Wisconsin 2022

It's hard going through all the photos from a trip to pick just a few to put on a scrapbook layout. I want pictures of us on the page, of course, but I also want images that will help us remember what was unique about that particular place. For this page about Wisconsin, I chose 12 pictures that give a decent overview of all the fun that we had and the only-in-Wisconsin things we saw. (Badgers. Lots of badgers.)

Wisconsin 2022 (affiliate link)

I often use state colors (or colors from the state flag) when scrapping, but this time I took my inspiration from one of the most memorable places we visited in Wisconsin: the National Mustard Museum. I like the mustard-yellow background paper paired with the grey and cream. I added the pops of blue to draw the eye to the title and journaling. I've never used that color combination, so it was fun to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. 

Quirky Museums That Are Totally Worth a Visit

When you think of a museum, what comes to mind? Are you imagining dinosaur fossils and gemstones? Works of art painted or sculpted by the masters? Displays of historic weaponry and armor? Exhibits about cultures of the past, with examples of baskets, pottery, and tools? Maybe you're thinking of a museum dedicated to space travel or earlier forms of transportation. 

Or maybe you're thinking about potatoes. 

A museum does not have to address a big, important topic to be entertaining and educational. I have a special place in my heart for quirky museums and today I'll be sharing some of my favorites. 

Quirky Museums That You Should Definitely Visit

Idaho Potato Museum

A museum dedicated entirely to potatoes? Yep! And it's fabulous. Plan to eat in their cafe and don't skip the potato ice cream. 

National Mustard Museum

I don't particularly like mustard, but that didn't stop me from loving every minute at a museum focused entirely on this yellow condiment. The Mustard Museum was one of the highlights of that entire trip for me!

American Pigeon Museum

I knew very little about pigeons before visiting this museum. I left absolutely amazed by these fascinating birds! Pigeons are so cool. 

Red Wing Shoe Company Museum

When you get the chance to visit a museum boasting the world's largest boot, you go. It's the highlight of the Red Wing Shoe Company Museum, but there are plenty of other really interesting exhibits. 

Jelly Belly Museum

The Jelly Belly Museum is distinct from the Jelly Belly Factory Tour. Definitely do both. The museum goes into depth about the history and culture of Jelly Belly and has a lot of really interesting artifacts. 

National Museum of Roller Skating

This museum is jam-packed with artifacts and exhibits about roller skating. I learned so much! Roller skating is a fascinating mix of sport and cultural phenomenon. 

National Bobblehead Museum

This museum has over 10,000 bobbleheads covering all sorts of topics and genres. It is definitely something to experience! 

American Banjo Museum

I debated including this in a list of quirky museums because it's more specific than quirky. Ultimately, I decided to include it because it's such a great museum that the more I mention it, the better! No matter who you are, you'll learn a lot at the American Banjo Museum. 

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I'm always on the lookout for interesting museums to visit. I have a few on my to-do list, but if there's a place you know of that I definitely need to check out, let me know in the comments!

Quilting for Lutheran World Relief

In September, my church started making Mission Quilts for Lutheran World Relief. This is a new ministry for us at St. Mark's, but Lutheran World Relief has been sending quilts to people in need since it was founded in 1945. LWR provides an average of 300,000 quilts a year to be used as warm bedding, floor coverings, or simple tents following natural disaster or war.   

On Sunday, we dedicated 12 quilts lovingly made by our group. 

Church members and friends donated their extra fabric, which we cut and pieced together into quilt tops. Members of our group sewed the quilt tops together. (Not me - I'm terrible at machine sewing.) Then we layered the top over batting and the back and hand-tied the quilts together. (I'm good at hand sewing.)

Making these quilts has been very satisfying. Quilting is something I always wanted to try but figured I would probably never do. By working with a group, I can do the things I'm good at while others do the parts that aren't my strength. It's a lot of fun working and chatting with my fellow quilters, and it's wonderful seeing the random bits of castoff material come together to make a beautiful, functional quilt. We have decided to continue our ministry in 2025, so if you're local and have fabric or batting to donate, I'll gladly take it off your hands. 

Our quilts are boxed up and on their way to the LWR warehouse, to then be shipped to the area of greatest need. We hope they bring not only warmth, but comfort. 

Western Meadowlark Diamond Art Ornament

I liked my wood slice American Robin ornament so much that I made one for the Western Meadowlark. It is the state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming and is easily recognized by the black V-shaped bib on its yellow breast. Beautiful! 

As with the robin, you can make this with leftover drills from previous diamond art projects, buy a bunch of colors, or get just the colors that you need. I used a variety of greys to make my bird since that's what I had on hand. Affiliate links below. 

 

Western Meadowlark Diamond Art Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• DOTZ Stick diamond adhesive
• pattern (below)
• diamond art drills (8001, 8318, and a variety of greys - I used 8440, 8441, and 8444)
• dotting tools
• cornstarch / baby powder

Steps: 

Paint a thin coat of DOTZ Stick onto the wood slice, following the package directions. Don't use too much or the moisture can cause your ornament to crack. 

When the adhesive is ready, apply the drills. The stars on my pattern mark the center of each axis, so the plus sign is the center of the whole design. 

In order to center the meadowlark, put the center drill onto the center of the ornament. Then fill in the rest of the drills around that central one. 

Ordinarily, I'd suggest sealing your diamond art, but since these ornaments can crack with too much moisture, I wouldn't risk it. Instead, rub cornstarch or baby powder over the uncovered area of the wood. That will eliminate the tackiness of any extra adhesive not covered by drills. 

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Have you seen the Aububon Birds stuffed animals from Wild Republic that feature a realistic call? I love them! There are over 30 different birds. This is the Western Meadowlark. 

Interested in learning more? Read about the Western Meadowlark and hear its calls at Audubon.com. 

The Best Regional Sodas

I’m not much of a soda drinker. At home, I almost never drink soda and often go months without having any. I usually don’t have soda when we travel either… unless it’s something that isn't available back home. I can’t resist trying a local favorite, whether it's a food or a drink! Today I thought it would be fun to share the best regional sodas we tried during our travels to all 50 states. 

Faygo

Faygo is probably my favorite of all the sodas we've discovered on our travels. Every flavor we tried was delicious. I particularly loved Rock & Rye. Faygo is made in Detroit, which is where we found it. 

Foxon Park

My runner-up is Foxon Park. All three of us loved this Connecticut favorite and enjoyed it during our travels in the Constitution State. My favorite flavor is their lemon-lime classic, Gassosa. 

Ale-8-One

We were there on the wrong day for a tour, but we did visit the lobby of the  Ale-8-One factory when we were in Kentucky. Ale-8-One is lightly carbonated with a unique ginger citrus flavor that is memorable and absolutely delicious. 

Sprecher

Sprecher is a Wisconsin brand that we discovered during our time in Milwaukee. Their cream soda is fantastic and their root beer sensational. In fact, the New York Times named it Best Root Beer. 

Cheerwine

Cheerwine has been a beloved drink in North Carolina since 1917, which means it was 101 before we first tried it in 2018! Google tells me it's available to us locally now, but at the time it wasn't. I really enjoyed Cheerwine's cherry flavor - so refreshing on a hot day. 

That's my top five, but I do have to name a runner-up: Verners Ginger Soda. Like Faygo, it's also a Detroit brand. 

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I want to address the linguistic elephant in the room. I call any sweet, carbonated beverage “soda” but if you travel across the US you’ll hear it called “pop” or “coke.” Faygo, for example, calls itself pop. I'm fine with people calling it pop, but I'm not crazy about "coke" since Coke is a specific beverage and it's not like you can hear the capitalization in speech. Anyway, you may find this map, found at Pop Vs. Soda, interesting. I did. 

Have you enjoyed a regional soda? Agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know in the comments.

Ruizhi Pocket Watercolor Painting Book

I absolutely love the concept of a travel-friendly "paint with water" coloring book for kids. Unfortunately, the 1970's version from my childhood was usually disappointing: the paper was thin, tore easily, and dried slowly; the paints were barely pigmented; and the books themselves were not all that portable, especially when the paint was wet. Some were better than others, of course, but even the best ones were just OK.  

I haven't had too much experience with "paint with water" coloring books over the years, other than a few really, really cheap versions that showed up in party gift bags. So when I received a modern version (Pocket Watercolor Painting Book by Ruizhi) to do while I recovered from my surgery, I was excited to give it a try (affiliate link here and below). 

I'm happy to report that I recommend it! It's aimed toward kids 4-8, but it entertained me as a couch-bound 52-year old unable to use my usual coloring supplies. 

The book is indeed pocket-sized; each of the 20 finished pages is intended to be used as a bookmark. The paper quality is good and the paint itself is quite pigmented. I was able to blend the six colors somewhat to get more shades. The book is backed with very thick chipboard, which not only acts as a convenient surface to work on, but also has a recess in it where the paintbrush fits when you're not using it. Clever! 

Here are the first two bookmarks I painted:

 

There are many different themes available, if insects aren't your thing. They offer farm animals, dinosaurs, mermaids, ocean animals, and flowers, among others. With holiday travel coming up, this may be just what you need to keep your child happy in the car (fill an empty applesauce container half full with water and put it in a cup holder), on an airplane or in the airport, in a hotel room, or at a restaurant.

American Robin Diamond Art Ornament

I've been wanting to make a bird ornament using my copious supply of leftover drills from diamond art for a long time. I'm so happy with how this robin turned out! Don't have leftover diamonds in the correct colors? Not a problem! Substitute with what you have, buy a bunch of colors, or get just the colors that you need. Affiliate links below. 

 

American Robin Diamond Art Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• DOTZ Stick diamond adhesive
• pattern (below)
• diamond art drills (8001, 8318, 8356, 8443)
• dotting tools
• cornstarch / baby powder

Steps: 

Paint a thin coat of DOTZ Stick onto the wood slice, following the directions on the package. If you use too much, your ornament can crack from the moisture. 

When the adhesive is ready, apply the drills. This is the pattern I made. The stars mark the center of each axis, so the plus sign is the center of the design. 

In order to center the bird on my ornament, I put the center drill onto the center of the ornament... as best I could. The wood slices I used are quite irregular. In retrospect, I could have moved my starting drill over a hair to the left to better center the design. It didn't bother me much, so I left it that way.

Fill in the rest of the drills around that central one. 

Ordinarily, I'd suggest sealing your diamond art, but not on wood like this. Instead, rub cornstarch or baby powder over the uncovered area of the wood to eliminate the tackiness of any extra adhesive not covered by drills. 

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The American Robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin, making this a great activity for kids (or adults!) in those states. But it's equally great no matter where you live. This interesting songbird is one of the most recognized and most widespread in North America. Pair your craft project with a shaped puzzle featuring the American Robin, then check out these fun facts about this beloved bird. 

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Derwent Inktense Pencils

I've completed four more of the 50 State Quarter coloring pages: Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana. This time, I colored them with Derwent Inktense Pencils and a blender pen. Affiliate links here and below. 

I'm relatively new to Inktense Pencils and there is definitely a learning curve. I found the Derwent Intense Pencils Beginners Guide by My Colourful Country Life very helpful. Once I learned the basics, it was so much fun to use the Inktense pencils on the different coloring pages. I'm eager to get them out again and practice some more.

This set of four brings me to 30/50 completed coloring pages. These are the other art materials I've used so far:

• Ohuhu markers (Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Wisconsin)
• ink and Prismacolor colored pencils (Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Montana)
• Flair pens (Delaware, Indiana)
• Sharpies (Maine, South Carolina)
• Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 (Colorado, New Hampshire)
• Folk Art acrylic paint (Wyoming, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Michigan)
• Crayola crayons (Florida, Maryland, South Dakota, Vermont)
• Himi gouache (Iowa, New York, Utah, West Virginia)

On to the next set of coloring pages!

A New (Old) State Flag for Maine?

Here in the US, we just had national, state, and local elections. Many of the state and local contests went the way I hoped. As for the national results... well, I don't even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. What I do want to talk about is one of Maine's state referendums. On Election Day, Mainers voted on this question: "Do you favor making the former state flag, replaced as the official flag of the State in 1909 and commonly known as the Pine Tree Flag, the official flag of the State?" 

I was hopeful they would vote yes. The current state flag is one of many state flags that features the state seal on a navy blue background. These flags are hard to differentiate from each other, are not especially attractive or attention-getting, and are difficult for crafting. Maine had the chance to vote in a flag with simple, eye-catching images (a single star and a pine tree). It would have been the only flag in the US with a buff background, making it immediately identifiable. And because it is the former flag of the state, nobody could complain about "erasing history" like you see in ignorant comments left online when other states have adopted new flags. I expected the referendum to pass. It did not. 

This is the current state flag of Maine:

The is the Pine Tree Flag, that would have replaced the current flag:

How would you have voted? Or how did you vote if you are a resident of Maine? Let me know in the comments. 

Grad Nite

In 1990, I went to Disneyland for Grad Nite with my high school friends. It was so much fun! 34 years later, Trevor went on the bigger and better version of Grad Nite, with 18 hours straight at Disneyland and California Adventure. I used the photos he shared (faces covered with fireworks for privacy) to make this page. 

Grad Nite (affiliate link)

Since most of the photos were taken at night and feature pinks and purples, I did my best to merge those colors with the traditional red, yellow, and black that all Disney-themed scrapbook supplies use. The pop of light blue from the supplies by PhotoPlay help bridge the colors. I'm really happy with how this page turned out. 

The Most Forgotten State Capitals (And Why You Should Remember Them)

I came across a really interesting news article that ranks all 50 state capitals by how many people can remember each one. I can name all 50, both because I taught states/capitals to 5th graders for many years and because I've been to almost all of them (5 to go!). But I recognize that most people don't necessarily know them all. Or they did when they were in fifth grade, but have since forgotten. 

Before I share the link to the article or reveal the most forgotten state capitals, take a minute to make your guesses. If you want, you can take the actual Sporcle US Capital quiz that was the source of the data. 

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Source

Let's start with the capitals that the most people remember. Here are the top 5, in order:

• Austin, Texas
• Sacramento, California
• Honolulu, Hawaii (we've been there multiple times, but before I was blogging about travel)
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Atlanta, Georgia

Moving on to the most forgotten. At #5 is Columbia, South Carolina. This is highly unfortunate, because Columbia is an awesome city. It's a college town, adjacent to Congaree National Park, and is full of interesting things to see and do. Don't miss the South Carolina State Museum. 

At #4 is Frankfort, Kentucky. I will admit that Frankfort is not as flashy as Louisville or as well-known as Lexington, but Frankfort is absolutely worth a visit. The capitol grounds are stunning, the bourbon-themed tours are plentiful and interesting (even for non-fans like me), and there are several museums I'm sure you'll enjoy. Eat the burgoo when you visit. 

At #3 is Charleston, West Virginia. Not only is it the capital, but it's the biggest city in the state. We enjoyed the day we spent there. 

At #2 is Concord, New Hampshire. To be perfectly honest, there isn't all that much to do in Concord besides visit the capitol. It's fine, but we enjoyed other places in New Hampshire more. 

The most forgotten state capital is Jefferson City, Missouri. This does not surprise me at all. It's small, only the 16th largest city in the state. There isn't a lot there besides the capitol, while cities like St. Louis and Kansas City are packed with many days' worth of fun stuff to do. It is, however, in the middle of the state geographically, and was founded to be the capital city. Fun fact: it is one of four state capitals named for a president. (Can you name the others?)

Here is the article about the most forgotten state capitals. It's quite interesting. Make sure to read to the end, where they highlight the most common wrong answers. For example, people who don't correctly name Lansing as the state capital of Michigan commonly guess Detroit. A cool city indeed, but not the capital.

Bird Art at the California Raptor Center

Look who I got to see last week!

 

Trevor is thriving at UC Davis as a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology major. He's currently taking a class called 'Wildlife Ecology and Conservation' and loves it. Most of the lectures are from experts in different areas of conservation. They did a creek habitat field trip, which sounded like great fun, and he just finished a group project about wolverines that he really enjoyed. Trevor is eager to take more wildlife classes and get even deeper into the subject matter. 

In the meantime, he loves the volunteer work he is doing at the California Raptor Center. Last spring, Trevor did a full day working at CRC as part of his Senior Project and was hoping he'd get one of the coveted volunteer positions as a freshman, which he did! He has a 4-hour shift each week. If you visit, you might see Trevor cleaning cages, feeding the Ambassador birds, and possibly even giving a bird some out-of-enclosure time on the glove. Of course, it's just as likely he'd be doing behind-the-scenes work. There are always many, many tasks to be done!

The California Raptor Center is where Trevor completed his Eagle Project in April 2022... and I'm happy to report it looks as good as ever! 

One of the things I love about the raptor center is the growing amount of raptor-themed art. This gorgeous barn owl sculpture now greets visitors as they enter. Read all about how and why it was made in this article. 

Source

The front of the museum has two raptor portraits on the wall...

... while the entire back of the museum is an absolutely stunning mural called "Bird's Eye View." It is 8 feet tall and 22 feet wide. It features 11 key raptor species from California, as well as 84 insects that are either eaten by those raptors or as their parasites. Trevor and I saw it for the first time at Biodiversity Museum Day. Read more about this impressive work of art in this article. 

This life-size eagle sculpture has been at the CRC for awhile. I can't find an article about its origins, but I did find an article with a much better photo than mine. 

Many of the enclosures and buildings at CRC are decorated with raptor silhouettes. They add a nice touch. 

I really like this one. 

I love this pair. I imagine a lot of people miss them

There's even art to enjoy in the parking lot! 

If you've never visited the California Raptor Center, I'd encourage you to go check it out. 

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Himi Gouache

I've finished four more of the 50 State Quarter coloring pages: West Virginia, Iowa, Utah, and New York. For this batch, I used Himi gouache (affiliate link here and below). 

I've only used gouache a handful of times before, so this was all about experimentation. I learned a lot about the way gouache behaves (at least on the paper I used). I enjoyed the vibrancy of the colors and how they blended, but even better was the fact that I could reactivate dried areas. I had a lot of fun playing with gouache! If you've never tried it, you can't go wrong with the kit I used, which is under $20. 

I've now officially completed more than half of the 50 coloring pages. These are the other art materials I've used so far: 

• Ohuhu markers (Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Wisconsin)
• ink and Prismacolor colored pencils (Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Montana)
• Flair pens (Delaware, Indiana)
• Sharpies (Maine, South Carolina)
• Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 (Colorado, New Hampshire)
• Folk Art acrylic paint (Wyoming, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Michigan)
• Crayola crayons (Florida, Maryland, South Dakota, Vermont)

Only (haha!) 24 coloring pages to go!

Introducing Tulip!

There is someone new in the deRosier household! Meet Tulip. 

  

Tulip was very young and pregnant when she was rescued by East Bay Rabbit Rescue. She gave birth to six healthy babies in July and was an outstanding mother. All six babies have now been neutered and adopted, so it's her turn to have a forever home. 

When we adopted Brayden on April 30, we planned to find a companion for him in August after we returned from our Europe trip. Little did we know that I'd be diagnosed with cancer three weeks after adopting Brayden and that August would be about radiation, not bunny adoption. While I'm not "done" with cancer, I'm doing so much better and am able to handle the responsibilities of a second bun. 

We didn't go actively looking for potential bunny friends, but when Tulip's profile showed up in my Facebook feed in mid-October, I felt instantly that she was The One. I showed Steve and he agreed. We both felt Tulip belonged in our home. Of course, Brayden's opinion matters more than ours, so on Saturday we brought him to meet her. 

Brayden has met a fair number of other rabbits and he's largely indifferent to them. That was pretty much the case with Tulip. They ignored each other at first. They each ate a little bit (a very good sign) and each groomed themselves in front of the other (another very good sign) and then Tulip groomed Brayden (the ultimate sign!). They stayed together for 30+ minutes with no issues, so we signed the paperwork and brought her home. And then the real work began. 

Rabbits are territorial, so you can't just add a new rabbit to an existing one's territory without going through a bonding process. To prepare for Tulip, we moved our dining room table and put a fence up to separate it from Brayden's territory. He still has access to the living room, entry way, and stairs (with supervised playtime upstairs). Tulip has a separate enclosure, which is about 8" from the fence. That allows them to get near each other if they want, but not near enough to fight if there's a problem. That's Brayden's existing space on the left and Tulip's on the right. 

Tulip settled into her new space right away, investigating every corner. She used the litterbox immediately (hurray!), sampled the water (she's a loud drinker, just like Trouble was), zipped into the igloo, and poked at each toy. 

  

Brayden watched with interest. 

Throughout the afternoon (when rabbits are usually asleep), they were pretty active. Each took a short nap, but were otherwise up and about. 

Occasionally, they mirrored each other (another good sign). As soon as Brayden heard Tulip munching on her apple leaves, Brayden ran over to his to eat. I loved the chorus of crunching!

During the bonding process, we bring the bunnies together to a neutral location (the family room, where Brayden has never been) to get to know each other. Here, Tulip is asking Brayden to groom her. He is ignoring her request. Whether that's intentional or if he's just oblivious, who knows. (We strongly suspect he was taken from his mother WAY too young and didn't learn basic rabbit behaviors and communication skills from her.)

While it would have been wonderful if Brayden had immediately groomed Tulip, love at first sight is very, very rare. Brayden did lunge at her once during the 15 minute session, but otherwise they seemed perfectly comfortable together. 

In fact, just a few hours after that first bonding session, they were lounging side by side, as close as they could get with the fence in the way. Another good sign. 

  

Unfortunately, the evening bonding session did not go well. Brayden lunged at Tulip again. She lunged back at him and nipped. They avoided each other for a bit, then lunged again. I'm bummed. 

It could take weeks (or longer) to properly bond Brayden and Tulip, but we are hopeful. We're eager to give this sweet girl the home she deserves. Welcome, Tulip!