving the tour and answering everyone's questions. I was definitely not that mature in high school.

Both the U.S. Bank Building and the Pritzlaff were must-sees, too. This is only one of a few times every year the public has the opportunity to ride to the 41st floor of the U.S. Bank building. The views were just unbelievable. Poor Matt is not a fan of heights, so he was a little apprehensive on the elevator ride, but felt much better once we got to the top. Callum had a blast watching all the traffic on the highway and boats in the water.

My brother is getting married at the Pritzlaff building next August, so we jumped at the chance to take an in-depth tour of this place. The "building" is actually a complex of six large cream city brick buildings built between 1875 and 1919. The tour was given by one of the owners, and you could just tell he had such a passion for restoring these beautiful buildings. Almost everything was still original to the building. One of the bars was built from old steel beams and has beer tappers made out of old water pumps. Everything was just so gorgeous. There are also six of these huge, huge vaults that have been restored. Callum loved running in and out of those.